- Joined
- Apr 16, 2011
- Messages
- 13
Hello everyone, my name is Frank, and I just signed up for Tonmo, though I have read the articles in the past. I have always loved octopus and wanted one as a pet since I was a kid and read about what Jacques Cousteau and later my invert bio professor had to say about them. I finally got one today. I have been keeping marine aquaria (reefs) for about four years. I was also a senior herpetology (reptiles/amphibians) and am now a high school science teacher. So, I have a lot of experience keeping literally hundreds of species of animals but I am completely inexperienced with octopus so I would appreciate all the help I can get!
Recently I plumbed two 20 long tanks into my main 125 gallon display. The bottom one I converted into my new octopus set up. Here are some pics of my main reef and fish room.
Below is a pic of the octo's tank. To secure the top I used gasket around the top rim of the tank and used a reptile cage screen lid with clamps to hold it in place. The pressure from the clamps creates a tight seal. Hopefully it will be sufficient, I know what houdinis these guys are...
Next are some pics of the octopus itself. I would love some help identifying it. It was sold to the fish store only as "reef octopus". They were 90% certain it came from the Caribbean. It's mantle is approximately 1" long. It's arms are about three times the length of it's mantle. He was in the store for several weeks on hold for me and he already eats from hand and will feel my hand when placed in the tank. It almost never tried to hide and is used to human traffic. It is usually a whitish color and mottled but it flashes darker brown when bothered (when I moved it to his new home). Here are some pics of him/her:
Right now he is eating live hermit crabs. I work part time at the LFS so I have no problem getting cheap hermits in bulk but I would appreciate it if someone could point me to a good thread on here that describes the best process for training them to eat frozen food.
Well, that's all for now. Thanks for taking the time to read and I look forward to talking with the members here about my new octopus and to learn more.
Frank
Recently I plumbed two 20 long tanks into my main 125 gallon display. The bottom one I converted into my new octopus set up. Here are some pics of my main reef and fish room.
Below is a pic of the octo's tank. To secure the top I used gasket around the top rim of the tank and used a reptile cage screen lid with clamps to hold it in place. The pressure from the clamps creates a tight seal. Hopefully it will be sufficient, I know what houdinis these guys are...
Next are some pics of the octopus itself. I would love some help identifying it. It was sold to the fish store only as "reef octopus". They were 90% certain it came from the Caribbean. It's mantle is approximately 1" long. It's arms are about three times the length of it's mantle. He was in the store for several weeks on hold for me and he already eats from hand and will feel my hand when placed in the tank. It almost never tried to hide and is used to human traffic. It is usually a whitish color and mottled but it flashes darker brown when bothered (when I moved it to his new home). Here are some pics of him/her:
Right now he is eating live hermit crabs. I work part time at the LFS so I have no problem getting cheap hermits in bulk but I would appreciate it if someone could point me to a good thread on here that describes the best process for training them to eat frozen food.
Well, that's all for now. Thanks for taking the time to read and I look forward to talking with the members here about my new octopus and to learn more.
Frank