- Joined
- Nov 21, 2011
- Messages
- 6
I ask because my O. Mercatoris (acclimated 11/21) somehow escaped from his mini enclosure and is now somewhere in my main tank, I think either my dog spooked it at night or it was my constant checking on him to make sure he's ok (first Ceph so trying to spot anything worrying in advance) but anyway, I started to check on him less to give him some time alone (by the way I just take a peek at him, I'm not moving his hiding rock around or anything) and he somehow, at least I think since I can't find him (and just to be fair thinking now, I only had 1 rock and macros in there because I am picking up an order of new rock just for him today), escaped through < 1/4" slots and into my main. While looking for him it occurred to me that he liked to be high up in his rock in the mini tank, but the fact that he is a benthic octo, it would make more sense looking near the sand? Also if there is any tricks to get him to come out so I at least know he's safe and in there please share. He should be safe as I am turning off powerheads and screening the top in a few hours, however I have concerns over him getting stressed by a curious lion, who thankfully is small enough to be just bigger than the octo, and small/passive enough to leave my Mandarin alone. While my skunk cleaner may pester the poor octo to death trying to clean it (if it hasn't been made into octo-lunch yet). I'm thinking that even though he is nocternal, I will be able to see him at lunch time when I put some ghosts in there as he seemed to like them eating 2 or 3 with in 15 mins of introduction, or are they really just that good at hiding? He only seemed to be able to display limited color/texture changes in the black/grey/white range. I will also add that I wasn't fully expecting him to escape and didn't really prepare for it (99% sure the slots are smaller than the beak and being the idiot I am, I didn't prepare for a worst case). Sorry for the rambling, just trying to make sure I told all the info I have. And although this seems irresponsible not preparing, this is why I located an older, smaller octo, to see where problems would arise, make sure water is fine, check his stress and see if I can acclimate correctly, what to do if there is an escape, and worst of all, see if I can handle to short life spans that cephs have. All of this info will help me when I dedicate a 55-65 gallon to either a O. Briareus or A. Aculeatus in the future. Thanks all!