HI everyone! :D i am a member over at NanoReef.com and i was reffered over to this site to get more info on keeping an octo, i am already keeping a 29 gal nano right now ( i will post a pic) so i am already dialed in on trate levels ammonias etc. so .......................the LFS has very tiny (baby i think) octo and 2- 3 blue ring octo's as well, i have a 10 gal that i would like assemble and turn into an octo house there will be a fuge thats plubmed in that will sit directly behind the main tank for bio as well as mech filtratio , im drilling holes today 1/2 inch and there will be a bulk head with screen on the intake and lok line one the return, the top has cut glass so it fits very tight on top so he can't wander off, now,............ does he need any spec lighting?? can i use the black sand from the islands?should i use a lot of L/R in main tank? or just run it in fuge ? how much waste does an octo produce? ( so i can manage water changes more effectivley) also i realize that the blue ring is venomus, so should i stay away from the blue ring and just go with the regular ink tanked species?and what other animals can i keep in the main tank with the octo>> should i just keep corals and NO fish (i.e. frogspawn, xenia star polyps ) or can i keep a clown with a BTA ....................................sorr y if this is kinda a long post but really wanna get it right the first time,
thanks
Kevin

dont go for blue rings they can bite you and trasfer tetodotoxin a nearly always fatal neurotoxin that can kill in minutes go to ceph care and look through the articales on keeping octos

thank you, so does it seem im on the right track?? from the reading ive done so far here it looks like the octo's for sale are called pigmy's?? so they stay small ??

Alien,

Welcome to Tonmo.

A few points of interest for you. Octopuses create a lot of waste so your tank (10 gal) is going to be a tough one to pull of. You definately can not keep anything other than pygmys in there, but they have some disadvantages you should know of first.

They have a naturally short life expectancy 4-6 months. That being said you will not know the age of the one your lfs has. Could be 2 months or 6mos, with just days to live. Primarily the pgymy that is traded is called mecatoris.

Most lfs do not know what they are selling, make sure you are not getting a baby octo, that will grow a lot larger!

Did your lfs call the octo for sale anything, (brown octo perhaps) that would help to identify?

I would even recommend a larger tank for even the wee little meca, but you may have success in a 10 with one.

Hopefully, this helps, and feel free to ask away! :D

thank you, so does it seem im on the right track?? from the reading ive done so far here it looks like the octo's for sale are called pigmy's?? so they stay small ??

Pygmys do stay small, but live only for half a year and the one at your LFS may be a full grown adult with only a month to live, and spend it hiding in tiny holes in your rock. The best octopus is a O. bimaculoides.

Octos in a ten gallon aren't a good idea, they produce too much waste and the tank can't handle the load or something like that, ask Colin or Nancy. :P

Octos produce thrice as much waste as average fish.

Corals have stinging cells in them, I think and your octo may decide to redecorate. NO fish too, just them, hiding spaces, and some food. :)

Octos don't really care about lighting, they probably would rather have none at all.

Stay away from the blue ring, they make lousy pets and their bite is almost unnoticable untill it's too late. There are hundreds of bites in Australia each year, according to Dr. Woods, but only 3 - 4 have died, no hobbyist has ever been bitten though.

:welcome: to TONMO!

so a 10 would be just ok to start with, and it looks like a 20-30 is ideal with my fuge on the back total water capacity is a bout 17-18 right now, i think what the plan will be is get the tank up and cycling and do more homework on wich spieces i wanna get

how long is the longevity of the blue ring

With that tank size you are limited to the species you can keep. Check first, and build tank from there. IMO. :)

and THANK YOU for the warm welcome and SORRY about all the dumb questions :jester: :jester:

how long is the longevity of the blue ring

Same as a pygmy.

SORRY about all the dumb questions

No need!!!!!! :D There are no dumb questions!

i think what i may do is finish the set i have now and then i can turn the 10 into a fuge when i get the 20 which is most successful to keep??

BIMAC but they need 55g!

geeez thats way bigger than my nanoreef and its 29, so it looks like im gonna stay small then at least for now, i dont have enuf room that size tank

I understand. I have 35 g reef, 72 g FO, and a 55 octo tank. Wish I had nmore room too :D

Bimacs, but you could keep a pygmy in there, neptune, aren't you captive raising them in the near future?
I've kept my bimac in my 20 gallon for a while, but this isn't reccomended as they can get big if fed well. :)

Plan on a mecatoris captive breeding program in the future, obsolutely! Nice on picking that up, but it will be the summer after the wife getts used to walking around a few more tanks :P I would love the availability of them with a defined age.

