I'm looking for a nice, enclosable pet for when I move out. (new house has a no dogs/cats/big thing policy)

I've always loved having pets and have always been in awe of the Octopus with all it's wriggly, colour changing glory.

I'm still looking into tanks, food and caring for the eight legged fiends, just posting to get some Octi advice.

I'll probably go for a small breed such as a pygmy Octopus or possibly a cuttlefish to start off with.

The closest thing to an octi i've cared for is two goldfish, they did survive for 8 years though and grew to be massive.

Any guides on octopus care would be greatly appreciated :)

Hi Mr. Peg! Welcome to TONMO.com. First things first, check out the "Articles" link on the menu at the top of our site, and then choose Ceph Care. You'll want to read up on those articles as they will steer you in the right direction! Also be sure to read through the Ceph Care forums. There's gold in there... Good luck!

Welcome to Tonmo, and ditto what Tony said !
greg

Had a good read of the articles and i reckon i'll probably go for a bimac as they'll last longer than a pygmy.

I'm still abit hazy on which filters, skimmers and pumps to use, theres just so much on offer.

If someone could recommend a good set of equipment that's not too pricey (telemarketing pays little :P), I've already seen a few tanks that'd fit perfectly in my new living room (50-100 gallons) so I'm ok in that respect.

Oh and european dealers would be nice, dont really want to pay too much on delivery.

Thanks in advance,

Peg

:welcome:
If you use the Tonmo search engine and just type in whatever you are wanting to research,skimmers, for instance, or filters, you will find tons of information. Be prepared to spend a lot of time reading, however. There is an enormous amount of stuff there.
Where in Europe? We have members in the UK and members on the continent.

I'm in the UK (Bolton ftw :razz: ), will be ordering a 70 gallon tank shortly (nice corner aquarium with a base cabinet, pricey but pretty).

The search function has decided to throw up no results for me no matter what i search:silenced: so it looks like a lengthy trawl through google while I'm supposed to be working to find pumps, skimmers etc :wink:

I suppose with the time to recieve, install and prepare the tank it'll be out of season for bimacs, any UK peeps can recommend a good octo supplier?

:welcome: Peg. I'm not from the UK (well..not since I was 7 and I'm........er............a little older now! :lol: ). But the best advice I can give you is don't rush into this! Take your time! cephs can be hard to keep. You'll need to cycle your tank and filters etc for at least 3 months BEFORE you add in a ceph of any type. Also it pays to get a source of food ready before the ceph comes home, some octis won't have a bar of anything that isn't a live kicking crab athers can be trained to take dead shrimps etc. Also get good test kits for water quality, octopus produce HEAPS of waste but they are also very sensitive to poor quality water!

I don't mean to sound discouraging (honestly I'm not!) It's just if you take your time and getting everything set up just so before hand the whole experience will be so much better for you AND the octi!

Cheers

Jean

One thing to keep in mind is that if you're in the UK you won't be able to find a bimac. You'll be dealing with a different cephalo-fauna than most of us americans.

Also, you should look around for aquarium clubs. You might be able to find a good used tank and equipment for cheap.

Dan

But doesn't that Colin guy have a bimac? He's in the UK right?

If you mean my co-moderator, Colin Dunlop, he's in Scotland.

Colin's kept several different species of octopus, but I don't believe any of them turned out the be the species that he'd ordered!

Nancy

Scotland is in the UK.. I'm sure I saw a picture of a Bimac and the caption said it was his.

Yeah , that Colin guy has kept bimaculoides in the past... the pics are here

http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=2
http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=4
http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=5

:sagrin:

nancy is mostly right in that every time I have ordered vulgaris I get anything but :)

Mr Peg
You best bet would be BAS in Bolton, it's right on your doorstep, although I think you will need to go in and make a special request for octopus species... either that or find a shop that buys their marine fish from TMC and ask for a Californian Octopus - Thats bimaculoides over here

Cheers

Do you know of any places that could get hold of one is the London or Essex area?

No, not personally, but TMC Chorleywood supplies a lot of marine fish and inverts in the London area, give them a call and see who they supply near you, then ask if they can supply an octopus to the shop... with the shop's permission and the shop will add their mark-up...

TMC Chorleywood 01923 284151 Office hours 9 - 5

Thanks alot! :)