Hi there people...

This week was a nail-biter for Westina and I. On Sunday, the crabs seemed listless, Ossie didn't make an appearance and we got really worried.

For the next three days, we could see Ossie moving in her den, but never out nor showing any tentacles. I started doing daily water changes of 20% on Saturday, but the ammonia levels still remained high.

Sunday through Wednesday, every day, twice a day, I'd stare into her tank, removing any thing that might produce ammonia in hopes of trying to control the levels. Tuesday, I decided to leave the light on inside her tank while we were out in hopes that some bacteria would start growing. Tuesday, I also stopped the daily water changes.

Finally, Tuesday, I got the ammonia levels down to .25 but the nitrate levels were rising (seemed to have skipped the nitrite stage). But further good news occurred. Her tentacles batted away a nearby shrimp that was close to one of her entrances.

Both W. and I breathed better that night and the next day, W. saw her tentacles when she was cleaning out the tank.

However, we were most concerned because we couldn't really find any evidence of feeding. Yes, it seemed like the hermit crab population was dwindling, but was it because we couldn't find some of the crabs? Yes, the ghost shrimp we were putting in seemed to disappear too, but was it cause they were drowning and bristle worms were getting to them?

By Wednesday night, we had convinced ourselves that Ossie was doing worse, even though the levels of ammonia had remained at .25, the nitrate and nitrite wasn't rising and I was buffing the water to ensure the ph at above 8.0. Sad and disheartened we went to bed.

The next morning, after a little disturbance, we finally saw a tentacle, proving that she was alive. (It's amazing how pms will work to convince one of the worst possible scenario).

Last night, we had decided to buy some frozen shrimp since we weren't convinced she was hunting for herself (despite the fact that we can only find 7 of the 15 crabs). W hovered over the top of the tank for half an hour, holding a shrimp with chopsticks, near the various entrances of her den. Suddenly, she let out a shriek. "Ossie grabbed the shrimp!"

A tentacle had darted out, grabbed the shrimp and was trying to drag it down the crevice. Excitedly, W. waited for a while, but the shrimp was too big for the hole. So, I took over, and got a smaller shrimp. Sure enough, Ossie grabbed that and pulled it into the hole as I tried to stuff it down.

10 minutes later, W got another shrimp and was waving it around the entrances. The older shrimp comes flying out the bottom entrance (we realized that that's her trash chute) and a tentacle reaches out and drags the new shrimp into a hole, effectively plugging it up.

Then when we put the older shrimp near the crevice again, a tentacle darts out, pulling that one into and plugging that hole up. As we continued watching, two tentacles came out the bottom hole, and pulled two shells over the entrances.

Well, that told us!

Laughing, we left her alone, feeling much better. Three hours later (after SEVERAL rounds on Fight Night Round 3), I went to go check on her. And there Ossie was, hanging in her crevice, giving me the eye. I shook W. awake and we watched her hanging there for about 5 minutes before letting her sleep.

This morning, ph was down but everything else was the same. I will try to get some pictures this weekend.

Sharon

Your octopus sure is a hardy one! If your ammonia levels are staying the same any variation that you have observed in nitrates may just be within the error of the test. See if you can find a saltwater hobbyist in the area who'll give you a used filter pad: It will be covered with denitrifying bacteria and will give your cycle a big kick.

I hope your good luck continues :)

Dan

It's normal that pH is lower at night - something I worried about for a long time until I put a contant-read-out pH monitor on my tank.

I've enjoyed very much reading about Ossie. Please keep posting reports like this!

Nancy

Thanks for keeping us posted on Ossie, I was beginning to worry about her. Good job on keeping on top of the water quality issues. Keep working on getting the ammonia down. You are lucky to have such an engaging octopus.

I don't know what it is about my karma - I seem to attract animals with a princess quality about them. People have been saying that about my cat, Ashley, for years.

Well, I think Ossie is about to usurp that throne.

