Hey all,

I am a little worried about my bimac that arrived today-- So far he has been active-- playing in the bubbles and such, but I went over to the tank a minute ago and he was laying upside down! I could see that his siphon was pumping though, so I knew he was alive, so I stuck my finger in and nudged him a little, he righted himself, siphon still pumping, but he isn't going anywhere. I turned his light off. Water is perfect, no fish to mess with him, food to eat, any suggestions?

You con't really expect a little octopus that has just arrived to be that active - but this is the first time I've heard of one upside down. Could the bubbles have something to do with it?

Hope he's OK

Nancy

Thanks for answering so fast-- I don't think the bubbles have anything to do with it, he is currently laying under the bubble wand, so they aren't blasting him. He is laying on his side now, siphon pumping, I guess I will leave him alone and hope he is alive when I wake up tomarrow *fingers crossed*

I hope he's ok. Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Carol

Please let us know how he is today. It was worrying me last night.
Do you know how old your little bimac is?

Nancy

No, I don't know how old he is... Today I woke up and he was kind of stuck to the side of my internal filter, siphon pumping, so I let him be. I just got home from work and he is STILL stuck to the side of the filter, alive, so I decided to turn the filter off for a little bit ( I still have a hang on filter and skimmer going) and he is still stuck to the side, not moving but alive. I just want to give him a chance to slide off of that filter if he wants to, maybe he just likes it there. I stuck a clam and a sliver of scallop next to him, hopefully he will eat. Keep your tentacles crossed!

He died :angelpus:

I'm sorry Dawn :(

Thanks Dan. I guess it just wasn't ment to be. I just have NO idea why I can't keep a little guy alive. The water is perfect! *sigh*

So sorry Dawn :sad: It didn't sound good about being upside down or hanging on the filter.

RIP little octo :angelpus:

Please inform Octopets about your loss - I don't know what their policy is, but they need feedback.

Nancy

Dawn,

My condolences. It seems you are another victim of Sudden Infant Octopus Death Syndrome. Something must be up for them to have perfect conditions and dying on all caretakers.

They may just be very young. As Jean says, many more octos are born than are expected to make it to adulthood. This may have been happening all along. I didn't record the ones that died on arrival because so many made it successfully.

Nancy

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I will write and let octopets know, maybe everyone else who has had a recent death should too, maybe they should keep them a few weeks longer before they send them out.

So sorry to hear... I hope you will try again. When we have success, the experience is truly amazing.

Carol

So sorry to hear that he's passed away.
RIP :angelpus: .

:cry: It so sad when something dies.

The website says that Octopets only guarantees live arrival, and even then you only get a store credit for the retail price and you have to pay for shipping again.

Even though he is selling "as is," this has been a particularly rough experience for you -- two in a row -- maybe if you called him he could meet you half way on the next one.

Dan

Hi DC, Sorry to hear about your wee octo :sad: :cry:

The bubbler may be the problem. If they get bubbles in the mantle cavity it can be fatal. Given that your wee one was showing a suicidal tendency to play in the bubbles......:cry:

We don't even have airlifts (like we do in the other tanks in the aq) in the octi tank, although they should be less of a problem as the bubbles go directly to the surface of the tank.

I don't know your tank set up but if you can get a cannister filter or fluvial or something of that type it should be able to oxygenate the water without a bubbler.

What do others use????

J

You may just have a point there Jean -- My tank is super-bubbly, I had hoped that it would put extra oxygen into the water as I had read that could be a problem sometimes. I guess I will re-configure before I try again, thanks for the input :tentacle:

Im sorry to hear about the death of your octo! I just received mine from octopets a few days ago and he seems to be ok, he was pretty active at first and now I rarely see him, I have tried to feed him but dont know if he's even eating, I know he's alive. He's about the size of a quarter, what can I feed him?? Any ideas anyone??? Please help.

Hi Art,

Glad your octo is OK so far. You can feed the clams from Octopets, if you bought them. If not, try small hermit crabs, snails, pieces of thawed frozen shrimp or pieces of fresh scallop.

If you have a mature tank, it will have lots of amphipods and it may be eating these.

It's not unusual for an octo to be active on arrival and then disappear for a time.

When you figure out a name for him, let me know and I'll add him to the list of Bimac Siblings (first thread in this forum).

Nancy