• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

Aculeatus

Ok so i think i am going to get 2 serpent starfish for the tank? I have read and it says they will eat left over food. Even if they do do that do you still have to feed them? Also i didnt get a clear answer on if you have to feed coral. So do you have to feed coral, and what do you feed them? I also didnt get a answer on how big do they get at full size?

thanks:smile:
 
I'd recommend the soft corals called mushrooms. (dwhatley has some of these, too). Get the red ones and they are a beautiful addition to the tank. You can feed them phytoplankton and they'll also eat fish flakes and other food.

Nancy
 
Yes, you have to feed corals. It is how often and what that varies from aquarist to aquarist. I feed mine Cyclop-eeze and mysis shrimp and add a vitamin supplement.

The serpents will eat left overs and if you feed your corals something meaty, they will also eat what the corals don't so no additional food is necessary. I recommend adding a little extra coral food when there is no octo in residence.

From Norman's Cephalopods A World Guide Aculeatus has a body size of 6 cm (2 3/8") with an arm length of 30 cm (just under 1 foot).

Aquarium keeping is not a specific science and the rules are not hard and fast. Each tank requires observation and adjustments. I keep 8 marine tanks and each one is fed somewhat differently based upon how the critters fair.
 
So I called my LF and they said they have the sun polyps. They didnt know if they were the tubastrea kind though. How do you tell the difference from the good kind and the bad kind? Also do you guys think $5 a pound is to much for LR?

thanks
 
I think that you really have to see the rock to tell, It could be dead rock that is just sitting in a tank, or it could be full of life and different algae and feather dusters and other critters.
 
The live rock I have gotten from them has been good and growing tons of algae, but thats it. So what do you of the price $5 a pound? Also how do you tell the difference between the good sun polyps and the bad sun polyps? One more question. Some one said they ad some kind of medicine to the tank to help out with the growth of coral. What is that called?

thanks for all the answers i think i almost have all the answers i need.:smile:
 
If they are a hard coral they are not what you want. The hard corals are nocturnal, hard to keep (must be hand fed) and reported to have a stong sting (I never noticed the sting but avoid them for an octo tank). You would see a cluster of very identifiable hard tubes but not likely any of the orange or black polyp heads. If they are a cinnamon brown with white striping (the amount of white varies with age and lighting but there would be at least some white mixed with the brown) and no hard tube, these would be the ones I am referring to.

Your LFS is likely to have mushrooms and the red ones Nancy referened grow quite large, are hardy and octo safe. Most mushrooms are ok but avoid any called ricordia (multi colored and quite attractive for a reef tank) as they have a definite sting even though you will not see long tenticles. Fortunately, most octos will learn quickly to avoid softies that sting if there is plenty of room to roam without bumping them.

If they have an affordable leather coral of any kind, it would be very acceptable, hardy and you can often find them in a nice display size.

I forgot to mention Kenya "tree" coral (a soft coral). It likes light but is a nice pinkish tan, grows rapidly with requires almost no care.

$5 is not at all bad. If you see coraline algae (purple), bits of orange, macro algae (not hair algae) and/or tiny hard white tube when you inspect the rock, the price is excellent but more likely it will be lifeless on the outside. Be sure you allow the rock acclimation time before adding your new octopus. Wait at least a week and watch your ammonia an nitrates and wait for zeros. There is almost always a slight cycle time even for cured rock. Look at all the rock in the water and see if you see small (pea sized or smaller) semitransparent polyps (they will disappear when disturbed). If you can avoid getting rock with these (aptasia) it is best to do so. You won't always see them if they are there but in some shops the rock is loaded with them and erradication is all but impossible, control difficult. If you see dime sized or larger (majana anemones), I would avoid rock in the tank altogether. Both forms of nusience anemones sting, are not a disaster but do have to be controlled. Joe's Juice will control the aptasia very well but the majana's are more difficult. I have found that keeping a peppermint shrimp in the tank (and have had some success keeping one with an octo if it was there before the octo) will control aptasia but not kill the visible population. Multiple peppermint shrimp can pack and become agressive so I recommend keeping only one in a 40-50 gallon tank. If you try to add one after the octo is in residence there is almost no chance it will survive more than a day.

PS forget the growth additives. The most common is Purple Up. If you want to add anything for new corals the only thing I will recommend is a vitamin complex with high B's. I do add vitamins to my reef tanks taking Martin Moe's recommendations (from one of his books - he is one of the pioneers in marine aquariums and is still somewhat active in the hobby and in reef restoration). Even this I use sparingly and don't have a favorite brand.
 