When I got home tonight, I did my usual job of inspecting the tank, testing the ammonia (.25), cleaning out the dead things when I spied movement behind her den near the entrance we call the trash chute. The shell that W. thought was a snail was being moved. As I took a longer look, tentacles soon followed the movement, then eyes, then a full mantle. Ossie looked directly at me, let the shell go, then undulated herself back inside her den.

I dutifully removed the offending shell.

It seems Ossie is far smarter than the humans who are her servants.

We have been trying to entice Ossie out of her den for the past few days with no success. She is very responsive still; when W. puts a stick near her when trying to clean behind the den, tentacles come out and wrap themselves around the stick.

And it seems she enjoys shrimp much more than crabs. The crab population has remained stable, as have the snails. However, one to three shrimp are disappearing - whenever our backs are turned or our eyes are shut.

Saturday night, W. stayed up about 3 hours past when she usually goes to bed, just to outwait Ossie. But she waited until we turned off all the lights, including the red one inside the tank before devouring 2 shrimp that night. So, then I had the bright (get it?) idea of leaving the red light on all night.

The first night, all three shrimp were alive by the morning. By the time I got home from work, all three were gone. The second night, I had placed one large ghost shrimp and one small one in her tank. In the morning, W. spotted the large one.

She turned off the red light, and went back to bed. 15 minutes later, we were at the tank, doing the morning tests and examination. Apparently, within those 15 minutes, Ossie had hunted down the large one!

And yes, we see her moving inside the den - breathing very slow and steady. But, she thwarts our every attempt at catching sight of her, much less another photo.

Sharon

:lol: Outsmarted by your octo! I love it! Glad to hear Ossies doing so well!

Carol

I'm still thinking the red filter on your light is letting enough of the white through for Ossie to see it as bright (probably because I've been reading all the "ceph color vision" sections in the Hanlon and Messenger book that arrived from amazon yesterday :read: :grin:)... maybe if you want to be sneaky, you could get a red LED flashlight, so you can spy on her with monochromatic red when the light's off... Unfortunately, most red LED lights I've seen don't put out that much light, though... I've found that Fry's electronics carries a lot of LED flashlights, although most of them are the white LEDs rather than the red; I don't remember for certain if they have a bright red one... anyway, both an idea to "decloak" your stealthy friend, and an experiment I'd be interested in, since it sounds pretty likely ossie can see your red tank light somehow!

Smart little beastie!

Not much to report except that today, we tried to feed her frozen shrimp because we noticed that she didn't get any of the shrimp we had put in yesterday, though an empty crab shell was atop her den. Ossie pulled the frozen shrimp into her den, and less than two minutes later, a chewed-on frozen shrimp was stuffed out the back entrance. We're beginning to realize that frozen shrimp apparently doesn't taste as good as the fresh ones. We're slow learners. :lol:

Monty, will take your advice this weekend to search out red LEDs. Dang it, we WILL get a picture of her for you guys one way or another.

How's Ossie? Those of us without octopus (and jealous...) want to live vicariously through your posts. :grin:

After weekend update: W. decided she didn't like our seascape and if she didn't like it, why would Ossie? So, she rearranged our live rock to create paths and caverns and I'll be darned if she didn't entice Ossie into gracing us with her presence.

We turned off the lights and after about 1/2 hour, she goes to see with a small flashlight and startled both herself AND Ossie! Earlier that day, prior to the rearranging of the live rock, we had bought Ossie 5 new red-legged hermit crabs as a change in diet. Compared to the blue-legged variety, these were HUGE! (okay, okay, I'm a little prone to exaggeration, it's only about 1/3 bigger - but I digress).

Well, Ossie apparently came out of her den to check out the new landscape AND to sample the new menu. She was perched atop her den, having just caught one of the new crabs and was in the process of eating when the flashlight found her. Apparently, she didn't enjoy the interruption, and she took her dinner down into the den, to be indulged privately. Also apparently, Ossie has grown quite a bit since she's been in our care - W. claims that her tentacles are about 3 inches long now, compared to the 1-1/2" that she was when she first entered our lives.

