ok this sux, i got up this morning and my octo was in the power head, well not fully, only 4 legs we n they got chopped up, he was still alive and when i was trying to get him out he was inking like mad, after i finally did (10 mins of struggling) he finally came loose n jetted into his den.......

Is he gonna die?!??!?!?! plz say no that he can grow his legs back.

My first cuttle died that way. i felt so bad.

sorry to hear about that, i had starfish do the same, gutted.

apparently they do grow back, but you probably wanna start doing iodine doseage soon to help them heal quicker prior to growing back.

The experts may be able to help you on iodine dosage, i put a drop in about evry day or two for a short period (two weeks) but mine is only 44 uk gallons depends on your water quantity me thinks.

take some photos when you can as it'll help you establish if they are growing back.

good luck!!!

p.s. best get some netting for your pump...but you really didnt need to hear that!!

p.s. best get some netting for your pump...but you really didnt need to hear that!!

The more I read about octos, the more its clear to me that the entire system has to be designed with them in mind. Jamie, you don't have any stinging corals or bristleworms in the tank that might give him another nasty wound while he's vulnerable?

Dan

Yes, they can grow back. Take extra good care of him while he's recovering.

A note to all octo owners: You need to protect your octo by covering intakes (power head and any other intake that your octo has access to) with plastic mesh or sponge. You can use rubber bands or plastic cable ties to secure the mesh.

Nancy

It took me a few years to learn to protect water intakes of powerheads and pumps. Now I would not think of setting up a tank without it. We use foam and have never had a problem, eve with very small juveniles.

However, I couple of days ago I had an experience that convinced by just how difficult it is to completely protect a tank. We are rearing O. mercatoris and the juveniles are housed on to a tank. Each animal is about 1.5 cm mantle length. These guys are completely nocturnal, so I only ever see them if I come into the lab at night. One animal went missing about two weeks ago and I assumed it died and rotted inside a cavity. I tore the system appart and broke up the LR. No octpus, so I decided to use the tank for some hatching Eupremna. As luck would have it, as I was cleaning off some algae, I knocked off the spray bar. It had some gunk in it so I grabbed a brush to clean it out. There was a white mass inside so I tapped the tube a few times. It would not come out, so I inserted the brush. There was a color change and an arm came out one of the holes. The octopus must have been living in the spray arm for at least a week. Given that it could not have gone through the canister filter and impeller, it had to crawl into the tube through one of the spray holes. I measured them and the diameter is 1.7 mm. I've had octopus squeeze into some pretty tight openings, but I would have thought that there was no way it could or would want to crawl through one of these holes. I guess the morale is to secure both your water intake and output openings.

Roy

Sorry to hear. Those unprotected powerheads are trouble. Gimpy was missing a leg when I bought him and it is hard to tell which one it is now. Been 2 months. Hopefully he will recover quickly!

Carol

well i went out n baught spounges to cover the intakes of the powerheads. and i guess i will get some iodine tomorrow from work. but i dont have anything stinging in my tank, mostly stonies and xenia/zoanthids. I hope he makes a fully recovery, he was still doing fine after i pulled him off, inked a few times when i touched him but my carbon will take that out, after he got loose BOOM gone into his den, i saw him about 5 mins ago out on the glass breathing normal again, so thats i good sign i hope.

thanks for the input and advice guys.
Jamie

AH! my serpent star tried to eat my octo like 5 mins ago... "back to the store he goes" :D

oh poo!!!

whats the size of the star and the octo??

concerned as ive got a serpent and i think he's great!

the serpant is has legs about 4 inchs, n the octo is about 8inch. they were fine together until the power head accident, he just tried to eat the legs of the octo that had been torn off.

I'm confused here, did he try to eat the stumps of the octos legs that remained, or the legs that had been severed and were no longer attached to the octo?

Nancy

christ on a bike!!!


your star is tiny compared to the one in my tank....errr about 7inches across, did you mean across??

yeah im also confused over the stumps or the messy bit on the tank floor

on a side note im feedin my crabs with tongs these days...well there actually nipple clamps from an amsterdam sex shop!! ha ha!! but are made completely of plastic and are perfect!!! the crabs go nuts!!! no pun intended :lol:

I'm confused here, did he try to eat the stumps of the octos legs that remained, or the legs that had been severed and were no longer attached to the octo?

Nancy

He grabbed onto the legs of the octo that were still attached. not the severed part, i took those out the tank right away