Cylindrical Acrylic Aquarium

[Thales]

Grunt sculpin, Rhamphocottus richardsonii

 

[skywindsurfer]

I put my 250 on craigslist last night and I already have someone saying they'll buy it. My friend said he's gonna try to get the cylindrical tank and metal stand to me asap. I'm hoping no later than July 8th. With the money I'm getting for my 250 I'm going to buy a 1/3 hp chiller for $400. Since I have tropical animals I'll keep the tank at about 70°F. Still no word on when the octopus will arrive. I'm so anxious to see what I get(species/sex) and what size they are.

 

[Thales]

. Since I have tropical animals I'll keep the tank at about 70°F. Still no word on when the octopus will arrive.

What animals?

 

[skywindsurfer]

A lot of inverts, corals, snails, crabs, et cetra. Two wrasse, a tang and a few damsels. Don' get ahead of me now, they will not be kept together. I will temporarily relocate the fish.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

I suspect that bimacs are "comfortable" at 70, but that they eat a lot more, live a lot faster, and finish their life a lot sooner at such a warm temp (live fast, die young). The average monthly temp in the wild ranges from 58 in January to 68 in July, with a few days peaking in the 70's, especially during an El Nino year, or in a stranded tide pool on a hot sunny day. I currently have a male bimac that I caught at about 80% of it's full size (10 months old ?) and have had for 22 months. For about a year I had that tank at 56 degrees (now at 62), and I've always fed the octopus sparingly. As far as I know, 2.6 yeas is an unheard of long time for a bimac to live, and he's still going strong. I credit the cold water, which slowed metabolism, and allowed less frequent feeding, although I should mention that he didn't move around much at 56 degrees, and was rather dull, and maybe not comfortable, so I don't recommend keeping a bimac that cold.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

There is something mysteriously alluring about temperate environments that just captures me. I would love to recreate an exact environment with flora and fauna from the CA coast line.

It's coastal Norway, not So. Cal, but Jon Olav's Temperate Aquarium blog is very inspiring. He really lived the dream of building a cold water eco-system in a big box in one's living room, and documented it beautifully in his blog.

 

[Thales]

A lot of inverts, corals, snails, crabs, et cetra. Two wrasse, a tang and a few damsels. Don' get ahead of me now, they will not be kept together. I will temporarily relocate the fish.

Not getting ahead of you - you wrote 'Since I have tropical animals I'll keep the tank at about 70°F' which indicates that you will be keeping tropical animals at 70, which is what I am trying to clarify.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Sorry, what I mean to say is that all of the fish will be relocated to a holding tank, but everything else that's tropical will remain inside the tank. That is why I am keeping it at 70F so everything will live. I'm ok with the octopus growing faster because my purpose in buying them is so I can get fertalized eggs. The faster they grow the faster I can breed them. Without harming the animals of course. I'm prepared to lower the temperature to 68F if I have to, but do not want to because of the corals and what not.

 

[Thales]

You are going to keep tropical corals at 70 degrees?

 

[skywindsurfer]

Well I was going to put everything that is tropical into a smaller tank, but my wife's not too keen on that idea because she doesn't want any more tanks. Right now it's just the reef tank(250 gallon) and the frog tank(55 gallon). I might be able to persuade her to let me put everything into our 40 gallon tank, but there's no gaurantee.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Ok so I just spoke with her, and she said its ok. I convinced her to put it behind this love seat so all you will see is the tank. I'll move everything that is tropical into that tank that I can pull out.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

my wife's not too keen on that idea because she doesn't want any more tanks.

How did you get her to sign off on something as obtrusive as a 60" diameter, 36" tall circular tank? It'll be like parking a small car in your house, except that it will be so much more appealing because it will be filled with squid. That's one tolerant woman you've got there.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Let's just say I know how to handle my wife lol. Bug her until she caves. Hehehe. No I had to get rid of the 250 which isn't the easiest on the eyes for this tank which will be custom built and very nice looking. Not to mention I gave her two beautiful children, she owes me.

 

[skywindsurfer]

It was going to be the 250 and cylindrical one and nothing else, but I compromised and dropped it to the 40 and cylindrical and sold the 250. That made her happy.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Does anyone know any type of kelp or aquatic plant that is easy to grow in an aquarium and has roots simular to kelp? I read that juvenile Bimacs like to stay in the kelp holdfasts until a certain age and I would like to give them that option.