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Complete newbie requesting help with first octopus setup!

Alright, excellent :smile: I'm purifying some more water now so I can make another bucket of saltwater in case the ammonia level in the fish bucket doesn't go down. I know I have to wait 24 hours before putting it into an aquarium tank because it's caustic - does the same apply to a bucket or can I just put it in as soon as it's ready, if I need to?
 
Hmmm, I'm not positive here. I think that because you are in a special circumstance it is probably alright just make sure all the salt has dissolved. I would say only use the new water if you need to.
 
Yeah I actually used a pump yesterday to dissolve it, I was very careful to make sure it just looked like water by the time I was done. I'm actually sort of glad my tank cracked now because all the messing around is turning out to be an excellent learning experience. I'm certainly glad I have had some spare time though.

Thank you by the way for the comment on the video. I'm not going to make them every day but I want to document my progress, look back on it and see how naive I was later, but when I do eventually get an octopus I am going to try pretty hard to chronicle it in video, I have seen a few posts in the journals from people saying it's a shame they don't manage to catch this or that on camera, so I think it will be interesting to make regular videos and see how its life progresses.
 
Well you know I'm 30, I've spent 25 years messing with computers and that's the only hobby I've ever had really (and related technology things), and I have the time, so, why not document it? :smile:

Ok, so, I just tested the fish bucket again, I can't really tell what it is but it's still in the zone of 3.0 mg/l, the carbon may have helped a little or done nothing, I am having real trouble reading the chart because the liquid changes colour depending on how you look at it and what is behind it. In any case, it's not in the lower levels so it's not good.

I just mixed a new batch of saltwater: pH 8.4-ish, gravity 1.024, ammonia nominally zero (I must have done something wrong with that other bucket of water). And I did it much faster this time :P Shall I change it out?
 
When you have to replace the testing reagents, see if the strips are available. They are much faster (seconds) and easier to read.

Put carbon and a small mesh bag on your, when I go shopping list (check your current supplies to see if one happens to be in the collection). It is much easier to keep the carbon in a mesh bag than loose in the sock. It also allows you to rinse it between replacements. Once you have a mesh bag (zippered or velcroed are much better than draw string) you can sink the sock and let the pump blow into it but be careful not to put too much back pressure on the pump. It will cut down on the flow in the bucket and give more active filtration.

Warning you about the blue ring and the mimic (which is more likely wunderpus) was one of the topics I meant to address. I am glad you are already there. CITIES is international and the US subscribes. There have been on-going attempts to get the mimic and wunderpus listed but there are not enough studies on any octopuses (some being done on the ones that are harvested for food now but just this is very recent and the ones needing protection are not in the sustainability studies) to get them listed. There are discussions in the Exotics forum if you want to read more (they are sheilded from internet searches so you must be logged in to see the forum).

When you have time, providing links to the videos would be helpful for other people. Pass it forward, we are all new to the game.

Another water change for you fish would be good tomorrow, about the same amount the you did today. The higher reading are either the reagents (your test chemicals) of because you disrupted the water and it was worse than you thought. Since you have circulating pump, the chemicals for testing may be old (one of the problems with them). Ours are dated.

Elevate your new air pump above the water level of the bucket. This will prevent it from having to fight the water going up the tube and if the power goes out the water can ruin the pump. There is a one way valve you can buy to prevent this but it restricts air flow, elevating the pump will prevent it (more uses for older manuals :wink:).

As with CaptFish, I rinse and wash in tap water but RO is the safeste recommendation. It items can be allowed to dry, use tap but if they will go in wet, RO is the better choice.

Looking good!
 
I didnt expect to see a big drop, we really just didn't want it to get any higher. If you want you could do a one us gallon (3.785 liters) or 4 liters, change. I dont think I woudl do any more than that just because the water is so new.
 
Ok, I just recorded my video diary for the day (will post link when I've got it on the net) and the air pump is on the floor in the video but I have fixed that now.

Added to buy list: small mesh bag, buckets, measuring jug, small container to put little pieces of shrimp in, carbon, dechlorinator.

I will leave the water change til tomorrow then.

Regarding the blue ring etc. I was sure to read around the subject as best I knew how first because I was nervous about posting and coming across as an idiot who wanted to buy an octopus on a whim. Unfortunately I mostly read about octopuses and little-to-nothing about saltwater aquariums (rectifying that the last days!), but it did alert me to the blue ring, and I read the posts here about blue ring, mimic / wanderpus so I knew that I should be looking for something that wasn't one of those, something smaller than a vulgaris (which was the one I originally found on Wikipedia when looking up common octopus when I became interested), and that I'd need a 50 gallon tank for the smaller varieties like A. aculeates. So, fortunately I was aware they may try to sell me those kinds and tell them no. I'll read the exotics thread though, out of curiosity I looked for TV documentaries on the blue ring and couldn't find any, I also didn't find anyone keeping them in the Journals section although I realise you advise people not to keep them. I have been bitten by venomous snakes in the past and we always kept antidote in the house for just such occasions - I have no intention of ever, ever buying a blue ring.

