bought an octopus, but what kind?

[corpusse]

I just don't think the red light is needed. Plus I don't want it to spill over to my reef. It never gets pitch black as my refugium is off to the side and that light is on 24/7 giving something of a moonlight effect but dimmer.

Today the shrimp is 100% gone, I doubt those super thin polyclads could have finished it off. The octopus is still in the same hole.

I think I know why he is so hard to find. Originally when I setup the tank I drilled the rock so that it could all be attached. I since broke it down when I assumed the octopus was dead. Most pieces are just stacked together now only ones that needed support I used acyrlic rods. So since he's still small he's able to fit through these tiny holes.

 

[corpusse]

I tried to get him to eat again today. He grabbed the shrimp but was only willing to pull with one arm. This time I offered more resistance in an attempt to lure him out. No luck after a 30-45 second struggle he decided to let go.

I suspect this is due to not being starving. It seems mine only has to eat about every 2-3 days where as you are feeding your guys once and twice daily. I did however put 2 more crabs in. One was unfortunate enough to go right into the den so I suspect she will be consumed as an easily meal.

I actually thought I was out of fiddlers but I found 2 more in their tank today. I put them both in as I have another 40 order arriving Wednesday. It seems the last few stragglers are all females and they have buried themselves several inches under the sand. Are they hibernating / dying / egg laying? I have greatly reduced the amount I've been feeding them mostly due to the fact there are almost none left. Also I don't heat the fiddlers water so I suspect the temp is a little cooler then they're used to. Maybe I'll throw a heater on when the next batch arrive. I think when I'm done with these fiddlers I will just throw away everything in the tank. The sand had a few crab shells and of course the 2 live ones. If I keep feeding fiddlers for the next 6 months to a year the sand bed will be pretty gross by then

 

[corpusse]

Oh yeah the other thing I was going to say, and this is probably important for Octopus newbies. His den is nothing like how I pictured it would be. I figured it would be a cave, or in between a couple of rocks that sort of thing. It seems he spends almost all his time INSIDE the live rock. Coming and going through holes roughly as wide as a pen, some smaller. Doesn't seem very comfortable but I have not seen him on the left side of the tank at all since the one time he went across the tank to catch a crab.

 

[DWhatley]

One was unfortunate enough to go right into the den so I suspect she will be consumed as an easily meal.

Somewhere I made a comment to LMecher that I thought O.briareus were the dumb blonds of the octo world and she asked if I thought perhaps the crabs were smarter. My response was something to the effect of "no, but only because the crabs run into the octos den"

The den you expected will start to be what he/she keeps as she/he grows. Tatanka lived inside my sump return pipe (drilled with multiple holes) for a long time. Once he out grew that she moved to the LR and found holes or indentations. Tank is still hiding up in the rock most of the time but Cassy is so large she takes a more expected den or stays on the back wall hidden behind the LR. You can begin to see why most young octos are captured in aquaculture rock rather than out in the open like the larger animals.

I wish I could figure out how to raise the fiddlers. I have read a little but much of the info was conflicting of flat wrong (like they don't shed). You can tell if a female has eggs by looking at the underside. The flap will be partially open and you will see brown "berries". Unfortunately, I have never been able to keep egg carrying fiddlers alive long and now feed them first to give the egg nutrition to the octos.

 

[corpusse]

So I couldn't get him to eat today. Found some more fiddlers and managed to get one to go right to the den he obviously would have heard him if he didn't see him but not interested. I think I will stick to every other day attempts and not hassle him daily if he's not even going to go for the fiddlers.

Speaking of the fiddlers I have another shipment coming tomorrow. I assumed they had all been used, but I found 4 more today. I think they are hibernating or at least semi hibernating. 3 of them were found several inches below the sand. I'm going to stick a small heater in the water and reverse the lighting cycle so the PC light over the land is on at night. It doesn't generate much heat but that should be enough. My basement is not exactly cold with a couple hundred gallons of salt water and the heat that comes with having them.

 

[DWhatley]

If you are not losing many, I don't know that I would add heat. If a shipment gets delayed in the summer, I have heavy losses for the next week. If it gets lost in the winter, it does not seem to effect longevity. They might eat more and be better food with some heat though so be sure you remeber to comment on any changes you see. Thanks for reminding me ... I need to order crabs.

 

[corpusse]

I believe I lost less then 5. I actually only saw 2 dead ones and I never removed them, I guess they were either eaten or just got broken down in the sand. One died shortly after arriving.

However over the last 2 weeks I had only seen 1 or 2. Prior to this I always saw tons. Obviously as time went by there were less and less crabs so I'd see less but it dropped to 0. I suppose it is possible that The prefer to be buried in the sand. I had 40+ crabs in a 15gallon tank that is about 60% water 40% land and there is only so much space, but when the number dropped to about 20 they seemed very active on the sandbed and when I startled them they'd all go down their holes. Now the holes are gone, partly because I've been poking around and partly because they don't seem as interested in surfacing.

I'm not too worried since they survived long enough and this second batch will almost certainly be consumed faster. However If i can get my octopus eating shrimp on a regular basis I would like to one day be feeding crabs once or twice a week and shrimp the or other frozen food the rest of the time.

