Hi there,
Akyu is actually my partner and I. We posted about Ossie, our mercatoris the other day, but haven't properly introduced ourselves to you all.
I'm Sharon and my partner is Westina. On a lark, we decided to purchase an octopus and now we're finding our lives revolving around Ossie. We are very new to this, with me having absolutely no experience with aquariums and her having experience with only freshwater tanks.
I think from now on, we will never NOT have a tank running in our house. We are seriously hooked.
We bought Ossie from the Octopus Garden in Berkeley. According to the owner, Ossie is an O. Mercatoris. He recommended that we get a 5.5 gal tank with lots of live rock with only a water pump. In addition, we got 15 hermit crabs for Ossie.
The next day, we went out, got a small tank and purchased ghost shrimp for Ossie.
It's been 5 days and though we were fortunate enough to witness Ossie hunting the first day (read my partner's post on Alkalinity levels), she's been pretty much hidden in her den rock whenever the lights are on.
We're taking the suggestions for a larger tank to heart and will be purchasing a new tank this weekend - we don't have a stand for the 48 gal yet and she's so tiny that I think we'll never find her again if we put her into the 48 gal. one. We are thinking of a 10-15 gal. tank for her new home.
One thing I'm puzzled over - the 15 hermit crabs were hyper active the first two nights and the last two nights, they've been really sluggish. I put some fish flakes in and that seemed to stir them up for a little while. What could be causing this? We seem to have an inordinate amount of bristle worms, could they be getting to the crabs some how? Or are they just frightened at being in there with Ossie?
For our small 5.5 gal, we only got a pump for the tank and not a filter or anything and we're using snails to help with algae. What else besides a protein skimmer and a filter should we get for the new home?
Any suggestions would be welcome. Sometime this weekend, we'll post pix of the home and if we're REALLY lucky, perhaps one of Ossie as well.
Oh, and keep up stories about your pets... both Westina and I have been loving reading up about them.
Sharon
Akyu is actually my partner and I. We posted about Ossie, our mercatoris the other day, but haven't properly introduced ourselves to you all.
I'm Sharon and my partner is Westina. On a lark, we decided to purchase an octopus and now we're finding our lives revolving around Ossie. We are very new to this, with me having absolutely no experience with aquariums and her having experience with only freshwater tanks.
I think from now on, we will never NOT have a tank running in our house. We are seriously hooked.
We bought Ossie from the Octopus Garden in Berkeley. According to the owner, Ossie is an O. Mercatoris. He recommended that we get a 5.5 gal tank with lots of live rock with only a water pump. In addition, we got 15 hermit crabs for Ossie.
The next day, we went out, got a small tank and purchased ghost shrimp for Ossie.
It's been 5 days and though we were fortunate enough to witness Ossie hunting the first day (read my partner's post on Alkalinity levels), she's been pretty much hidden in her den rock whenever the lights are on.
We're taking the suggestions for a larger tank to heart and will be purchasing a new tank this weekend - we don't have a stand for the 48 gal yet and she's so tiny that I think we'll never find her again if we put her into the 48 gal. one. We are thinking of a 10-15 gal. tank for her new home.
One thing I'm puzzled over - the 15 hermit crabs were hyper active the first two nights and the last two nights, they've been really sluggish. I put some fish flakes in and that seemed to stir them up for a little while. What could be causing this? We seem to have an inordinate amount of bristle worms, could they be getting to the crabs some how? Or are they just frightened at being in there with Ossie?
For our small 5.5 gal, we only got a pump for the tank and not a filter or anything and we're using snails to help with algae. What else besides a protein skimmer and a filter should we get for the new home?
Any suggestions would be welcome. Sometime this weekend, we'll post pix of the home and if we're REALLY lucky, perhaps one of Ossie as well.
Oh, and keep up stories about your pets... both Westina and I have been loving reading up about them.
Sharon