I do have a question for you all. I suspect that there is a huge harvest of decaying shells under her den. The fact that bristle worms are swarming near the base gives off a strong indication as well. The ammonia levels have zeroed out (YAY!), so have the nitrites and the nitrates have been pretty steady between 2.5 and 5 even with frequent 20% water changes. Also the fact that I've only found about 5 shrimp shells and 5 crab shells (despite a diet of approx. 2 shrimp and 1 crab every 2 days) tells me there's more decaying things in the tank.

Should I try and move her den to get at the shells underneath? She seemed rather unperturbed by all the shifting rocks this past weekend.

Octopuses usually don't keep decaying food in their den. They're tidy housekeepers and throw out shells and leftovers for you to pick up - like the piece of shrimp she got rid of. Could the shells be somewhere else? Octos are messy eaters, so maybe the bristleworms are just enjoying the scraps left behind.

Oh, and glad to hear that Ossie is doing so well!

Nancy

I read about midden mounds (is that the name?) and that's how some people find octopi in the wild. Hmm, then what could account for the swarming bristle worms near the base of her den? The den is about 4-1/2 inches tall with a base of about 3-1/2 inches. She resides near the middle section and the swarming bristle worms are near the base at one end? Could she have chucked the shells there? Just worried about decaying things in the tank and those darned bristle worms. (accidentally stabbed two in half and now there's 4!)

Thanks for the help!

Sharon

THANKS MONTY!

I got us a red led on Monday evening AND put in an order for a red UV light with nm of 350 which should be totally dark for Ossie to see.

After waiting around for about half an hour peering into the aquarium with the red led, W. saw Ossie.

I think instead of calling her the princess, we're going to be calling her Ossie the Sneak. Apparently Ossie is VERY shy. W. caught her coming out of the back entrance, then swimming along the path of rocks that W. had rearranged for her. At the end of the path in one corner, is a little skull sculpture where the shrimp like to hide, and the other corner is where the crabs like to converge to sleep. I've now decided that the crabs just like that corner because that is where the most amphipods and copapods scurry around; not because Ossie was stacking them.

The first hint we had of her being in that corner was yesterday morning, the pump had been tilted down (the two top suction cups had come off). W. thinks she'd been trying to squeeze behind there for hunting purposes. I think she was just seeing what it was and pulled it down, then it scared her.

Anyway, W. saw her swimming along the path, and then Ossie perched herself on the top of a rock near both the shrimp (which was atop the pump) and the crabs in the corner. At this point, she woke me up to see, but all I got to see was a tentacle behind the rock because Ossie figured out she was getting attention and decided to lurk behind the rock instead of on top of it.

After about 5 min. of not seeing her but an occasional tentacle around the rock, I went back to sleep. The next thing I knew, W. had called out, "The sneak! She swam back to her den along the back and slipped back into her den!" Also, the previous report of her legs being 3 inches was wrong. Ossie's more like 2" long, but still has visibly grown since we first got her.

Hopefully, with the UV light, we'll be able to see more.

Ossie seems to be doing well and she seems to LOVE the red legged hermit crabs more than the blue legged variety. As for ghost shrimp, they're all gone and I'll have to get more for them. Now if only she'd be less shy like your pets.

We can't be food goddesses because she hates the frozen shrimp (having been spoiled on a smorgasbord in her house). Any suggestions as to how we might get to see her instead of staying up to all hours so that we end up missing work cause of oversleeping?

THANKS MONTY!

I got us a red led on Monday evening AND put in an order for a red UV light with nm of 350 which should be totally dark for Ossie to see.


I'm glad that helped! I'm a little confused about what "red UV" means-- I thought UV stood for ultraviolet, but ultraviolet is "bluer than blue," so it can't be red... 350 nm sounds pretty ultraviolet to me, though... I'm wondering if "red UV" is a marketing gimic for reef tanks, in that it's UV "black light" that makes some corals flouresce red or something like that... Unless I'm misunderstanding, I think you may have been misled, though-- a 350nm light will be so far shifted to the blue direction that humans can't see it, but many cephalopods, quite likely including Ossie, can see UV... It's possible 350nm is far enough "blue" that it's outside ossie's visual range, but you won't be able to see it, either.

