Research question - octopus eggs

[Lynne Kelly]

Hi all, I have a question about octopus eggs in an aquarium. But to be clear, no, I don't have an octopus in a tank! I have a children's novel about an octopus coming out in Summer '25, and I'm working on some revisions now. I'm wondering if an octopus lays eggs in a tank (which of course would have a lid), would the eggs be stuck to the underside of the lid? I have the characters in this wildlife center continuing to offer food to the mother octopus, even though she's not likely to take it. Then it occurred to me that it might not be possible to do that without harming the eggs, if they're attached to the lid of the aquarium. I don't name the species in the book but this is on the TX Gulf Coast, so it'd probably be a common octopus.

 

[pkilian]

In a well-designed aquarium there should be plenty of rock work with small nooks and crannies for the octopus to hole up in to lay her eggs. I use coffee mugs as hides for my animals but many people build rock structures for their octos to hide in. I would recommend having something like that in your book's octopus tank.
I would suggest looking at how people on this forum have set up their tanks and using something similar in your book. Likely the mom would be hiding in her rock den with the eggs behind her (see how they are in my profile picture), so lifting the lid of the tank to access the animal should be no problem.

 

[Lynne Kelly]

In a well-designed aquarium there should be plenty of rock work with small nooks and crannies for the octopus to hole up in to lay her eggs. I use coffee mugs as hides for my animals but many people build rock structures for their octos to hide in. I would recommend having something like that in your book's octopus tank.
I would suggest looking at how people on this forum have set up their tanks and using something similar in your book. Likely the mom would be hiding in her rock den with the eggs behind her (see how they are in my profile picture), so lifting the lid of the tank to access the animal should be no problem.

Oh, that makes sense! She does have a rock cave in there, so I could have her lay the eggs there since that'd make more sense than having them in the open area of the tank. I like the image of the characters seeing the strands of eggs near the surface, but I want it to be realistic too. Thank you!

 

[Lynne Kelly]

Just thought of something else-- would it be okay to put an object in the tank that was found on the beach the octopus came from? I'm thinking of something like a concrete pipe, as long as there are no sharp edges. I assume an old metal pipe would be avoided in case it had lead in it, but I'm wondering if there's a reason to generally avoid using objects found on the beach.
Thanks!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

would it be okay to put an object in the tank that was found on the beach the octopus came from? I'm thinking of something like a concrete pipe, as long as there are no sharp edges. I assume an old metal pipe would be avoided in case it had lead in it, but I'm wondering if there's a reason to generally avoid using objects found on the beach.

It depends on the object:

-Thoroughly cured concrete (i.e. concrete that has been soaking in water for a long time) would be fine - if it was uncured, then it would effect the water chemistry of the tank by raising alkalinity and pH, possibly leaching unwanted things, etc.

-You would definitely want to avoid metals that could harm the octopus - copper, brass, anything rusting, etc. are all things you would want to avoid.

-You may also want to avoid things like large pieces of driftwood, as woods can add things like tannins to a tank, which lower pH and impact the water color (blackwater aquariums can be beautiful, but would be odd for an octopus tank) - small pieces likely wouldn't be an issue, but it may depend on the type of wood.

-Some plastic items would be fine, but some paints and such on them may be toxic.

-Things like seashells, rocks from the beach, etc. should all be fine.

 

[Lynne Kelly]

It depends on the object:

-Thoroughly cured concrete (i.e. concrete that has been soaking in water for a long time) would be fine - if it was uncured, then it would effect the water chemistry of the tank by raising alkalinity and pH, possibly leaching unwanted things, etc.

-You would definitely want to avoid metals that could harm the octopus - copper, brass, anything rusting, etc. are all things you would want to avoid.

-You may also want to avoid things like large pieces of driftwood, as woods can add things like tannins to a tank, which lower pH and impact the water color (blackwater aquariums can be beautiful, but would be odd for an octopus tank) - small pieces likely wouldn't be an issue, but it may depend on the type of wood.

-Some plastic items would be fine, but some paints and such on them may be toxic.

-Things like seashells, rocks from the beach, etc. should all be fine.

Okay, thanks! I'm thinking they'll find a smallish concrete pipe that's washed up on the beach, possibly from an old building that's now underwater (like in Indianola, TX), so it's been in the seawater for a long time.

 

[SanClementeEric]

There was a recent story of a diver that found a deadly octopus in his gear after spending time doing coastal cleanup.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article281036833.html

 

[Lynne Kelly]

There was a recent story of a diver that found a deadly octopus in his gear after spending time doing coastal cleanup.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article281036833.html

Yikes, that would be scary!