hi there just thought id join and show u all my new addition..
B4 u ask his name is Mark yes..named after an aussie legend..surfer Mark "occy" Occhillupo(*)..lol
I purchased him on the 21sep 07..
I am from Gold Coast Australia..and i believe he was sent from Cairns in Northern Queensland..that is all the info i have on him..
Any help from u guys on species will be greatly apprreciated..
Tank is a 3ft item with some lava rock..its has a 950l/ph internal filter and a cheap protein skimmer which does not do its job due to water levels in tank and having to keep lid sealed..the water i have used is from out the back of my house which is on a manmade canal and will be 50% changed fortnightly..the levels of this water were tested at the LFS and came up perfect..
He currently lives with a Domino Damsel, Yellow Tail Damsel and a Humbug..so far with no problems..
Although today we bought a Moon Wrasse and a Foxface and before the lights were turned on after sunset the Wrasse was mysteriously missing..:goodbye::angel:
SO far he has been pretty shy making a den under the lava rock and usually comes out at night and is on the tank wall at sunrise...I put my hand up the back of the tank after a few days and startled him and he Inked at me..
i am feeding him some small clear shrimp that i catch in baitfish traps out the back and he seems to be liking them so far and have realised that i can get about 30 or so small yabbies from a bait shop for about $5 so have stocked up on them and the food all lives in a smaller tank under the main one..
Anyhow enough for now but ill be sure to update u on how he goes..:welcome:..and some pix..8-)8-)8-)8-)
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/3889/dsc00036aj6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/1189/dsc00035py6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/540/mark1stpix22807tp5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/3293/mark1stpix22807zz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/8166/dsc00037ng3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Wrasses sleep under sand, it's probably the least likely to be caught/killed by the octopus, but probably the most likely to harass the octopus. It's pretty standard advice around here to keep octo's in solitary species only tanks. Just a heads up. Your octopus will be much more active without having to fear being nipped at by curious fish, since unlike the ocean, the aquarium only has very limited hiding places and distance for an escape.

Beautiful octopus you have :) Welcome to TONMO.

Yeah i new all of that about an octopus only tank...hahaha..
But we have had all the other fish 4 2 weeks now and he hasnt really noticed them so we thought itd be OK..umm no..lol
Maybe he is hiding as there are plenty of out of view areas thanx for that and also the othe advice about his hibernating.. my g/f will be happy to know that..hehe
The other fish might have to mysteriously disappear too...hahaha..
Thanx for the welcome..:)

Yeah, your experience with the octopus will be much more rewarding if the other fish "mysteriously" disappear. Adding that many fish in such a short amount of time is bound to mess up your filtration too, potentially cause the tank to crash since it's a substantial increase on the bio-load. The octopus alone probably makes as much of a mess of the water as all of those fish combined.

Anyway, not to be scolding you on your first thread... we're all here to learn. Doing it different doesn't necessarily mean you're doing it wrong, but at the same time, "better safe than sorry".

Did I mention, that is a really cool looking octopus?

:welcome: to you & Mark... Mark looks like he's got a lot of "action poses"!

Unfortunately, we have had a number of people report that damsels bite and harass their octos, so it is a real worry, particularly if they attack the octo's eyes. I don't remember if this behavior is more likely when new animals are introduced, maybe some of the octo-keepers who have seen this will provide more details on what to watch out for.

:welcome: Mark and gun808! Seeing as your protein skimmer is less than optimal, I would reduce the numbers of fish in your tank, even with water changes...

This would appear to be a mature Abdopus aculeatus, a day active species common on reef flats around northern Queensland. From the size, don't expect it to live too much longer. In the field, A. aculeatus interact with fish, but the typical interactions - unless a fish is trying to prey on the octopus - are fairly tame.

Roy

Could we have more pics? That's an awesome-looking Octopus!

This would appear to be a mature Abdopus aculeatus, a day active species common on reef flats around northern Queensland. From the size, don't expect it to live too much longer. In the field, A. aculeatus interact with fish, but the typical interactions - unless a fish is trying to prey on the octopus - are fairly tame.

Roy

Hi everyone thanx for the responses and the warm welcome..
And especially this info except the he not live long part,,:cry::cry:
Im not sure wether the pix are deceiving or not but he really isnt that big..mantle only size of say less than a golf ball..I specifically waited to get the smallest one possible and he was serously 1/3 the size of others i had to choose from..
Abd thanx for the info on the wrasse too..he was burried and was there happily swimming about this morn when we got up..but yeah i do understand about Mark not bein so happy with all the other critters in the tank so quest is how do i break it to the g/f that al the fishies have to go away...haha..
Anyways someone asked for more pix so here is another few from today including his first action pik..actually now there is more fish in the tank he seems to be more active..hmm..dunno strange..
Thanx again guys..
OHH..i joined a local aquarium forum here in Australia and saw a topic on Octopus so i had a read..The whole topic was filled with hate toward people who kept Octopusses as pets...:roll::roll:
Quotes like "how could u keep such an intelligent creature as a pet" and "Its so cruel to have something like that locked up in a tank" etc was the theme of the whole post..i naturally refrained from commenting in fear of serious flaming and so hypocrytical as they each own 1000+fish and swimming things.. so joined here instead..wise move i think u guys r great..:cool:
PS all shots are from camera phone so excuse quality at times
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/2246/dsc00041xc5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7514/dsc00042pk9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/5819/dsc00043hv9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/9581/dsc00046mh6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/9513/dsc00050lp2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

cool looking octo youv got there :) those are probably the best phone shots ive ever seen lol.

hi there guys i have just added this to the OctoCare topics.. i have noticed some ill health today and am quite concerned..if anyone can shed some light it would be greatly appreciated..please see thread..
http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11215

RIP Mark the octopus..
He died last night at 4.30am after his few days of ill health(?) / old age..
was a great 2 weeks we shared together..:goodbye::goodbye: :angel::angel::angel::sad::sad::sad:

Sorry. RIP Mark.

:sad: RIP Mark :angelpus:

RIP Mark :angelpus:

Sorry you had so little time with him.

Nancy

Thx guys... :)
At first i decided to not try again but my partner and i have decided to give it another shot..
Ill be sure to give u all updates..
Thanx again Dave 8-)8-)