Octopus Availability

[Drsandhu]

Tey hav a carribean reef how are they will they send pics?

 

[DWhatley]

Hard to tell and a lot depends upon who you are able to talk to. If the animal is in their CA holding facility (usually listed from Live Aquaria), probably not. If it is from Diver's Den (Wisconsin) then there is a possibility if you talk to them sweetly.

 

[Drsandhu]

Have you heard of mysaltwaterfish store.com? They apparently have what I'm looking for....

 

[Drsandhu]

Live aquaria has an abdopus species from Indonesia, they have told me its not a Pygmy not a dwarf, current size 3 inches, is this the young juvenile I want, they can not send me a photo what are the experiences with them....

 

[DWhatley]

Live Aquaria is likely the poster child for how to ship an animal, how to treat a customer and, in their Wisconsin facility how to house animals for resale (in addition to working on captive raised corals and animals). So as far as a company goes, you can't get much better. Unfortunately, the Indonesian octopuses are from one of their importers and ship from their California facility (I am not clear on the exact relationship). The packing will definitely be top notch as well as the customer service but the animals are not always well reviewed. Typically, the get Abdopus aculeatus and one that size would be young. HOWEVER, there are quite a number of animals in the Abdopus complex and they are not easily identified. One that we see often enough to note is, indeed a dwarf and is nocturnal. The other animal that often comes from the California facility is an unidentified but all the same species in the Macropus complex. These are hardy, small but larger than dwarf nocturnals that are quite delightful IF you are up very late (early AM). I have had two of them (only one from LA) and really like the species but, IME they are strictly nocturnal.

I often say ordering an octo follows the Forrest Gump life logic. Like a box of chocolates, you don't know what you are going to get but they are all interesting.

 

[asid61]

Found another one, bimacs!. Currently sold out, although the guy replies to messages and emails pretty fast. He's an actual person, so he can probably get them custom. A tad pricey though.
ColdwaterMarineAquatics.com is for sale | HugeDomains

 

[DWhatley]

Asid61, if you are into cold water, Stu is great to work with and is a TONMO sponsor. I tried a small coldwater tank when he first started but my small chiller died and replacing it was not an option. My only choice was to put the anemones (which do live further south, one thing I checked on before ordering) in my nano. They are surviving but not thriving. Even if you just want to ogle some nice eye candy his site is worth the time. He is licensed and collects in Oregon so, when he does find one, the bimacs are legal. They are just not as common there as they are further south in CA. I believe he does keep a waiting list.

 

[AquaticEngineer]

Found another one, bimacs!. Currently sold out, although the guy replies to messages and emails pretty fast. He's an actual person, so he can probably get them custom. A tad pricey though.
http://www.coldwatermarineaquatics....products/two-spot-octopus-octopus-bimaculatus

The prices at the time were based on the availability (which was next to none just about, lol) When we nail down a good spot to get em consistantly they should be closer to the $100 range

 

[Pennyworth]

I am now very close to getting my first octopus, and will probably start looking in a few months.

After many months of preparation everything will be ready, and I want to start looking for where to buy species.

Here in NYC, I believe I could find some live octopuses quite easily along the docks or at asian fish markets in chinatown, although I would have no idea what species they would be.

Since I'd like to be able to see the octopus during some daylight hours (not a requirement but a preference), I am looking for an Abdopus aculeatus, Octopus briareus or Octopus hummelincki.

All of these seem to be active to some extent during daylight hours and will do well in my 55 gallon tank that generally has a temperature between 72 and 78.

What would be my best approach to try and prepare for sourcing one of these species? Is one of these 3 species better suited to my tank?

 

[DWhatley]

IF you can find one (remember my box of chocolates comments), O. hummelincki would likely be most desirable and would likely come from collectors in South Florida. Many come from Haiti (there is a good bit of trade between collectors in FL and Haitian collectors). Sadly, we have seen very few since the earthquake (2010). Aculeatus might be your next best choice but longevity is always an issue with this import (Live Aquaria is a frequent choice but you may have access to in NYC to direct importers as LA imports theirs as well). You are likely to see this one locally labeled as a Bali octopus. O. briareus appear to be abundant this year and would come from South FL collectors since they are only a Caribbean species. Like most that we keep, they do breed and hatch year round but the late winter/early spring is most common for hatchlings so it will be difficult to find a young animal in a few months.

 

[Pennyworth]

Thanks DWhatley.

I'm hoping to add in September, so hopefully may catch an O. briareus or O. hummelincki around then before the onset of winter.

For what reasons would O. hummelincki be more desirable than O. briareus? I was leaing towards O. briareus just because from what I can see from photos online, I think they look nicer.

I had a look at live aquaria, but they don't seem to specify a species, as it is just listed as assorted. Are there any south Florida collectors you could refer me to?

 

[DWhatley]

IMO, O. briareus is one of the "prettiest" octopuses but they tend to be shyer then O. hummelincki and are primarily nocturnal (especially when young). O. hummelincki is shorter but thicker and is primarily diurnal. Occasionally, LA will mark their Indonesian as Abdopus (but slightly misspelled). So far we have only seen two genus from them, Abdopus and Macropus but the Abdopus (or assumed Abdopus) is not alway aculeatus. I tend to enjoy what ever flavor chocolate shows up at my doorstep . I had to wait (partially because I was attending family illness that kept me away from home so I did not look) a couple of months after losing my last animal but several became available in the March timeframe after I decided to try Cuttlefish that were plentiful.

I don't know anyone who regularly collects octopuses but Tom (Tom's Caribbean Tropicals) often has them (usually as by catch from crabbers) and @Susan Grosskopf found a possible new collector on eBay (see Bob's thread). You may end up having to wait until Februaryish but the more cycled the tank, the better. Also be sure you are following this thread as members will often post when they spot animals for sale.

 

[Justin Nguyen]

I'm speaking to a few guys now seeing if they will special catch octopus for us specially also the smaller juv. ones will not be back till around october. According to them right now it is adults and sub adults. I did notice the Briareus are shy until they get used to you then they seem to warm up. The hatching I got is quite big now and it comes out every night to be fed and doesn't leave the front for a while, but when i go to take a pic its gone lol. I have the hatchling and one larger one that now comes up and eats out of my hand, which took me a long time of stick feeding and then slowly getting it used to me.

 

[sirreal]

I just contacted Richard Londeree at tampa bay salt water.com He told me that there has been nothing around for a wile, He is in contact with a couple crabbers and that is his only source at the moment and crab season does not start for a couple months. When it does start its only Mercs and briareus. He has not seen A Vulgaris since the oil spill. I have contacted all my LFS that have gotten them in the past letting them know I am looking "Also what not to get" and my buddy who is a crabber will be looking when season comes in but until then it looks like there is nothing in FL

 

[Pennyworth]

Just a note, the site Fin Addict has Caribbean octopuses and Pygmy octopuses for sale at the moment.

http://finaddictsaltwaterfish.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=27

I just purchased a Caribbean, can't wait to see what species it actually is and finally introduce it to my tank...