Octopus help

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shep

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 14, 2006
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Cincinnati
i have had previous experience with salt water...was wondering if anyone on here has had experience with Octopus in particular though. LFS i deal has always been good in bringing me in fish (rare or not) and they said they could bring me in one. After doing some research, i find out that these lil SOB's are awesome escape artist's and just straight up inteligent. (here is a video of one opening a container to get a crab http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_umYYoqaGl4 ) Does anyone have any "anti octopus escape" tanks they could post up to see how you did it? was looking at one of those small eclipse tanks because of the high carbon in the filtration if the octopus decides to ink in the tank and also the fact it would probably be easier to make "octopus prof", but not to sure yet what set up im going to go with. Also, any tips in general with these?
thanks!
Shep
 
I did have a Blue-Ring years ago.
They are fairly easy to keep and are pretty hardy. Yes, they are absolutely escape artists! Mine was kept in a tank that had one hole large enough for an airhose to fit through. I heard indoor/outdoor carpet is a great deterent but I only heard this-never tried it myself.
Keeping them is interesting and challenging. If you provide too many hiding spots, you will hardly ever see him but not enough and they don't do very well.
Feed them as you would a ray. They will get bold (Like an eel) and take food from tongs or a feeding stick.
I haven't had an Otopus in a very long time though.
 
One thing i just remembered from a place i know that stocks them now and again. They have the tank open topped. But all the rock and water level are far below what the octupus could reach to the top.
 
Indoor/outdoor carpet and neoprene (wetsuit material) are the ONLY two surfaces they cannot hold onto.

The only hard part of their body it their beak, so anything that beak can fit into, they can get out of. Octos have very short lifespans, so you might be getting one that is close to the end and not know it. Just as a heads up, they all carry a venomous bite. Some worse than others.

They are intelligent, and need to be mentally sitmulated in some fashion (puzzles, mazes, food containers etc...) They are also mostly notcturnal by nature, so don't be surprized if you get one, and it hides all day.

They are very good at showing what mood they are in, and they can be fun to watch. Just make sure you know what you're getting into.
 
zoodiver, do you have any info regarding why they cant hold on to those two materials?
 
<was looking at one of those small eclipse tanks because of the high carbon in the filtration if the octopus decides to ink in the tank and also the fact it would probably be easier to make "octopus prof", but not to sure yet what set up im going to go with.>
sorry but all of the eclipse tanks are way too small. reefcentral has a forum dedicated to cephalopods and, iirc, there is even a guy that breeds his cephs and sells them there.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=38
and here is an entire site dedicated to otopus- http://www.tonmo.com/
 
davo;657572; said:
zoodiver, do you have any info regarding why they cant hold on to those two materials?
Click to expand...

They are the two widely materials used when dealing with captive octos (in the aquarium world). I would say is has to do with the material lacking in extended surface area. The animal can't get a good suction seal with the disc to grip it de to the iregular surface, so it can't hang on.
I've played with it a little. One thing I assumed would work is regular carpet (since the indoor outdoor stuff works).....but she grabbed right onto it. I've also seen them hold onto scrub pads (the 6"x12" pads we use to clean the acrylic). That, too, has a similar irregular surface, but there is enough that they can grab it.
 
Interesting. Would be interesting to see what the min. surface area limit of a material is for them to hold onto
 
We had a smaller one at the Omaha Zoo, it was hell to clean that little guys tank. The second I would take off the cover he would try to escape. We just put a glass cover over the top and put a bunch of dive belt weights on top. If you are interested in a octopus but don't want the hastle I would suggest cuttle fish. They are just as interesting and fun to watch.
-justin
 
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