I got the documentaries from some private torrent sites I use but I can certainly look for open torrent links. I wanted to watch them on my TV not my PC :smile:

I really don't understand the airstone: once I get bubbles coming out of it it's fine, but if I move it a bit it will just stop and then it is awkward to get it to produce them again. I noticed it produces more bubbles the higher in the bucket you put it so I assume the air pump I got is not powerful enough? It didn't seem to make any difference when I moved the pump from the floor to above the bucket, so now I have just left it drifting around freely near the surface by shortening the slack on the tubing so it produces many bubbles. I have made sure everything is fastened together properly. There is no air escaping at either end.

Now, some other random questions that have popped up today:

- The freshly mixed saltwater. Does it matter if you leave the lid off? Does it get contaminated after a while? (I have not put the lids on the buckets I've been using at all)

- The test kits say to rinse out the testing vials with tap water after each use. I have done this, but then they say to rinse it with the water to be tested before filling to the 5mm level. To do this I just dipped the vial into the buckets with the livestock in; does that contaminate the water if there are still drops of tap water on the vial? Should I be siphoning out a tiny amount to rinse the vial with first?

- The lights. There are 2 24W blue flourescent tubes, one of which needs to be replaced. There is also a 150W HQI lamp which will need replacing eventually as it is starting to go yellow. As you suggested I have put them both on timers, 10am-10pm. What is the purpose of having these two different types of light? Should they be on and off at the same time as I have them set now, ro something different?
 
I haven't looked at your diaries yet but to answer your questions.

You can turn off the blue lights and put them up for now. They add nice color to the corals and you will want them on the tank but they provide little for the corals themselves.

I quit using the reagents long ago after running simultaneous strip tests so I don't really remember issues other than ALWAYS rinse well. It certainly won't hurt to draw off a cup of water and just use it from the cup.

Do check your air line for leaks. Put a small amount of water at the connections and look for bubbles. Even the weakest NEW pump should work in the bucket. There is a potential that the diaphram is bad (the part that usually wears out) and if you can't find an air leak, taking it back for a replacement is advised. If you feel a good flow of air from the pump without the tubing, then either the air stone is bad or you have a leak so do the leak check first as it sounds like water is getting into the tubing. Putting the air stone on the top does not help much, it needs to be at least half way down the bucket to help move the CO2 out of the water. It does not put oxygen into the water but allows for air exchange that results in more oxygen in the water.

I leave my water open. I keep water constantly available but I do run an air pump to help keep the water oxygenated. Once you are set up, using the one you just bought could be used for this or it can be set up in the sump to add air exchange so it is worth getting it working properly for long term use.

I edited your post with the video. Our bulletin board will display a picture and allow you to run it as if it were embedded (but DON'T USE THE EMBED code). Use the http link but click the little film strip icon and past the URL in the pop up box.

The links don't work for me at all. My browser (IE 8) tries to download an unrecognized file type. AVI's are common so I don't quite know what's up.
 
If you can do it, replacing the aquarium gets my vote. With acrylics the patch method works very well (we have done this several times but with a bonding cement, not silicone) but with glass, you may have also popped or weakened the seals and the crack may continue to spread.
 
Ok, thanks for the tips, I solved the airstone problem. There were no leaks in the tube (tested with water as advised), the problem was... ahem... "operator error" I believe it's called in English. The pump has a twist top which it turns out, controls the output :P Turned it to max and put the airstone at the bottom of the bucket and now it is working great.

Blue lights off, ok, shall I put the HQI lamp on 12 hours a day then or? (the white lamp)

I have looked for the multi-strip testers but unable to find them, even online, it seems they only have these ones where you use drops of re-agent.

My ability to replace the aquarium will 100% depend on whether I get that extra payment next month. So until then I'll just keep things as they are and make a decision when I find out.

The files are torrents, you need a BitTorrent client like uTorrent (recommended) to use them. It is the standard way of pulling TV shows and movies these days, because it will download bits from everyone who already has a copy, distributed over the internet, which makes it both very fast and impossible for movie studios to shut down :smile:
 
Nice feature on the air pump. I keep a set of small valves for tht purpose that goes in the air line. Few pumps offer the feature (especially the inexpensive ones although I just eliminated a VERY old Whisper that had a dial) and I did not think about the possibility. Good find.

When you get your bonus check, try eBay for "aquarium test strips" and look for the 5 in 1 variety. I don't know which sellers will ship internatioally but it is likely your best be to locate them when you start running out of reagents. You will never go back to the chemicals. The one little oddity is that some are marked saltwater some fresh and some say both. There is no difference in the strips but you need to be sure the color chart for saltwater is included. It is often underneath the fw one and you have to cut away a strip of paper to see it. Matching is much easier as well because you can lay the strip on the chart.

I am not much of a movie or TV watcher so the entertainment sharing/download technology is foreign to me. My youngest son goes on and off with the movies and music but I only get called in when something goes badly.

With the heat, and the small environment, maybe a 10 hour on day or 8 and then use the blues if you just want to look.
 
Hi everyone,

Strips (and more towels) added to list of things to buy next month.

The ammonia in the fish bucket is better today, just over 1.5mg/l (again, providing I have read the chart correctly), so I have not done a water change.

Now I seem to have a new problem. On Thursday - the morning after I got the fish home - I gave him a small piece of thawed out shrimp and he wolfed it down immediately. He has not eaten since. I held very small pieces of shrimp (peeled) in the water yesterday and today but he does not want to take them. Won't he be getting hungry by now?

What should I be giving the snail and 3 hermit crabs?
 

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