hey guys, had another question. what kinds of things can you put into a tank with an octo? ive heard seagrass is ok, but i dont know if that just applies to cuttlefish or what. corals? other oceanic plants? id like to do something besides just throwin live rock and pvc pipe in there. any suggestions?

-Keith

i know some stuff can sting the octo, and unfortunately, the guys at my LFS dont know JACK about cephs.

Theres many types of macro algae that you can add to an octo tank. Some are very colorful and also serve as good nutrient export. In regards to corals, you will be limited to low light softies such as zoas,mushrooms, etc..

cool cool.

and be prepared for the octopus to redecorate! They often have their own ideas on how the tank should be!

We keep urchins and seastars in with ours (Evechinus chloroticus and Astrostole scabra) respectively. The pic of the urchin is from the octopus tank, the pic of the star is not, we don't keep fish in the tank (that's a Blue Moki { Latridopsis ciliaris} FYI).

J

awesome. i dont know a thing about caring for urchins, but theyre really cool. any species i should avoid that might hurt the octo? i dont know how much of a difference it makes, but im settin up for a briareus. how about fake decorations? any danger there?

-Keith

i wouldnt think the plastic fake coral stuff would be dangerous. im more curious about the stuff thats made out of fake rock and whatnot. im not sure if small grained cement is used for those or what, but they have a lot of stuff at my local petco that i imagine would make some good hiding spots.

I usually stay away from the petco things. when i first got into the hobby i spent a small fortune at petco on a bunch of crap that i didn't need. Try to find your local aquarium society to see if they have forums. Check your local craigslist as well.

The main things I can think of to watch out for are metals. Most plastics seem OK, but some species seem to be sensitive to a few. Many people have used plastic toys a lot, though; I think the plastics that cause the most trouble have been the plastic tank Steve had squid trouble with, and Roy transporting animals in plastic bottles. I've never heard of plastic tank decorations causing any problems, but it's impossible to be 100% sure. Any metal is bad, though, and I'd stay away from painted things to be safe (although I don't actually know of problems with them) and probably not use large plastic decorations. This is all just my :twocents: from reading a lot of people's experiences, though.

awesome. i dont know a thing about caring for urchins, but theyre really cool. any species i should avoid that might hurt the octo? i dont know how much of a difference it makes, but im settin up for a briareus. how about fake decorations? any danger there?

-Keith

Anything with really long sharp spines should be avoided , our ones have quite short blunt spines, in fact a small boy visitor to the aquarium told me it feels like a hard toilet brush :shock: didn't ask how he knew that!, point is we have them in our touch pools so they're pretty safe!

Check on what the food is for any urchins you may buy too, Evechinus is an herbivore BUT we do also have small ones called Pseudechinus which are scavengers and they are far more likely to harass the octopus!

J

i have quite a few corals with mine such as rics, xenia, discosoma mushrooms, and zoanthids and so far he hasnt "redocorated" with any of them but i did epoxy the larger pieces just in case.

some do, some don't, most of our tank work is cemented in place but we do provide loose rocks, stones, shells etc for redecorating as needed (by octopus perceptions :grin:)

J

sweet. yea my fiance just got a job at petco. meaning i get an uber discount :grin: and i guess they give a lot of aquarium stuff away to employees. but ill try and stick with the stuff you guys are talkin about. and im definately lookin into an urchin or two. and as for that kid... weeeiiirrrd.

I have several bright orange "knobby" starfish that I recommend for an octo tank. Not only do they add great color and are very hardy, they are scavengers and can get into every nook and cranny to find left over food that you can't see. I keep two in with Octane. See the picture about half way down this page: http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12191&page=4

They are Carribean critters and can be found on almost all collectors sites. I have not checked Ken's inventory lately but you might look at www.sealifeinc.net for availability.

those are pretty cool. and if they'll help with the octos leftovers, im down. thanks for the input