In general, UV lighting is interesting to humans because there are pigments, including some in a lot of reef tank flora and fauna, that absorb the invisible UV light and re-emit it as visual light, so you're making the stuff in the tank glow like a black-light poster. I guess it's possible that the "red UV" would make stuff glow red in a way that will provide indirect light to see Ossie with, but that Ossie wouldn't see, but it seems likely that even though some stuff will glow red, some other stuff will glow in the blues and greens that Ossie hides from, or that she'll be able to see the UV from the light itself...

Since the red LED flashlight seemed to work, I think you're best bet would be to get tank lighting that also uses red LEDs -- just using google, it looks like there are two main types of red LEDs, that emit at 660nm and 625nm... the 660nm will be more likely to be invisible to Ossie, but is also harder for humans to see... nevertheless, if you can, it's probably better Ossie-viewing for humans to get brighter 660nm than the 625nm.

If you feel ambitious, it's probably not too tough to buy a bunch of red LEDs at somewhere like Fry's or Radio Shack and make your own lighting... just make sure that you get the right size resistor(s) to go in series with them so they don't fry... and maybe use a transformer so they're running on 12 volt DC or something like that instead of directly on wall current.

I'm skeptical enough about this "Red UV" stuff that I'll be very surprised if it works, but it's possible I'm just not correctly understanding what it is.

Monty, here is what I bought: http://www.theledlight.com/stylus_uv.html

Monty, here is what I bought: http://www.theledlight.com/stylus_uv.html

ok... I had thought you meant a light for the whole tank; I didn't realize it was a flashlight. I'm still not sure where the "red" came from-- UV is even more blue than blue!

I still suspect it will be visible to Ossie, but it'll be curious to find out... in any case, it's a cool thing to take to stores that sell blacklight posters, or on disneyland rides like the haunted mansion! Or for doing "junior CSI" forensics... not bad for $26.

I think geologists can use UV lights for something, too... perhaps some of the fossil folks would care to comment...

optically,

- M

Hey Akyu, any luck yet? I'm guessing not! Hopefully you're at least getting some sleep! :mrgreen:

You're half right, Tony. I've only witnessed tentacles but W. has managed to catch Ossie out and about.

So far what we've been able to determine. Ossie is DEFINETELY nocturnal and secretive. She can also see the red LED light I had gotten, and given what Monty said about the UV light, I'm saving that one for Disneyland's Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean. :)

Proof that she can see the red LED light? W. uses that to search for her after all the lights are off in the room. If we wait 20 min. to 45 min after the lights are off, W. can usually catch Ossie somewhere outside the den. As soon as the light finds Ossie, she's off! and back to her den.

Last week, I took the opportunity to go to a LFS where I'd been getting ghost shrimp. They had a cuttlefish expert who worked there once a week and I went to talk to him just to reassure some stuff in my mind because there's a slight part of me that still thinks Ossie's not faring well simply because all I see are tentacles that when I blink to make sure they're really there, they're gone. *sigh*

He basically said that since Ossie's eating and we're doing frequent (2-3 times a week) water changes, she should be fine. I'm really wishing I could see more of her though. Part of my problem is, I have bifocals and therefore, I need to be totally pressed up against the glass without my glasses, or I need to stand in this awkward storklike position with my back hunched over to see into the tank and my head arched back so I can see out of the reading part. Probably should break out the contacts and reading glasses to see her better.

The extent of my stories about Ossie is, I clean behind her den every day. Three days ago, there was a shell back there and I was having a hard time getting to it. It seemed every time I batted it toward me with the chopstick, the water flow in the tank seemed to make it go back to the den! I asked W. to help figure out how to get the shell and when she looked inside the tank, she started to laugh. Ossie had her tentacle inside the shell and was playing with me!

