I have a 35 gal. Eclipse with a seaclone protien skimmer (had to widen side hole) works great.
I live in Washington state and I scuba dive. When I dive I find alot of little baby Giant Pacific Octos in bottles etc.
I was thinking about converting my 35 into an octo tank. But I don't want to buy a chiller (have to cut hole in glass for iceprobe).
I was wondering if I kept my tank around room temp 60-65 degrees if the octo would adapt with a slow temp acclimation. They do range to California.
Any ideas or suggestions would be nice. I do plan on re releasing it when it gets to big. Plus I live close to the water for food sources (crab, clams) and tank decore.
Do you think he will fair to live rock or should I take it out and same with sand I have aragonite. Localy in the water its regular sand and hard rock.
Thanks :shock:

Hi welcome to TONMO.com :)

You have asked a few questions which as yet dont have answers here!

As long as the GPO is small enough for a 35 gal tank then it will be okay until it gets too big and you will have to release it.... no idea what the timescale will be for that??? And as for acclimitisation... if you did it slowly over a few hours and wait until the weather out there is warming up anyway then i think it should be okay, but i wouldnt go any above 58deg F!!!

The stuff you already have in your tank will be fine but expect a die off if you are cooling the water down and make sure your tank can cope with the waste froma GPO.

it would be a very interesting thing to try and if it works I'll be asking for a baby GPO too!!! :) but as long as you take sensible precautions it should be okay.

scottish octopuses have similar temp requirements and then can be acclimatised... just dont get so big ;)

Just remember.. it'll get big fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The trouble with captive creatures is that they will be part-tame by the time you find the temperature rising in the summer. You won't want to release it anyway as it will have become a pet, the ocean temp. will be much lower . . . .
You have to choose, does the animal live free or in captivity? Both ways can be short, but a captive creature enchants those who relate to it, but brings responsibilities. :?:

Hey guys, I live in sothern california, on the beach, and see these octos quite a bit. Also, my science teacher has a GPO in our classroom which he keeps at 62 degrees, and it is completely healthy, hope this helps.

How small are the babies when you find them? most octopus grow at an astonishing rate ( i forgot the food conversion ratio) so time spent with it might not be too long. Good luck :)