[Octopus]: El Diablo - O. vulgaris

[SabrinaR]

I guess I mean where did you get the wall from and if you made it yourself how did you design the holes for flow and yet keep octos from crawling through. How much room did you give yourself to put stuff back there and so on?

 

[Lmecher]

It has been so long, I'd have to measure. Yes we made it, you need to figure out how much room you need and want for pumps, heater, skimmer and fuge. I have 3 separate chambers and 2 circulating pumps, my husband drilled the return holes, it was pretty easy. Pump returns are not octo-proofed the pump is diredtly on the other side of the flase wall. I had them covered with mesh and zip ties in the previous tank but Diablo kept taking them off, decided not to bother, hasn't been a problem.

 

[Lmecher]

Last night we noticed the damsels biting Diablo. Everytime he's begin to exit his den, he'd get bit. My daughter asked if maybe he was dying, my inside voice said "over my dead body". Diablo looks great, his color is good, (changing) all arms are intact, mantle nice and firm (not floppy) appetite good. I am running through the check list. I will not accept that there is something wrong with him, no, no, not yet
We had to tear the tank apart to get the devils out, they were very difficult to catch, took 2 of us but we did it. Diablo was out the entire time, he only grabbed me a couple times. When Mark was in the tank Diablo went to the back corrner and never grabbed him. My rock work is all screwed up, looks like a wall. At least my baby will be safe. I am try so hard not to freak out, have to keep telling myself to breathe...

 

[CaptFish]

Damsels are one of the meanest fish! i tried them with Aculeatus and Hummelincki they were down right vicious with both.

 

[SabrinaR]

He's gonna be ok. Just do what you're doing and breathe. Those fish are pests and a pita in the tank and to get out of the tank. They probably just got to big for their britches. We call ours Devil and he got put in the nano by himself as soon as I could catch him. I even kept some Green Chromis for a while... being told they were far more passive than other Damsels... yeah they killed my clown.

 

[Lmecher]

They are called blue devils for a reason. Its strange, they lived together peacefully for a long time then BAM. I was hoping Diablo would eat them In the very begining, I had 4. Did Diablo eat one and decide they were ? I just fed him a shrimp and he took it with gusto. Time will tell now. I just got a few more gray hairs from this scare.

 

[DWhatley]

Thanks for posting Linda. I am glad you got those pesky fish out of there, we tried for weeks to remove a chromis from one tank and lost a clam in my son's over zealous attempt.

I try to keep a list of examples of real life events for when people ask about tankmates but so often keepers won't record problems because they are embarassed that they tried something (particularly if that something is on the not a good idea list). Dave's article will go a long way to save fish (and likely octos too) but we need more direct references with timing like this to show the opposite side of the coin. Animals change behavior and get bold over time and I think that is an important part on getting a handle on all of this.

I have seen one in situ octopus in my life (and I am hoping it won't be the last ) and the only reason he was visible was because a wrasse was pestering him so fish are a no go in my octo tanks but I would dearly love to keep a ribbon eel and there have been indications it is possible. HOWEVER, there is not enough evidence over time to support the possibility and without reporting when people try something, we have no good feel for the validity of "the status quo".

 

[Lmecher]

I am just happy we got them out before any damage was done. We saw a video on youtube, an octopus was literally ripped apart by a school of fish, it was difficult to watch. I pictured this happening in my very own tank and freaked a little. I would have never believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes. I believed the fish were the ones in danger. I am happy to share all my experiences, good or bad, that is the only way we learn right?

 

[DWhatley]

It it is the video I am thinking of, the guy that took it is a member here and has a magnificiant journal of the octos he observes in situ. If you have not read ALL of juggleMatt's Octopus living in groups on going encounters thread, you are in for at treat. The ONLY sad one is the excellent video (albeit stomach upsetting) with the leather jackets.

Amendment! The only sad one with a terrible ending is likely the one you saw, Matt's encounter with the bends was horrifying.

 

[SabrinaR]

I always thought like you did... the fish were the ones in danger. I think I know which video you are talking about... just horrible and sad. I had those chromis in Isis tank. I got kind of depressed looking at an empty tank for so long and I had been told that they were "nice fish". Well when I ordered Sedona I opted to move them thinking they were going to freeze to death and posted them on my local reef forum... Thats when I learned how mean they were... I thought the whole time that my clown fish had just died from old age... he was almost 9 so it seemed reasonable until others on the board told me chromis' pick themselves off one by one. I tore the whole tank down getting to them that night.

 

[Lmecher]

Yes, octopus attacked by leather jackets is the one. It is so hard to watch that, the poor little guy had no where to hide.

 

[DWhatley]

Go look at the link I posted, the thread is wonderful, just don't watch THAT video again.

 

[Jabba954]

Augustus ate one damsel, and the other one started harassing him - so into the shark tank it went. It made a poor decision to harass my Wobbegong - it took about a tenth of a second for its mistake to become evident.

 

[SabrinaR]

Augustus ate one damsel, and the other one started harassing him - so into the shark tank it went. It made a poor decision to harass my Wobbegong - it took about a tenth of a second for its mistake to become evident.

See... to big for his britches.

 

[DWhatley]

There are two more in situ threads you should enjoy that may have started before your time(s).

http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?15161-meeting-a-local-Situ(O.gibbsi)
http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?18170-another-local-Situ-Two(O.gibbsi)

Hopefully Haggs will be back in the water soon now that spring is there and will strengthen his healing arm by wrestling with an octo