W. had been able to witness her swimming about, and even lurking inside the hollow plastic skull we had gotten for her, probably lying in wait for the ghost shrimp. (It's one of those tank decorations, a pirate skull) But again, as soon as W. finds Ossie, Ossie heads back to the den to outwait the pesky human servants.

Sharon

For only living with you for the past couple of weeks, it sounds like Ossie is acclimitizing (is that a word???) really well. As she gets to know you (and terrorize/tease you), she will come out more often.

acclimitizing (is that a word???)

yes, if you spell it acclimatizing... acclimating works, too.

Paydirt!

At 1 am, I decided to take a peak into the tank. I covered up the red LED with my fingers, just letting enough light come through for me to make out outlines in the tank. I looked around her den, nothing. Scan across the tank, nothing. Tried to look inside the skull and realized I had to look in from the side, so I swept the light across the side glass when tentacles flicked in muted beam of light. I jumped, she jumped.

Ossie was under the pump next to crabs ripe for the pickin'. I quickly moved the light away, and stayed still. Holding my breath, I brought the light slowly up and there Ossie was. I think she was holding her breath too trying to figure out my next move. She was spread out on the glass and she has definitely grown lots since she's been under our care. I would estimate her arm length to be about 3 inches now and her mantle about an inch and a half.

Okay, I have a question for you all. Since Ossie is noctornul and secretive, when the new tank is ready, how do we move her? Do we just pick up the den and move it into the new tank? What would stress her out the least?

Thanks! Beamingly yours,

Sharon

Man, what a weekend this has been - not good.

No, it's not Ossie. She is doing remarkably well. We both got to see her for a while tonight after we got back and she is still growing.

I just have to share... so sorry for spilling guts here, k?

First, my best friend's mother who had basically adopted me as hers, died on Tuesday. Then on Saturday, en route to L.A. our rental car breaks down 120 miles outside of L.A. We get to our destination 4 hours later than we had planned.

Then W. suffers a relapse of her chest cold and I finally catch it, so our excursion to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific was scantily skimmed, because neither of us had the energy to really enjoy each exhibit. We did get to see their new Giant Pacific Octopus though, and poor thing hid in a corner the entire time we were there.

Then I wake up in the middle of the night, spewing my guts due to the chest cold.

And then, after the funeral, we come home to an empty 40 gallon tank; it had sprung a leak while we were gone and our investment of pumps, live rock, live sand, and hermit crabs went down the drain literally. Not only that, we have to pay for our neighbor's replacement carpet padding.

The bright side is, Ossie is getting less shy with us. She came out of her den soon after we had turned down the lights, far earlier than before (we had only been able to see her after midnight and this was 9:45 pm) and stayed out even after we turned on the lights. Only when I dumped 3 ghost shrimp into her tank, did she finally slink back into her den but even so, it was very very very slowly. As I was trying to capture the elusive shrimp, W. was calling out, "She's got three tentacles still out... her mantle is still out... ooh look! she's got one tentacle still out and she can't fit her mantle in the hole... Oh! She finally squeezed her eyeball through the hole!"

Soon after we had resealed the tank and turned off the lights, Ossie came out of the back of her den and probably already caught a ghost shrimp.

I am heartbroken about my crabs but it seems Ossie is finally getting used to us. She is now out of her den and I've turned on the light. So far so good. She is staying out of her den. We'll try to get a picture for you all.

Sharon

Well, W. was successful in getting two movies of Ossie tonight. Here's the first of Ossie attempting to catch a shrimp, but missing. (http://www.vimeo.com/clip:67074) and the second of Ossie retreating back to her den in disgust after missing the prey (http://www.vimeo.com/clip:67076).

This is the first time we've tried to upload a video to the web. Hope it works.

W. managed to get a very nice still photo of Ossie tonight as well. http://www.geocities.com/shairwriter/Hangingout.jpg

What a lovely little beasty! Is that an eye spot, I see before me?

