Cylindrical Acrylic Aquarium

[OB]

That the supplier stocks wonderpus/mimics?

 

[Joe-Ceph]

The collection of wild wonderpus/mimic octopus is controversial because, while there is little evidence either way, there is reason to believe that wonderpus/mimics populations are vulnerable to collection pressure, and that the impact of creating a demand for them could greatly damage the wild population. Most of us are taking a play-it-safe position and discouraging the purchase of these. There are threads about it (reportedly they don't do well in captivity either)

 

[Joe-Ceph]

The store is located near Los Angeles if that helps. What species are found in that area?

What is the name of the store, or wholesaler? They may not be reputable, and may sell you whatevery they have, and tell you the species is whatever you asked for.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

I'm almost certain that these animals will be bimacs, but I'd just like to know the exact species and size. What are the chances that they could be another species other than a bimac if they were collected from mid/southern California? What other species are found in that region?

One tonmo member ordered from a place that said they had bimacs (tank raised?) and got a California Lilliput Octopus, which is a very rarely found, tiny, nocturnal octopus which is native to California, but almost never seen. There's a 99.9% chance that any octopus caught in southern California will be a bimac, and a 95% chance that it will be bimaculoides. There's also a good chance that someone will take your money, and send you whatever octopus their supplier sells them, which is close to never a bimac. If you name the supplier, we can probably tell you what to expect.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Sea Dwelling Creatures, and they are very reputable.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

I suspect they are, but I don't have an opinion. I emailed them yesterday asking if they could get bimacs, and they replied that they could, and that they call them "Brown Octopus T/R (for Tank Raised) or just Brown Octopus". It's my understanding that one would need a LFS or some other retailer to register with them and order a "Brown Octopus" for them, since they are a wholesaler and don't sell directly to the public. You'll probably get a bimac from them. If so, it'll be nice to know there is a source form bimacs again.

 

[Thales]

Sea Dwelling Creatures, and they are very reputable.

That very much depends on who you talk to.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Well we've always had good interaction with them. I'm going to try and sit down and check to see what all octopus they are selling. As for the tank, the guy is still looking for material. Do you think 3/8" would be strong enough with a cross brace on top?

 

[skywindsurfer]

So I've been bugging the guy for days now to get started on the tank explaining continuously the urgency in which I need this tank. He's at the point now that everytime he sees me he's like 'Ya man I keep thinking about how to build your tank.' I'm hoping he gets started on it this weekend. He left work before I was able to speak with him again.

The 40 gallon tank that I have set up for the bimacs is running fine. I have several lbs of live rock with about an inch deep muddy sand bed. I'm using a HOB filter intended for 115 gallons. Our AC was set at roughly 75F and the tank was sitting steady at 72F, so I kicked the AC down a few degrees and took the top off of the filter and directed a fan ontop of the tank angled towards the water pouring back into the tank. I have a Current LED 10K strip for light. Right now there is a decent sized blue crab inside there to assist with cycling the tank. I think everything is ok though. I'm going to take out the fake sargassum plants and place more rocks to raise the water level and add more bacteria.

 

[skywindsurfer]

They didn't have any octopus available when I checked the other day, so I assume they will have to go out and collect to fill the order. I asked the guy that's placing the order to change it from five animals to either one large female (perferably with eggs or close to it), but if they can not sex them to just get two and I'll take my chances because I don't think I'll have the resources to house five fully grown adults.

 

[skywindsurfer]

I just checked the temperature of my bimac tank, and it's almost down to 70F. As I said, I dropped the AC a few degrees so I'm hoping the temperature in the tank will do the same. I'd like to get it down to 68F, but I'll settle for 70F if that's as low as it will drop.

 

[skywindsurfer]

The tank hit 68°F this morning.

 

[skywindsurfer]

I found a 1/2hp chiller for $422.18 tax included. The only problem is that they said its kind of loud and noisy.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Well the wife drew the line and said no for the 1/2 hp but aggreed to let me get a 1/4 hp drop in for about $75. Only catch is it doesn't have a thermosat.

 

[skywindsurfer]

So I just picked up the chiller this afternoon. I'm going to try and get a thermostat/controller from work put on it and try to run it on the 250 gallon with the smaller sump pump and see how low I can get the temperature. It would be nice to just split that tank in half and put an octopus on either side. My wife has a reef tank at work, so I'm going to put most of the tropical stuff in her tank.