• 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.

Beginners questions on occy care

lycon79

Hatchling
Registered
Joined
Jan 2, 2009
Messages
1
Hi everyone,

I'm new here and doing my best to find more info on occys before I jump in and buy one I've had a few years experience with FOWLR Tanks and Reef Tanks but have always been interested in Cephalopods and now would like to give them one ago.

I have two questions ATM the fist is, what would be a suitable species of occy for either a 3x2x2 tank or a 2x2x2 tank that could be commonly found in Australia?

The second question is... Would what we call "yabbies"( callianassa australiensis) be an acceptable live food source because they are readily available where I live and it won't cost me anything to get them.Below is a link to a bit of info on them..

http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/lobsters.php?menuentry=soorten&id=66

thanks in Advance
Cam
 
It sounds like you're talking about collecting your own octopus. I collect my octopus from where I live (Southern California - USA) but most people on Tonmo buy their octopus online, and few if any of our sources are south of the equator. You may have more luck if you post your question on the "Exotic Species" forum instead.

I'm a big fan of responsibly self-collecting local animals for a locals-only tank, if you live where it's possible safe, and legal. Animals from the same location tend to already be well adapted to living together, and I find that temperate tide pool animals tend to be much more hearty than store bought tropical animals.

There might be a species of octopus that lives on the coast where you live, and is of a suitable size and temperament to be kept in a home aquarium. Where I live, O. Bimaculoides is so common that sport fishermen catch them to use as bait, but they make excellent pets. I suggest that you ask local fishermen, or kids that like to catch animals at low tide, about local octopus. Be sure to first find out if there are any stinging or dangerous animals you need to be careful of (stone fish, blue ringed octopus, box jellyfish ??? (to a yank, it seems as though half the wild animals in Australia are deadly poisonous))

The natural water temp where you live ranges between 20 C (68 F) in July and 25 C (77 F) in January, so you can probably keep local animals at room temperature, without an expensive chiller, if you avoid hot lights and pumps. Easy!

If you do keep local animals, please be careful not to release them back into the wild if they might have been exposed to non-native animals (or live rock or live food) in your tank. They could contract an exotic disease or parasite and, if released, infect the wild population.

Good luck. It sounds like a fun project.
 

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