New 8-armed buddy

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Sep 8, 2006
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edit added by Monty: AM said below:

Since it's apparently too late for me to edit and add a disclaimer to the beginning of this thread, can a moderator do it for me? I want anyone who reads it in the future to know this isn't suggested because it isn't neccessarily safe or practical for octopus keeping.

Long story short, I'm in charge of the display tank at the vet clinic I work at. My boss wanted to order some stuff, as he said "whatever will make the tank more interesting." I had let the availability decide for me, but just as I thought it wasn't meant to happen, Ta-dah! Another "Indo-Pacific" octopus was available.

So, considering Domboski's journal with his 2 aculeatus, and a number of other threads on other forums about mixed octo/fish tanks I took the plunge. I know it's not ideal in the eyes of some folks, but oh well, what can you do?

After a 24-hour delay in "priority overnight shipping"... making it a 48 hour trip, I received a beautiful, fully intact A. aculeatus from LiveAquaria. So far it doesn't seem that the long trip was too hard on the octopus.

The other occupants of the display tank at work are; 2 red firefish, 1 tiny percula clown, 1 gold-stripe maroon clown (considering banishing it), 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 six-line wrasse, various serpent/brittle stars, hermits, snails, and an unfortunate emerald crab.
In the way of corals, there are palythoas, a huge sinularia, a bubble coral, a field of green star polyps, kenya tree, finger leather, xenia, and (dun dunt duhhhh) a long-tentacle anemone.

Now, before you crap your pants, the anemone is on the far left side of the tank, and the bubble coral is on the far right side of the tank. They are both pretty small, about the size of a baseball. I will be observing them closely to make sure our new octopus is bright enough to avoid them, and if not, they will become store credit at the LFS. Considering they are things the creature would encounter in the wild, I am thinking it will most likely avoid them. There is a LOT of open space in between them, and lots of other areas for the octopus to hide and roam without contact with these two potential threats.

I have a 30 gallon sump/refugium that includes a skimmer underneath. I octo-proofed the overflow drain by attaching an 8-inch piece of pvc drilled with dozens...many many dozens of 1/8th inch holes, and an end cap. The return pump is a mag 7, and I have a Maxi-Jet 1200 to supliment the circulation in the tank. I'm not happy with the amount of circulation as is, so I'm going to invest in some Hydor flo-deflectors and another Maxi-Jet.


The tank is a bowfront 72 gallon, 102 gallons total water volume. The fish, if you're not familiar with them, are all relatively small being under 4 inches long, and are peaceful, minus the GSM clown but she only mistreats the poor "Nemo" if he comes too close to her home. There is a deep sand bed, 3-6 inches varying from area to area, as the goby's a digger, and the GSM clown is showing nesting behavior fanning sand everywhere with her tail. 100lbs sand total, crushed limestone. 60lbs live rock in the display, 10lbs in the refugium, probably add some more to the display to create more nooks and cranny's for the 'pus to play in.
 
Welcome to the new octopus! It's your octopus, even if it isn't in your home.
It will be interesting to see how this works out - hope you'll do a journal.

It would be nice if this octopus had a name, but I'll enter it in the List of Our Octopses and you can decide. The only thing you didn't mention was how large it is.

Nancy
 
I hope both you and Dom REPORT the positives and negatives on each of the critters as you observe interaction. Sometime this year we will build out another tank and strip down the 140 to convert it for an octo. I would like to be able to leave some of the corals (the two fish - mandarin and puffer - and my brain will be moved for sure) and leave in the Hydor what-ya-ma-call-its. Most of my corals are likely to be safe for the octo but much of my interest is in how well the corals themselves fair.

My boss has kind of thought about letting me start a tank at the office but I think it is more pipe dream than anything else. One of my wonderful team members is Vegan and might get uncomfortable with what animals eat so if I did start even a nano, it would likely be just soft corals (and hopefully he won't be upset with the Cyclop-eeze being engineered "bugs").
 
Nancy, this octo is about a foot long, from mantle tip to arm tips, maybe a little bit shorter. Mantle is about an inch long, so an adult most likely. I was hoping for a smaller one, but hey, an octopus is great no matter what.

I will be observing the tank closely. If there are any signs of problems with the stingy creatures they will be exhiled. I will keep as much of a journal on this octo as I did the ones at home, of course I won't be able to observe quite as much. This makes me really miss having one at home though!
 
No activity today, and our new friend has moved to another hiding spot so I have NO IDEA where it's at. There are so many different possibilties. I tried to get some tank shots but the camera at the clinic isn't that great. A co-worker is going to bring her Canon Powershot to work Monday (she takes awesome pictures) so I'll have at least tank shots for the thread then.

Some other things about the tank:

Lighting schedule is actinics 7am-6pm, daylight 10,000K runs from 10am-3pm. I recently traded power compacts for T-5's, and there was a hair algae bloom. It's receding since I added the timers and shortened the bright daylight cycle.

Also, a fish I forgot, a Yellow Tang. And some brilliant green/blue/purple rhodactis mushrooms.

I got a shipment of fiddlers today, threw in 2 large males with claws clipped. I generally don't work weekends, but I'm donating a 30 gallon setup to use as a future hospital/quarantine tank for any future fish additions so I'll be checking it out tomorrow.

I thought the emerald crab had disappeared, but I found it hiding underneath the anemone, didn't move all day. Perhaps it is aware of the protective abilities of the anemone? When I deliver the tank tomorrow morning I hope to find fiddler remains.

On another note, I have a new LFS about 10 minutes away from me (Hooray, most of them are at least 30 minutes away) and to show my support I talked to them about ordering an octo, and specificly stated I was not interested in Zebras, Mimics, Wonderpus, or Blue-Rings and let them know why.
 
Animal Mother;107932 said:
I got a shipment of fiddlers today, threw in 2 large males with claws clipped. I generally don't work weekends, but I'm donating a 30 gallon setup to use as a future hospital/quarantine tank for any future fish additions so I'll be checking it out tomorrow.

Just a little question, why clip the fiddler claws? Aren't the big claws all for show and have no real strength at all in them? I would think an octo could get an extra treat out of the meat in there.
 
NecrochildK;107938 said:
Just a little question, why clip the fiddler claws? Aren't the big claws all for show and have no real strength at all in them? I would think an octo could get an extra treat out of the meat in there.

They can still pinch with their claws. You only have to clip on side of the claw so it is disabled, the rest of the claw is intact.
 
NecrochildK;107938 said:
Just a little question, why clip the fiddler claws? Aren't the big claws all for show and have no real strength at all in them? I would think an octo could get an extra treat out of the meat in there.

I got pinched by a nickel sized fiddler one time. I don't care to get pinched by one again. They are STRONG! Wouldn't want a squishy octo to have to endure that.
 
NecroChildK,
Next time you are around an adult male fiddler, allow it to grab your finger. It only takes one time to decide you don't want to leave the claw functional. They may not have a lot of crushing power but the tips are very sharp!
 

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