Very nice to finally see a photo of Ossie? Yes, is that an eyespot?
Coould it be that she's a young octo rather than a dwarf?

Very sorry about your tank and the terrible trip. I could only think that you were so fortunate that Ossie wasn't in the tank that failed.

Nancy

http://www.geocities.com/shairwriter/Ossie_octopus.jpg

I don't know, is that an eyespot?... Thanks Nancy, yeah both W. and I were so thankful that it wasn't Ossie's tank and that we hadn't moved her yet into the larger tank.

W. is working on a longer movie of Ossie. She will probably have it ready by the end of the day.

Yeah, OB, W. and I both think Ossie's simply beautiful, but then we're prejudiced lol

awww what a cute octo.
has your wife complaned yet that her husband is spending tomuch time on tonmo? :wink:


chris

Nah Chris, my partner spends just as much time as I do, only as lurker status. She's the one spending time cutting and splicing up the movies for all to see!

So, Nancy, are those eyespots?

We're now panicking that we have to move Ossie soon (if she isn't a dwarf and will grow at the same rate if not faster as she's been) and since we just lost about $700 in investments and will now have to replace my neighbor's carpet, will we have to forgo the mortgage? Ack!

Were the live rock and sand still damp? You might be able to save those parts of your set-up... Do they smell really bad??? Then it might be too late.

No, the live rock and sand were completely dried out by the time we got home. We're going to dump them in salt water in a huge rubber bin, and let it sit there until we're ready to start our new tank again. W. has her eye on a 75 gal already, and we'll have to get some more live rock and sand then to seed the tank (the amount we have is enough for a 40 gal but not for a 75 gal.) I figure the rocks and sand will be *really* cured then :lol

We're pretty sure Ossie's a mercatoris; after all, a professor of marine biology specializing in cephalopods id'ed her. But, there's always that chance he mis-identified, so any help would be appreciated.

We're looking at bills and finances; I think at the latest, we'll have the new tank started in June. With any luck and careful financial planning, we may even be able to purchase the 75 gal. this weekend. (but there goes my MacBook Pro! *sigh*)

Here are some pictures of Octopus mercatoris from CephBase
http://www.cephbase.utmb.edu/imgdb/imgsrch2.cfm
Click on image gallery and then the pull down menu for O. mercatoris.
Does she have little "horns" above her eyes? Does she have any "horns (really papillae...) on the end of her mantle ("head")?

Cuttlegirl, looking at those photos on Cephbase, Ossie looks more like an Octopus Digueti more than the bimacs (either one) or even the Octopus Mercatoris. But then it's hard to tell since we mostly see her under the red LED light.

She has no horns above her head.

Last night, we got her a special treat - a little red crab. Poor crab didn't last 6 hours in the tank. I found 8 legs and an empty shell this morning. I guess Ossie really liked it.

We think she inked a little last night - she's really timid around the camera now, even though she was showing off in front of the camera the night before (hopefully be able to post it tonight). We did an immediate water change and she seems to be okay this morning. (The crab was eaten after the water change).

yeah, i was thinking that the little fela didnt look like a bimac..


chris

Well, W. got the video together and through various trials and errors, we finally figured out where to host it.

Movie of Ossie - 1:35 min. long (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVtjgxQNXvc)

Sorry for the fuzziness. This was shot under red LED light, with a digital camera and not a video camera. Plus, the transfer first to a quicktime movie and then Youtube converts the video to a flash animation and therefore the quality dropped even more. Watching this at work on a PC, it was really apparent how sharp the quality drop was, but it's the best we can do at this point, given a shy nocturnal Ossie, an early bird W. and our desire to purchase a larger home for Ossie so limited $.

Please let us know if you wish to see a clearer movie. We can send you the url to the quicktime movie.

Very nice video - I don't think I've seen one of a nocturnal octo before - yes, she's cute!

You might also want to contact Tony (tonmo). He can put videos onto Tonmo.

