I have been wanting to get an octopus for a while now, and I have not taken the dive into octopus territory yet. I have been keeping salt water tanks for a little over a year now, and have been reading about octopuses for a few months. I have a 29g tank that is currently cycling, and I am deciding if i want to do octopus or reef. What are some of the smaller species of octopuses that could fit in a 29g. I would like to stay away from the dwarf, since they have such a shory life span. Any info on these species will help, and anything else you know, or any suggestions on my setup will be help full. Thanks in advance, -OctoNewbe

:welcome: to TONMO!

unfortunately, 29g is pretty small for anything but a dwarf. We've recently seen O. hummelincki a bit, and they're sort of intermediate-sized, but we haven't really seen enough of them to be sure... someone's keeping one in a 29 now, but it's not clear that it's full grown yet. Also, one of the main reasons for the requirement is water volume, so having a sump for extra would help there a bit, but in general we recommend a 55gal for non-dwarf octos.

Where is the best place for me to do research on the dwarfs, and where can I order one that will know the exact age of the one I am ordering. I dont wont to order one, and it be 5 months old and die in a month.

dwhatley's Trapper's Babies-Tank Raised Mercatoris is a good place to start reading(in journals and photos).

Thanks, Im reading through it now.

Octane (hummelincki, acquired as an adult) is in a 30" long x 24" tall tank it is really not long enough for him. I do 5 gallon weekly water changes and have a protein skimmer, a cannister filter, an overflow filter (primarily for oxygen/CO2 exchange but it does have additional charcoal and a small filter) in a small sump with LR and LR in the primary tank so his water quality has not been a problem but they like to swim as well as explore and there is not enough length to allow him to complete a swim. IMO, 4' long x 2' tall would be a minimum recommended size.