anyone with octpus experiance?

[Thor]

anyone with octopus experiance?

i impulse bought an octopus. i have him in a 10gal right now. its got 1 1/2" - 2" sand bed, 14+lbs of live rock, with more goin in today (to make a cave) it got a skilter250 that i modified to make the protein skimmer pump driven and a powerhead. the tank has been up for almost a year now with no real problems. i took my damsels and coral banded shrimp out so the only thing in there besides the octopus are some small hermits and snails. the octopus from end to end is about 5". he was in good condition (no missing tentacles and i seen him eat at the pet shop) i do weekly water changes. there is also a tight fitting glass lid and a 36watt pc light. realistically, what are my odds of keeping him alive. ill move him to a bigger tank when he outgrows this one. any dos and donts i should know about, whats a good feeding schedule, i was told a ghost shrimp a day at this size and then whatever he hunts at night. oh yeah, its a caribean octopus so i was told to keep him in slightly cooler water and im only gonna leave the light on for about 5-7 hours a day. anything else i should know

thanks

 

[agilis]

You really did make an impulse purchase!

A few points:

your new pet is probably a common or Reef octopus. Ther Reefs get can get pretty large, with a body the size of your fist, and tentacles well over a foot. The common gets even bigger. A 10 gal. is kind of small even at the animal's present size.

Octopuses produce a lot of waste, especially when startled. They can .produce enough "ink" to suffocate themselves. Another issue is their short natural life span. Octopuses don't live much more than about 18 months, on average, in nature.

Your Octopus will surely eat your crabs, hermits, snails, etc. These, along with crustacians and fish, are their natural diet. They have a sharp beak, and can bite right through any shell. They are deadly hunters. They can bite you as well. They love crabs, and will flash brilliant colors when they see or smell one.

I kept a Caribbean Reef octopus once for almost two years. I caught it in Jamaica while collecting some live rock. It was tiny, with tentacles about 1/2 inch long. I kept it in a dixie cup for a few days, and brought it home in a baby food jar in my pocket. I put in into a reef tank where it disappeared for a few weeks. It reappeared much bigger, and soon became as tame as a dog. I eventually gave it its own 55 gal aquarium. I loved that animal, and I know it loved me back. We had a lot of fun. Jimbo got to be about the size of a baseball, and a lot smarter than some people I've known. He stopped eating and deteriorated very quickly when he was 20 months old. I still miss him , 15 years later.

On my last Caribbean collecting trip, last year, I found a cute little octopus living in a shell. I was tempted, but in the end I let it go. You can really get attached to an octopus, and they really need a lot of room, very clean water, and specialized care. They are unique and wonderful, and unbelievably smart. Jimbo was by far the most interesting aquatic pet I have ever had.

 

[OrionGirl]

Agree with all of the above, but there is a serious difference between an octopus collected at random, and one from the store. IME, octopuses sold in stores are females. In a comfortable environment, they will build cave, lay eggs, and die after the eggs (usually infertile) hatch.

That 10 gallon won't work for the long run. You'll want to upgrade to at least 20 gallons. Any inverts still in there will become snacks.

In an effort to control wastes, i wouldn't feed that often. Something small every other day will be fine. Make sure you clean out any leftovers--octopus are very tidy animals, and don't like having the remains close to their home. I would put a weight on the lid as well--they are amazingly strong.

Gotta' say...You really want to reconsider impule buys. Not a good thing for the critter, nor for you tank, if you can't care for it properly.

 

[Thor]

i already knew they eat anything that moves, thats why i took out the coral banded shrimp and my damsels, just today i found out about the really shourt life span (that was a downer) i left he hermits in there for him to eat. i already planned on settin up a 29gal-40gal asap for him. (and future octopuses) its an amazing little creature and definitly worth settin up a tank just for him. ive only had him for a couple days and already hes showing more personality than my puffer and hes hand trained and comes to the surface to be fed when i go by the brakish tank

thanks

 

[scottdwh]

How much does an octopus cost? I never seen one at a pet store.

 

[Thor]

i got mine for $20

 

[agilis]

I agree that obtaining an octopus from a pet store is a little different than taking one from the wild. It's also true that if lots of semi-competent aquarists decide they have got to have one, many more will be collected, and purchased by people unable to properly care for them. The limiting factor is the difficulty in collecting, holding, and shipping large numbers of octopuses.

The ones I've seen locally (NJ) sell for $50 to $100. There is a miniature species of octopus from the Caribbean and Florida that used to be called O. joubini, or Joubin's Octopus. I have not seen one for sale in many years. These guys stay very small, but are not as interesting as bigger species, and tend to hide more. Their tentacles are proportionately shorter in relation to body size.

Another point: octopuses like things on the dim side. Bright lighting stresses them. This is another reason they are better kept alone. They are indeed very strong, and, having no bones, can squeeze themselves through impossibly small spaces.

 

[Corax]

A friend of mine kept one many years back and he said when he would go feed the other tank, the octopus would come out of his cave, attach himself to the front glass, pick up a stone or something and peck on the glass... I'd love to have seen that =)

I concur though, impulse purchases like this are not a good idea... I know people that have planned octopus tanks for months before ever looking at livestock in a store... You should plan more carefully =)