Hey I'm Evan and I'm very interested in keeping octos. I'm kinda leaning towards the smaller ones. Are there any octos that can be kept in a smaller tank(20 and under)? What kind of care do they need? Also can I feed native mussels and clams. I'm in Vancouver,B.C. if that helps. Thanks Evan

Hi Evan,

Welcome to TONMO.com and Ceph Care!

Not many people keep pygmy or dwarf ocotpuses because of their short lifespan (6 months) and their tendency to be reclusive.

Your in a good location near the coast to provide live food for an octo. A pygmy should fit into a 20 or 25 gallon tank. Do you have a specific species in mind?

As for care, it's basically the same as for a larger octo. Have a look at our Ceph Care articles, especially Colin's Equipment List and my Checklist:

http://www.tonmo.com/cephcare/cephcarejump.php

Nancy

what about a squid or cuttlefish. This site is mostly geared towards octos. How big of a tank do they need and where do u buy them(live). Thanks Evan.

You would need MUCH bigger tanks for either of these. Most people don't keep squid in home aquariums, and it's hard to buy cuttlefish in the US.
Octos are easier to come by.

Nancy

Like the US, Canada also has no native species of cuttlefish. You should be able to find a few octos there, I'm not sure if a 20g is enough for an Octopus Delfilippi which is the smallest species of octopus in Canada at 6cm ML.

i felt the need to share this story as an example not to listen to most people who work at lfs, i saw an octopus in one and was more talking to myself than anyone i was wondering if it was a baby octo or simply a dwarf the guy working there told me there was such thing as a pygmy octopus, all little octo are babies, then he proceeded to tell me that one of his customers had a octo that lived for 20 years!!!

Hi rc,

That's pretty bad! Unfortunately we've had other reports of similar false information from LFS employees.

There are good people at LFSs, but you have to look hard to find them.

Wish octos did live 20 years!

Nancy

yep that's a beauty!!!!

When i started keeping cephs there was so little 'real' info about it was terrible... i should sit down one day and write down all the guff I've been told LOL

i stumbled across this site (tonmo) and it was like a goldmine to me previously i had to try to sift throught the info i was being givin at lfs and try to figure out what was probably true and what was bs

searching the internet usually just gave me very scientific stuff, which being a total novice i didnt understand most of it

... i should sit down one day and write down all the guff I've been told LOL

Actually you really should. So newbies don't get hoodwinked. It's like when all car dealers tell you the same thing and run the same thing. Only in this case a little ceph life is on the line.