Caligula - Octopus Briareus from Tom's Caribbean
After a several month long planning/setup/cycling process, I finally got my hands on an Octopus yesterday. The octopus, O. Briareus, came in at 9:30 am from Tom's Caribbean.
Temp: 72.5
ph: 7.2
Acclimation
The bag was covered in newspaper. I opened it slowly - removing a bit more every couple of minutes so as not to scare the new arrival. Once uncovered, I cut the top off of the bag and set it in a critter keeper (pics will be posted when I stop being lazy). I didn't drip acclimate like many of you. Instead, I added about an ounce of water every five minutes. Once the ph in the bag and my tank were within .05 of each other, I placed the bag in the tank and snagged it on the glass lid such that the open side of the bag was in the tank. It took him all of 30 seconds to realize that he could get out of the bag. He crawled on the glass for a moment before disappearing into the rocks.
As is usually the case, the octopus was a bit stressed during acclimation. The only movement I observed during the entire 2.5 hour acclimation was heavy breathing and repositioning of several tentacles.
side note:
The digital ph tester I bought a couple of weeks ago was very helpful. It allowed me to see exactly how far along I was in the acclimation. It was also instrumental in ensuring standard increases in ph. When you drip acclimate something, the rate of change is greater towards the beginning of acclimation than the end.
size:
He or she, I don't know at this point, is fairly large - 2 to 2.5 inch mantle with probably a 20 inch arm span, it was hard to tell from his brief walk on the glass.
Since acclimation - first 24 hours
The octopus has found a nice spot in the rocks which cannot be seen from the front of the tank. I only know it is there because it kicks up sand periodically. It appears he has chosen that spot for his den.
There were 4 shore shrimp, 6 fiddler sized crabs in the tank (2 "assorted" and 4 emerald crabs), 15 hermits, and a damsel. This morning, 18 hours after being introduced into the tank, I noticed the remains of one of the crabs strewn about the tank six inches from the octopuses den. I surmise the octopus had himself a meal while I was asleep, but it is possible it lost a fight with one of the other crabs and was "cleaned up". The total number of crabs seems to have dwindled, but of this I am uncertain.
I will be updating this with pictures when it finally feels comfortable enough to come out. Most of the pictures I took during acclimation didn't turn out well due to the purposeful lack of lighting in the room.
I am interested to hear comments from those of you that have owned briareus concerning age and size. Tom said he was probably six months old, but his size guestimate was a bit low (1.5 inch mantle, 7 inch arms). How long do you think it has left?
What are some common signs of senility? I have read on some journals that the octopus tried to get out of the bag/bucket during acclimation. I saw no such behavior, and I haven't seen much movement.
After a several month long planning/setup/cycling process, I finally got my hands on an Octopus yesterday. The octopus, O. Briareus, came in at 9:30 am from Tom's Caribbean.
Temp: 72.5
ph: 7.2
Acclimation
The bag was covered in newspaper. I opened it slowly - removing a bit more every couple of minutes so as not to scare the new arrival. Once uncovered, I cut the top off of the bag and set it in a critter keeper (pics will be posted when I stop being lazy). I didn't drip acclimate like many of you. Instead, I added about an ounce of water every five minutes. Once the ph in the bag and my tank were within .05 of each other, I placed the bag in the tank and snagged it on the glass lid such that the open side of the bag was in the tank. It took him all of 30 seconds to realize that he could get out of the bag. He crawled on the glass for a moment before disappearing into the rocks.
As is usually the case, the octopus was a bit stressed during acclimation. The only movement I observed during the entire 2.5 hour acclimation was heavy breathing and repositioning of several tentacles.
side note:
The digital ph tester I bought a couple of weeks ago was very helpful. It allowed me to see exactly how far along I was in the acclimation. It was also instrumental in ensuring standard increases in ph. When you drip acclimate something, the rate of change is greater towards the beginning of acclimation than the end.
size:
He or she, I don't know at this point, is fairly large - 2 to 2.5 inch mantle with probably a 20 inch arm span, it was hard to tell from his brief walk on the glass.
Since acclimation - first 24 hours
The octopus has found a nice spot in the rocks which cannot be seen from the front of the tank. I only know it is there because it kicks up sand periodically. It appears he has chosen that spot for his den.
There were 4 shore shrimp, 6 fiddler sized crabs in the tank (2 "assorted" and 4 emerald crabs), 15 hermits, and a damsel. This morning, 18 hours after being introduced into the tank, I noticed the remains of one of the crabs strewn about the tank six inches from the octopuses den. I surmise the octopus had himself a meal while I was asleep, but it is possible it lost a fight with one of the other crabs and was "cleaned up". The total number of crabs seems to have dwindled, but of this I am uncertain.
I will be updating this with pictures when it finally feels comfortable enough to come out. Most of the pictures I took during acclimation didn't turn out well due to the purposeful lack of lighting in the room.
I am interested to hear comments from those of you that have owned briareus concerning age and size. Tom said he was probably six months old, but his size guestimate was a bit low (1.5 inch mantle, 7 inch arms). How long do you think it has left?
What are some common signs of senility? I have read on some journals that the octopus tried to get out of the bag/bucket during acclimation. I saw no such behavior, and I haven't seen much movement.