Nancy

great video! thats the first time i have seen an octopus under a red light...
BTW: hows the little cheph doing?


chris

Nice video! Did anyone watch the camaflauge one also? I recognize the coloration of some of my octopuses I've had. Must be a standard coloring for matching a bed of seaplants.

Thanks all! The credit goes to W. and Ossie, without whom the movie wouldn't have existed at all. (Still a little bitter that Ossie deems me as the clean-up crew and W. as the one to show off in front of).

Ossie seems to be doing fine - a bit overcrowded at the moment but fine. Since the inking the other night, she's been reticent to come out even in the red light. I keep getting glimpses of her behind her den but as soon as she spots the red light, she heads back into her den. W. has been showing much more restraint than I in terms of looking for her.

I have a question for you all. I've noticed that in a lot of videos featured here on Tonmo, there's some live rock in the tanks, but instead of 1 to 1-1/2 lbs for every gallon, it seems to be a lesser ratio. Should this be the case for the 75-gal we're purchasing?

I used about 1 pound per gallon, since 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per gallon are recommended. You have to allow plenty of room for your octopus to move and swim - it's nice to have a little "beach" area in the front of the tank, too. So that's why some people use a bit less (and cost).

Nancy

Man, the Gods up there just doesn't want us to set up a larger tank for Ossie!

Two Fridays ago, we had bought all the materials for our new 75-gallon tank. Every night prior to that Friday, W. had observed Ossie swimming about the tank at night, playing with one thing or another.

The coolest thing W. observed was Ossie seeming to dance to flickering lights. I had bought a little battery operated fountain for W. The fountain has oscillating lights, (blue, green, red, white) and cycles through the various lights, casting color on the wall behind it.

The first few nights we had the fountain on, Ossie would swim to that corner of the tank, dance along the water's edge, then swim down to the substrate, and then swim back up to the water line, almost swaying in time to the oscillating lights. I wish we had gotten video of it, but Ossie has developed a fear of the camera. Whenever she sees it, off she swims to her den.

Anyway, W. was at the Octopus Gardens picking up the tank, the stand, and 60 gallons of water. Earlier that week, I had gotten the new protein skimmer and a couple of new pumps. I was on the phone with W., when I realized our phone was dying. At the same time, the DSL was conking out as well.

Investigating the source, I soon found out that our condo was being flooded AGAIN. This time from our upstairs neighbor's dishwasher. About 20 gallons of water was dumped into my living room/kitchen and the laminate flooring that the tank was going to sit on, was pretty much ruined.

Needless to say, all plans for the 75-gallon has been put off. Nothing can be done until the floor is replaced, the drywall dried off, and the kitchen cabinet replaced. *heavy sigh*

Soon after that, Tonmo suffered the server problems and to be honest, both W. and I don't even want to walk into a LFS to just look around right now. We both really want the larger tank cause we're sure Ossie would be happier in it but we're stuck in limbo right now. We don't want the tank set up anywhere else in the house because we just can't fathom setting it up, then having to move it two months later.

In the meantime, Ossie's water levels have leveled off and remained stable. We're doing water changes at least once a week and we're doing our best to not to look at anything relating to tanks in the meantime.

I've asked W. to take more movies of Ossie if she could. I have a very hard time seeing her with my bifocals and therefore have left the sightings to her. I did manage to see a tentacle flick out of the back of her den yesterday, to chase away an errant hermit crab that wandered too close. Occasionally, W. will call out and from the light of the television I can see a shadow swim across the back of the tank. On those occasions, I often think that the Batman was misnamed - that the name Octoman is more appropo, because of the blending into the shadows, flitting across the dark, and the ability to strike fear into the hearts of crabs and shrimp everywhere.

S.

How's Ossie doing? We haven't had any updates in awhile...

Just a thought on the fear of the camera, do you shut the flash off? I found they hate the flash.

Carol

Cuttlegirl and Carol, thanks for your concern and suggestions for Ossie.

