Name: Robinho
Type: Vulgaris
Weight: 600 grams approx
Location: Indian Ocean
Date: 03/09/2006

Tank
200 litres
Sand
2 x pipes
Bio-mechanical filter (1000 L / Hr filtration rate)
Other inhabittants: 2 fiddler crabs, molluscs, shell slug.

The pictures show Robinho's initial position on entry to the tank.
Later that night the Oki made its way to a black pipe in the tank, after snaring a small trumpetter fish. It camps itself in the pipe most of the day - coming out in the early day & night.

:welcome: Robinho!

Your tank does have a lid, right? How long has your tank been set up? If it hasn't been set up for at least three months, please watch the water parameters closely. You may have to do a lot of water changes to keep the ammonia under control. Do you have live rock or seaweed?

Correct - sturdy plywood lid (always on when I'm not home).
The tank has been cycled for 30 days - no rocks or seaweed
(apart from weedy type grass on the pipes)
I checked the parametters yesterday:
Ph - 8.0
Nitrates - 0.0
Temp - 17oC approx
Salinity - 1.02 approx
I will be checking the tank parametters again this afternoon.
Thankyou for taking interest in the welfare of Robinho.

Glad to hear you have a lid :smile: . What are the nitrates and ammonia levels? He/she looks big. Are there lots of hiding places to make your octopus feel safe? Also, it's always a good sign when the eat (even if it wasn't what you wanted them to eat...).

Ammonia & nitrate levels awaiting test kits - very very soon.
Only 2 large pipes for hiding at the moment.
15% water change occurred on 03/09/2006.
Will be performing 10 % change before the end of the week.
Also looking for large perspex lid with tiny holes for airation & visiblity.
Hopefully will have all this by Friday.

Robinho is coming out of his shelter predominantly now.
I changed approx 10 % of water yesterday
(pre-cautionary as I am unable to determine ammonia levels at the moment).
The shell "slug" was removed just in case it was poisonous.
RIP to crab 1 - did manage to recover a couple of legs.
Last night went into "blob" formation (trying to hide from me).
Invited to play with tennis ball, no response.

I mounted a 3mm perspex lid yesterday & bought a small lantern light.
It has been fixed with bolts & screws to the top of the tank.
However the visibilty has created "hyper activity" now that Robinho can see up. I have come to the conclusion Robinho is just too big. I will be releasing him back to the wild this afternoon. - Will look for a smaller oki in a couple of months (our summer) - its been very intereseting though having Robinho around.
BTW - still feeding well (downed half a herring yesterday).

Thank you for being such a responsible octopus owner! How did you catch Robinho in the first place?

With great difficulty - snorkelling I swumbelled across a pile of shells in front of an old clay pipe. Peering inside I noticed tentacles. Fortunately I had my catch bag with me & managed to carefully place the pipe into the catch bag. It was then transported in a bucket full of sea water to my home. - (It has taken me over 2 months to come across an Oki in the wild) - Last Sunday happened to be my lucky day.

btw - I believe it is actually a cyanea not a vulgaris - apologies.

After 5 days of extreme fascination, it was time to let Robinho back into the wild - (Basically he was too big).
So back i went to the Indian Ocean where once he came from & ceremoniously placed him in the water...God's speed Robinho, who knows we may meet again...

Thanks for doing the right thing. You were able to spend some time with Robinho but then realized that you needed to release him. Good luck with finding a smaller octi!

Nancy

Cyanea has two false eye spot markings on the webbing, can you see them?

I must admit I did not see these markings - perhaps it is a vulgaris after all.

I'm in the preliminary stages of setting up my new aquarium 6ft * 3 ft by 1.5ft tall. After some consideration I've decided to use a gravel bed rather than sand. I have found it very difficult to keep the sand from going "off". Are there any types of gravel \ stone that I should specifically be using?