 

[DWhatley]

Sounds like a viable plan. I have never used sand with the crabs but I buy them monthly since I am in the same country as the supplier and the sand is likely to be a good idea but you might think about making two sand containers that fit your fancy fiddler den. Then you could swap them out and rinse the sand (I am a big one for keeping duplicates and being able to swap ... a bit of laziness I suspect).

 

[corpusse]

Heating the water did the trick, it was actually just above 60! I knew it was cold but wow. I'm actually just using a junk pico heater and its heating the water to just 67-68. Funny the water gets so cold, but of course it has just the aquaclear filter and the pc lights. My other tanks primarily heat themselves with all the powerheads, skimmers return pumps ect. They all have heaters too but they only ever go on at night.

there are 4 crabs left and all were wandering around plus the 2 I put in the tank yesterday. That's 6 that were hibernating and were easily found by turning up the water temp.

It's a good thing I have these because I think I'm screwed on my shipment.

I was expecting it within the hour but I don't think it ever left memphis. Apparently there are "severe weather conditions" but when I check weather network it shows overcast and 17c. I saw a warning for packages with tuesday delivery but I'm guessing hat will soon change to wednesday.

I'm really in trouble if the package doesn't leave the US today since tomorrow is your thanksgiving and if they don't go out till friday I won't get them until monday when they certainly will be dead. What's worth is fedex is suspending their money-back guarantee. I spend more in shipping then I do for the cost of crabs so this really sucks. I'll also get stuck paying taxes on them when they arrive even if they're dead when their value is technically 0 but of course it's what's marked on the package.

 

[DWhatley]

Shipping has been really bad for a number of people this last month. I think that all the carriers (including our post office) is short handed because of layoffs due to economic conditions. My order before last was delayed and did not arrive until Tuesday (should have been here Friday) and everything (crabs and crays) survived. That would not have happened had the weather been warm but it was during a cold snap so hopefully they arrive alive (and today).

 

[corpusse]

My crabs are out for delivery. Assuming they come before 12 they will have been in transit less then 40 hours so hopefully they are still alive.

Today I saw the Octopus for the first time in the morning. I never see him in the front anymore but he sticks he comes out of the back now. It's the same big rock where his den is. He's just using another hole to leave it. I saw him come about halfway out of the den and dump a crab skeleton out!

I won't feed him today as I'll feed the crabs first and get them a bit gutloaded prior to their impending doom, but hopefully I'll be seeing more of my octopus soon.

 

[corpusse]

Only 5 died in transit despite there being a second day added to the time. They were very cold when they arrived, but I think this was because of the truck. The fedex warehouse here is heated I know that. Maybe they just left them in an unheated warehouse in memphis overnight.

Oh well, I was scared but it ended well. I also seem to have gotten a pretty generous count although the crabs generally are a bit smaller. I wonder if they just count them by weight. I can't see someone sitting counting fiddlers all day

 

[DWhatley]

If you get them from Paul (it seems to me that you said you did), it is a small family operation and they are hand caught and hand counted. I stopped by his facility on my way back from this year's MACNA conference and met him face to face after all these years as an on-line customer. I was able to meet one of his assistants (of of his daughters) but Jerome (son) had to go rescue his GF from car problems so I failed to meet the primary collector and shipper. When the crabs are small, he is good about adding extras.

If the dead crabs did not smell, you can freeze them. I do this with any that die and it gives me a backup if I fail to realize I need to order. The octos take them easily.

With the young ones in particular, it is a slooooow process to get them human acclimated. The most frustrating activity is when they start to be seen regularly and then stop for no apparent reason. Tank was first out of the gate to come out and be seen dancing on the walls and I was sure he would be the first to be seen regularly. Then he just stopped and Cassy has been the one to be most interactive. I whined about this last week so, after reading my post Tank decided to make a lier out of me and explore again. The best I can say is that when they start to allow you to see them, the incidences become more frequent with less fear but not consistent.

 

[corpusse]

Cool pictures. I think it would be an interesting place to visit. Did you ask him how they count mysids? I'm guessing for them they'd have to go by weight.

Anyway baby steps are progressing. Twice last night I saw the octopus show his face out of the rock. Usually it's just an arm.

I threw out the dead on arrival crabs but since another one has died. I managed to get him to pull it off the feeding stick. I got a pretty good luck at him yesterday and once again he is looking bigger.

I am curious if his arms have grown back. When I first got him he only had 6. Hopefully it won't be too much longer till I see him completely out of the rock.

He also didn't seem to be bothered by a regular flashlight again. I did not shine it directly in his face but close by and little reaction. I also shinned the flashlight on me for a bit so he could see me

Here's the best picture I've gotten so far Again flash was no issue I took 3 shots and he didn't mind.

 

[DWhatley]

It is interesting that some will ink with a flash and others don't seem to mind. CaptFish has been able to take flash pictures of all of his wards where most of mine ink and become reclusive for a week. His arm should have good growth by now. In the older ones my guestimate has been roughly an inch a month but people have reported as much as a seeming inch a week on the young ones (probably a bit exaggrated but still likely faster than the adults).

Was the photo taken just after accepting food? The lump just below the eye looks typical of food under the webbing . They seem to like to stay in one place to sit and eat, often more in the open if they don't think anything is trying to take their food away.