Plan on a mecatoris captive breeding program in the future, obsolutely! Nice on picking that up, but it will be the summer after the wife getts used to walking around a few more tanks :P I would love the availability of them with a defined age.

And maybe they would come out more freely like CB bimacs?

just go to youre pet store and go for a 80 gall starter kit for fish and make sure it has no metal you need a few modifcations like a sump ect thats what im doing :yinyang:

LOL I can not wait to see what is learned about cb meca! Doing mountains of research now, and there is so much to learn. IMO -Theydefinately have there place, and living in Florida, I would love anything that takes pressure of wild species!

well thank you guys and gals?? im gonna log off now and start back work on the tank, ive got to finish drilling the hole for the bulk heads and lok lines and get the back painted etc.

Have fun and welcome to TONMO once again :D

well thank you guys and gals??

check one for guys LOL

Your'e welcome and good luck!

:)

well im back and today went very well drilled 2 tanks(1 cracked grrrrr)its painted and ready for assembly 2marrow i went by the LFS today 2 and im told by the owner(jim) that the small spieces is in fact a pygmy octo so i will get every thing together and running and we will see how the tank does

Hi

'pygmy octopus' can mean any of about 10 species or so... its not an exact science when exporters come to naming octos!!! :(

hope you get a nice young one

yeah me too,i will indeed post up pixof the lil guy, when i asked jim(owner of fish haven here in san diego ca) that was the only name that he could come up with is a pygmy octo (39 dollars), and the one i was looking at was no bigger MAYBE my pinky finger, i mean IT WAS TINY, i dont know if i could even find a pic of the lil guy, i felt bad for him they him in a small breeder cup in the display tank, then likei said they had 2 blue ring oct's for 49 dollars, he said he sells a lot of them to the public...........................

ouch :x

yeah no doubt, i felt bad cause you look at the lil guy and he's just all curled up in a small cup waiting for some take him home, and maybe to his death, i sure am glad i found this web site, at leats when i bring one home he's gonna have a good shot at happy healthy life

nice to hear (and help) :)

poor blue rings just dont do 'captivity' well at all :(

then likei said they had 2 blue ring oct's for 49 dollars, he said he sells a lot of them to the public...........................

That should be illegal. :x

WELL here's the skinny... the 10 cracked( i was pissed ) soo we went down to LFS and scored(ithink) a 20 gal show tank for 25 bucks,............ i can post up a pic............

now bear with me it's not all the way done yet but chek out the black tahiti sand that we put in there :mrgreen: sweet huh?

i also painted the back of the tank black too so you wont see any hoses or cables to the power, i just wanted to get the L/R and filters and heater going, ............ so we can start the cycle,
NOW THE BIG QUESTION IS...................................... i have, cured L/R, and always use NSW, so how long should i cycle the tank BEFORE adding the octo ??? i can also add my fluval303 if needed, (i have it on my 29 right now only running floss)so it has bacteria in it already what do you guys think??

once you have a bioload similar in mass to what the octopus will be and the tank is showing zero ammonia, zero nitrites and a wee bit of nitrate...

6 - 8 mollies might do the trick and can take between a month and three months... but dont rush it :)

Octos are a very sensitive inverts because unlike so many others they dont have a shell or hard exoskeleton... just bare skin

yeah i called that guy jim? over at octo pets.com last night really nice guy he is over in carlsbad about 17 mi from my house he said if I p/u the octo, he could sell me a 2-3 month old for bimac 20 bucks and throw in some red algea too. he said we were welcome to come down and take a free tour of the farm too looks like im gonna have to take my son down there for a tour :D i will be sure to take my digi cam with me and take a bunch of pix

yeah i called that guy jim? over at octo pets.com last night really nice guy he is over in carlsbad about 17 mi from my house he said if I p/u the octo, he could sell me a 2-3 month old for bimac 20 bucks and throw in some red algea too. he said we were welcome to come down and take a free tour of the farm too looks like im gonna have to take my son down there for a tour :D i will be sure to take my digi cam with me and take a bunch of pix

P/U?

Will be looking forward to somenice pics :heee: Do tell us what the place is like.

yeah P/U (picked up ) as in doesnt have to ship :D im probably gonna hop on my bike and take a ride ovber there this afternoon when my son gets home from school

I am very jealous! :)

I will be getting my octo from jim later this week. prolly thursday, wish I could hop on a bike and go to his place, but from Florida it may take a while.

Enjoy, and PLEEEEEZE take some pics if he will let you!

So any plans for octos alien4fish? Sorry if it has already been mentioned but its kinda hard to keep track as the no. of posts are increasing.

yes :D chek my field trip post :D