First off thanks for all the replies to this post!:smile::smile: I think this might just be my last question.:silenced: But maybe not dont know yet.:smile: How do you acclimate coral? Also I have been to this store and they put there coral on little plastic grate kind of thing. Should I leave the coral on it and place it in a crevice of a rock or take it off and place just the coral in the crevice of a rock? One more question sorry just though about it. Will the ammonia and nitrites go up when I put the coral in? Sorry so many questions.:lol:
 
The soft coral itself will not effect your water parameters. Sometimes it comes attached to a large piece of LR and could have a small impact but there is no concern with egg crate (the white grate they are growing on now). Unless your LFS does it differently, IME you will not get the piece of egg crate, they will remove the coral from it at time of purchase. If your LRF does it differently and has separate pieces of egg crate that come with each coral and the piece is small enough to hide in your rock you can leave it attached but common practice would be to wedge or glue (I do not glue) the coral by itself. It usually takes a couple of weeks for corals to attach and you may need to place it where you want it more than once. Take the time to enjoy messing with it and don't get frustrated.

Like most things in this hobby, acclimation is a contested practice. You will see acclimation recommendations anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours. The best advice I can give you for hardy softies is to have your LRF test his water for PH and Salinity (or you can do this when you get home). If the numbers are very close to your tank readings (the salinity is likely to be higher in your tank since you are keeping an octopus and most reef tanks are kept around 1.021 SG) then you can temperature acclimate by putting the bag in the tank (or in a bucket of tank water) for 15 minutes and then just put the coral where you want it in the tank. If there is a difference, after you temperature acclimate, remove a turkey baster of water and replace it with tank water every 5 minutes for fifteen minutes and retest. Repeat for another 15 minutes if you are not yet matched and a third 15 minutes if you are still not matching. For unshipped softies, you should not need to exceed 45 minutes and are most likely to complete the process in the first half hour (15 min temp and 15 min water parm). Do not put the LRF water in your tank. Lift the coral out of the bag with your hand, transfer it to the tank and disguard all of the bag water.
 
So today i am going to my LF and getting the coral, LR, and sea stars. Since i wont have an octo in the tank with the sea stars should i add extra food for the sea stars or will the food that i am putting in for the coral be enough? Also I was have been emailing live aquaria. They say when the octo gets here it should be 2-5 in. I know aculeatus only grow to be 2 in.(mantle size) Oya they measure the mantle, well thats what they said. But where it says octo for sale the are 2 kinds be sold. One from the Caribbean and one from the indo-pacific. So they could be talking about the caribbean one. What species lives in the Caribbean and could be 2-5 in?
 
I don't know of anyone (and have not seen them offer one for a very long time) that has purchased the Caribbean sp. I also don't think they really ever measure the octos. Like most places that offer them on occassion, they are shipped to the facility from outside suppliers and it is a crap shoot. How the dice will roll changes each time. The ones I recall coming from them have been in the adopus complex but it has been awhile and I can't remember specifics. You can scan through the results of this search to help find a few journal entries. (advanced search, key word aquaria, search for posts in journals)
 
Wahoo i got my coral yesterday!!!!! I got some kenya tree coral and some medium purple mushrooms and some just little thing he threw in the container. I am only worried though that my lighting is bright enough. I have a voltarc f20t12/aqf/bp p/n 26099 its an aqua kind. Is that bright enough for the coral but not to bright for the octo?
 
So my tank light is 20 watts, i am pretty sure. What is a good wattage for the octo and the coral? Because i dont want it to be to powerful for the octo but i dont want the coral to die.:confused: Oya i have a 40 gallon tank and it is 3ft long
 
20 watts is very low lighting for any coral. The mushrooms, polyps and leather do well in SueNami's tank with a pair of 36 watt compacts (65 gallon split tank with a split actinic and white on each side). If you can place the corals high in the tank, directly under the light and supplement with room lighting it will help. Kenya is a good choice but the low light is a concern. Mushrooms seem to survive in even very low light but they will not get as large as in higher lighting. My red mushrooms survive in less than the 20 watts you have in the nocturnal octo tank (minimal LED lighting) but stay quarter sized. The ones in 36 watt or better lighting grow to 4" or more in diameter (the one in my reef was almost 8" for several years but is now dying out).

No clue on the "just little thing" though. What color and shape is it?
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top