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are there any corals Octo safe?

Swimdude776;100835 said:
hes at my work and its working out great but people just wanna see more fish and colors.

Yeah, I know how it goes. I maintain a tank at work too, no octopus there though, most of the nurses would flip out. They complain that since it has 8 legs it's like a spider. If anything happens to the fish though, that's going to be the next inhabitant regardless.
 
Swimdude,
My dad is like that too. The only tank he likes is the one with the corals AND a couple of colorful fish. My seahorse tanks and octo tanks make him shake his head and he just cannot understand my enthusiasum. He asked me the other day how long I had been "doing this" and I asked him, "which time". It made him think back and realize that we had been aquarium people for over 30 years so he rephrased the question and asked how long I had been a "fanatic" (he thinks Neal is more rational and just agrees to spending the money rather than an active participant). I think he was asking how long had we had a house full of tank and not just one normal aquarium :mrgreen:
 
I was thinking, i dont understand why you cant have stinging corals...
I KNOW that octos can be found out on the reefs or in tidepools with coldwater anemones and other weird critters. And im sure that the octos brush up against 'stinging' coral and anemones every once in a while...
 
Fishfreak218;101248 said:
I was thinking, i dont understand why you cant have stinging corals...
I KNOW that octos can be found out on the reefs or in tidepools with coldwater anemones and other weird critters. And im sure that the octos brush up against 'stinging' coral and anemones every once in a while...

I'm pretty sure the philosophy behind this is "Better safe than sorry." and not just an absolute. The risk really isn't worth it. Consider as an example... people keep anemones in reef tanks. Sometimes they do fine. Sometimes the anemone decides to find somewhere else to hang out, and stings as well as kills every coral it touches in its path. Sometimes fish get eaten by anemones in aquariums... that's the risk taken.

I have kept stingy corals like Frogspawn and Torch, with fish, and in observation I can say the fish totally avoided the corals, minus a clownfish that would host anything. I think these creatures instinctually know which other creatures to avoid, but accidents do happen. Accidents that could have been avoided.

These animals we hold captive depend on us to provide them with a safe environment, and that should be our primary goal.

I could leave some silverware in the floor, next to an electrical outlet, with a small child, and most likely it will be fine... but what if it decides to insert the shiney object into the hole? Best to just completely cut out the risk.
 
Look carefully at photos of coral reefs - they don't look anything like reef tanks. There are less densly populated or populated by less harmful animals, so an octopus can avoid stinging corals. It's much more difficult in the close confines of a home aquarium.

Nancy
 
In addition to Nancy's statements about an aquarium NOT being a true reef and AM comments about accidents will happen (including in the wild) and can be avoided in an aquarium, Roy Caldwell has mentioned that an octos skin is sensitive. Seahorses have a similar sensitivity on parts of their body and any damage to the sensitive skin can lead to a secondary, lethal infection. Infections and aquariums don't make a good mix and generally the animal will die. There are some marginally effective treatments for seahorses and fewer known for octos. Avoidance is definitely the best policy.
 
So, the point of all this is, why introduce any sort of risk into your tank when it can be avoided. You can have a nice looking tank without stinging corals or other hazards (such as urchins with sharp spines).

Nancy
 
i know octopus tank arent reef tanks but what about marine plants(algea)? are thier any with low enuff lighting need that can take the rearanging of an octopus?
 
drakanorn;101319 said:
i know octopus tank arent reef tanks but what about marine plants(algea)? are thier any with low enuff lighting need that can take the rearanging of an octopus?

Sure. Caulerpa is just about impossible to kill. That being a good and bad thing.
 

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