Is it necissary to feed your bimac live food? I have had lion fish before and switched them onto frozen. Is frozen clam, silver sides and krill enough variety? Should I buy the bimac a treat every once in a while like a sally light foot crab? I feed my 3 reef tank brine shrimp, blood worms, glass worms, black worms, krill, formula 1 and 2, mysis shrimp, squid, clam and 2 other manufactured foods containing various mixed seafoods and am not convinced that is enough variety, so is there any other foods I can give a bimac?

From what I've gathered, mainly juvinile octo's need live foods (which they can get off of the live rock, such as amphipods) but as they grow older, they can eat things that you can buy at your fish food store, but make sure that it's fresh!
It's good to add a little variety, so live foods would definitly benefit, but i don't think it's nessessary.
Hope this helps for a start! (I hope I have everything right :roll: )

frozen food is never as good as live fresh food, but as long as you choose a variety of food and give fresh where possible then you'll get by on it.

During the freezing process some of the goodness is lost from food

Clams.... not all bimac seem too keen on them
silversides... fish is not always the best food, can be oily and fatty
krill... too small really quickly

try to source a place for cheap live hermit crabs and shore crabs if you can before getting the bimac :)

Lotsa info on this on other threads, but our bimac looooves small feeder crabs, I think they're baby blue crabs (we get 'em 10 for a dollar). Could be they are only available here in Houston, since we're on the Gulf. But her 2nd fave fresh food is hermit crabs. They do keep her busy for a while tho. She will happily eat defrosted shrimp, but likes fresh better. She won't touch frozen scallops. It really is a toss-up of what they will like, so it's best to have a few different foods scoped out before you get your octo

Good luck!
S.

My new baby bimac, Lil Pumpkin, has been eating hermit crabs, local shrimp we catch and today took a thawed frozen prawn from my hand :) . I want to get out collecting this weekend for baby local crabs.

Any pictures yet, Shannon?

Carol

By hermit crabs do you mean like the blue leg and scarlet reef hermit crabs? And yes I found a local fish store that sells only fresh never frozen sea foods, various crabs, squid, shrimp, scallops, etc. Also I have heard of ppl saying you can feed them fiddler crabs too, are you talking about the crabs that pet shops sometimes sell as pets?

Hi all,
Shannon, where do you find the small feeder crabs for sale in Houston? I checked around, but never could find any. (I'm a little far from Houson, but do get there sometimes).

Carol, seems like Lil Pumpkin is progressing well with respect to food. By the way, are you declaring Lil Pumpkin to be a he or a she?

Chameleon, the hermit crabs are available in various types, the most common being the blue legged (smaller) and the red legged (usually larger and will grow larger). I feed my bimac fiddler crabs because I can get these easily. They are the same ones sold as pets. They're quite charming little crabs and they make a squeeking sound. I found I can keep them easily in a bowl of salt water with plenty of rock and shell "islands". They can live for a couple of weeks in the bimac tank, but they never last that long.

Nancy

Hi Nancy!

HE!!! Until there is proof otherwise!!!! :mrgreen:

Carol

when in season I buy about 300 fiddler crabs for $5 from a bait shop and keep them in a rubbermaid container with a fluval 4 filter and a floor buffing pad as an island they last about 3 months you just have to sort out the dead ones every week since some do die so the water doesnt get polluted and dont use full strength salt water I use half old tank water and half fresh water and also feed them once a week with fish food