It's been a week so I'm ready to start a journal for this new octo, Aku. I got it from marine depot live last week. They shipped overnight and it got to my house by noon. It was packaged well but still the H2O temp in the bag was 66F, and the water was cloudy with sucker shedding and it smelled bad. I did a drip acclimation over 6 hrs, and when the temp got to a stand still at 73F, I put her in the tank. This was totally hassle free thanks to the great tip in Nancy and Colin's book! I put a piece of live rock in the bucket for her to hide in, then it was an easy and ink free transfer into her new home.
I'm pretty sure it's another aculeatus- only "pretty sure" because I hardly EVER see her. I'm not sure it's female because the 3rd and 4th right arms are growing back, and of corse, I hardly EVER see her. When I have seen her out, after lights out, her suckers are like a perfect ear of corn: small, uniform and in perfect rows. She is darker than my other ones, but still has all the same features. Also, as usual I couldn't get an ID from the supplier, but they did say she is from the Philippines.
I was really spoiled by how social Al and the Once-ler were. This octo is painfully (for me) shy. She lives under the middle piece of live rock in the picture. The first night was good, she was on the glass after dark even though we were in the room watching t.v. The next day I was sooo patient and sat a distance from the tank all day. She finally came out in the evening, and my husband came into the room too fast and spooked her. She inked the biggest cloud of ink I've seen yet (the Once-ler never inked once). Since then I only see her all the way out after dark, when the tank lights are out and the kids are in bed. When I come into the room she'll freeze on the glass, if I approach, she hides. If I sit on the couch and watch from there, she'll continue to dance on the glass until after I go to bed. When the girls are at school during the day and the house is quiet I do see her eyes peeking up over the rock, watching me. As soon as she knows she's been spotted she freezes, and the moment I glance away she's gone. She will stick feed, but even then it takes a few minutes for her to grab for it, only arms will extend from under the rock.
I'm trying hard not to be disappointed. My family is not happy to think it's a girl. My husband points out that I spent the same amount of money on an octo we don't see as the used guitar he passed up, "I knew you'd be buying another one soon enough." I'm trying to be patient, not all animals yield to my nature charms right off...
I'm pretty sure it's another aculeatus- only "pretty sure" because I hardly EVER see her. I'm not sure it's female because the 3rd and 4th right arms are growing back, and of corse, I hardly EVER see her. When I have seen her out, after lights out, her suckers are like a perfect ear of corn: small, uniform and in perfect rows. She is darker than my other ones, but still has all the same features. Also, as usual I couldn't get an ID from the supplier, but they did say she is from the Philippines.
I was really spoiled by how social Al and the Once-ler were. This octo is painfully (for me) shy. She lives under the middle piece of live rock in the picture. The first night was good, she was on the glass after dark even though we were in the room watching t.v. The next day I was sooo patient and sat a distance from the tank all day. She finally came out in the evening, and my husband came into the room too fast and spooked her. She inked the biggest cloud of ink I've seen yet (the Once-ler never inked once). Since then I only see her all the way out after dark, when the tank lights are out and the kids are in bed. When I come into the room she'll freeze on the glass, if I approach, she hides. If I sit on the couch and watch from there, she'll continue to dance on the glass until after I go to bed. When the girls are at school during the day and the house is quiet I do see her eyes peeking up over the rock, watching me. As soon as she knows she's been spotted she freezes, and the moment I glance away she's gone. She will stick feed, but even then it takes a few minutes for her to grab for it, only arms will extend from under the rock.
I'm trying hard not to be disappointed. My family is not happy to think it's a girl. My husband points out that I spent the same amount of money on an octo we don't see as the used guitar he passed up, "I knew you'd be buying another one soon enough." I'm trying to be patient, not all animals yield to my nature charms right off...