Life has been crazy here. It looks like I'm going to have to sue my upstairs neighbor for damages because it's been close to four weeks and she's done nothing. Therefore, the larger tank is sitting on my floor looking forlorn and lonely without critters in it.

As for Ossie, she's still stuck in the small 5.5 gallon tank. She hasn't been venturing out lately (but it could be the glow of the TV) so neither of us has seen much of her except tentacles darting out of her den.

We were afraid that she was getting bored, so we got her favorite food (tiny red crabs that look like crabs and aren't hermits) which are expensive as all out (compared to ghost shrimp) and then as a last minute gift, we got a green chromis for her to play with.

Since I had been worried about her eating habits, we were watching for remains very carefully. Sure enough, one of the two crabs we got was eaten on the first night.

And that night, we saw tentacles come flickering out of her den to experience Flit (the green chromis). Flit chose (we thought stupidly but it may end up being a good choice) the back of her den as her hiding spot. Flit was a VERY nervous nellie her first night, but since then has settled into a seemingly calm existence. She is still sleeping behind Ossie's den but we haven't really observed how they are together yet.

Here's the neat thing: the second crab was left alone.

Why is it neat? Well, we've come to two conclusions about why the crab was left alone. First off, Ossie has a tendency to leave ONE species of something in her tank - the exception being ghost shrimp. We have some blue legged hermits in her tank but she prefers the red legged type. However, when we got her six of those, she promptly ate all of them but one. She did the same thing with the cerith snails and the Astrea snails. Left one of each.

The other reason we've come up with is, I was moving some of the rocks around to get at the empty crab shell, when the surviving red crab fell off the rock I was moving. Well, the survivor apparently didn't survive the fall (of 6 inches!) because it didn't flip itself over and when I did notice it moving a few minutes later, it was because a bristle worm was trying to move it!

Could Ossie have known that it was a dying crab and chosen not to eat it?

Anyway, after she ate the red crab, the next night she went after the conch snail FINALLY, after 6 weeks.

Here's my problem: the water stinks of snail carcass (unmistakable odor) and I cannot find the carcass. We are doing daily water changes until the carcass disintegrates or the smell goes away (whichever comes first), but what else can be done? I don't think I want to disturb her den to go searching there.

Any suggestions would be welcome!

Oh and Carol, yeah, after capturing Ossie that one time with a really good photo, we have stopped using the flash altogether and only use movie mode where we are able to get somewhat clearer pictures.

Try to find the snail carcass!!! It is going to wreak havoc on your tiny system!!! I know what you mean about the smell, yuck. One time I was carrying a dead nemertean worm that was about 5 feet long in a glass container (first stupid mistake) and I dropped in the faculty hallway... Let's just say the professors weren't particularly happy with the aroma...

Anyway, back to your topic, glad to hear Ossie still has you two spoiling her :grin:

So we've been checking the water the last three days since we found the empty conch shell but no remnants and I've smelled the icky smell. For the past day, W. has been opening up the tank, taking a deep whiff and saying, "Doesn't smell that bad." And she's the one with the sense of smell in the family.

I've been cracking open the feeder slot and taking a deep whiff and making a face at the odor. Tonight, we opted for another water change since I smelled it again and when she opened up the tank, she was right - it didn't smell that bad!

Apparently, I had dripped some snail juice or blood or something onto the masking tape that covers the feeder slot and THAT was what I had been smelling.

We're rearranging the live rock tonight to give her a place to re-explore. While we were doing that, all of a sudden, tentacles dart out the back of the den and a ghost shrimp gives up the ghost. I guess dinner must go on.

Oh, and somehow Flit the green chromis managed to scare W. tonight by swimming right at her while her face was close to the surface of the water. I couldn't stop laughing for a minute or two.

One time I was carrying a dead nemertean worm that was about 5 feet long in a glass container (first stupid mistake) and I dropped in the faculty hallway... Let's just say the professors weren't particularly happy with the aroma...


Hmm, what were your grades that semester? :lol: