• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

First-time octo owner has a few questions...

L8, I teach biology and marine science, 10th graders mostly. If you'd like to see what I have in the classroom, check out the link below:

Classroom Pets

Thanks for the welcome Monty.
I'll take you advice and do a water change, just to be safe. I'm a little ashamed to admit that he's inked a few times, and I've read the ink can pollute the water somewhat.
I cycled the tank for about two months before adding him, and I've tested for copper. Speaking of copper, I usually add a trace element supplement to my tanks. However, I noticed that this product has a small amount of copper, which is metabolically important for some animals, but is it worth the risk of using in my octo tank?

As far as octo-proofing, I use mesh to cover all filter inputs/outputs, and blue duct tape to cover all other openings. So far so good....but I'm furiously knocking on wood right now :smile:

"D," my octo looks exactly like your avatar pic. He doesn't have blue eye spots, and spends a lot of time with his arms wrapped behind his head.

gHolland, good question, I wasn't very specific there. I would say, although it's tough to tell, that from arm tip to arm tip, he probably covers a 6-inch diameter.

Thanks to everyone again for your posts. They are most helpful, and I can already tell that octo enthusiasts are a great bunch!

Cheers,

Dustan
 
Bio Teacher;110547 said:
"D," my octo looks exactly like your avatar pic. He doesn't have blue eye spots, and spends a lot of time with his arms wrapped behind his head.

gHolland, good question, I wasn't very specific there. I would say, although it's tough to tell, that from arm tip to arm tip, he probably covers a 6-inch diameter.

First off Dustan, I just want to say what a wonderful job you're doing with the rapid-fire questioning! :wink:

Thanks for the clarification on size... when Monty said, "If it's that big," I was thinking, "If it's that small"...

So... could it be that you have an O. mercatoris... the same species that "D" and I have? "Arms over the head" or "arms between the eyes" seems to be a classic pose for mercs. You might check some of the photos and videos on our journals or the TONMO galleries and see how your octo compares:
Trapper's Babies - Tank Raised Mercatoris
Varys, our brooding O. mercatoris
TONMO Ceph Image Gallery
Good luck!
 
Bio Teacher;110547 said:
.
However, I noticed that this product has a small amount of copper, which is metabolically important for some animals, but is it worth the risk of using in my octo tank?

Hi Dustan,

Absolutely not! Octopus are very sensitive to copper and trace amounts can kill. I would imagine that if your other critters are getting a balanced diet the lack of the additive won't really matter!

J
 
gHolland, I'd say you're right about it being a merc. I checked out those links, and the merc images and videos match up to my octo really well, including color and movement.

It looks like he ate 7 or 8 ghost shrimp last night, so that's a good sign and a relief.
I feed the ghost shrimp marine flakes and spectrum pellets before the octo gets them, so I'm hoping they'll be nutritionally sufficient until I get some fiddlers and shore shrimp.

Thanks for answering that question Jean. I won't add the trace element solution to the octo tank.

So, he's eating now and not escaping, so I guess that's as good as it gets for an octo owner, yeah?

If I do have a merc gHolland, what can you tell me about their personalities and inclinations, based on your experience with that species. I'm hoping they're not completely nocturnal.

Thanks again all for the replies and info.

Cheers,
-D
 
Dwhatley's raising her 3rd generation of mercs right now. I kept one. I don't think any of us that have kept them have had any luck getting them to come out in the daytime hours. There are several threads loaded with details in the journals section if you have time to search them out and read. I really hope that's not the case. If it was sold to you as a vulgaris, you should contact the store and educate them :smile:
 
Hey AM,

Well, the merc news is a little discouraging, especially since the students come in everyday excitedly asking "did he come out yet?"

Since the mercs don't get very large, I might add another small octo, and definitely a diurnal one.
I haven't researched this possibility yet, but I have a feeling I'm going to find out that keeping two octos in the same tank, especially two different species, is a bad idea.

-D
 
Some people have had some success with multiple octopuses in one tank, but it's not suggested.

One thing I would suggest, is if you want to get a different octopus, offer your merc to up to the people on TONMO, I'm sure someone will take it eventually, then get an octopus from the NRCC, who have a lot of experience with cephs, and definitely wont mix up their octopus species. They dont offer cephs to the everyday person though, it has to be for research or something like that, and being a biology teacher im sure you could get one.
 
yea

yea keeping 2 diff. octo species together will result in one eating the other. it's not a good idea. to get your octo to come out try getting red led lights because octos can't see red. once you get the red lights turn off all the lights in the classroom and see if he comes out.
 
They live on a schedule. It's doubtful it will change its habits. Mercs only live (generally speaking) 6-8 months, although D had luck keeping hers past 9 months. But at the size you describe, I'd say it's already an adult and will probably not be around much longer. Perhaps you'll be lucky enough to have a female with fertile eggs. That could make for a great classroom discussion.
 
I'm a big fan of my never-seen little merc, and I'm very excited to be keeping any octo alive and well, but I think I ended up with the wrong species for my specific needs.

So would you all agree that a vulgaris is my best bet for a hardy species with diurnal behavior?
If so, any recommendations for online ordering? By the way, bimacs aren't an option for my tank (I can't afford a chiller...)

L8, I'll take your advice and get in touch with the NRCC to see what my options are there.
 
I think it would be, an acleatus would be a good one too, there might be a couple others slipping my mind though. If you do go with a vulgaris, you will NEED a bigger tank, im not sure how big exactly, but the bigger the better, a 150 or so should do it.
 
...

hummelinckis are diurnal and i love mine. he's really playful and is out all the time. and the 75 gallon tank you have will be perfect for it. i've heard alot of people get hummelinckis from saltwaterfish.com. but you never know what your getting really.
 
It's actually pretty hard to reliably get a vulgaris, and it's too big for your current tank. Since this is education-related, you may be able to order from the NRCC and specify an exact species (they only sell to academic and research institutions, but they're much more reliable about identification that hobby collectors and distributors.) For a 75 gallon tank, either kind of bimac, hummelincki (the octopus formerly known as filosus), briareus, or Abdopus aculeatus are about the rights size, and they're all much more outgoing and at least learn to be diurnal.
 
Great advice guys,...
Vulgaris is out,.....I'll look into tracking down a hummelinckis or one of those other species if they're available.
All this great info is a tremendous help.

Thanks again!
 
Bio_Teacher,
It looks like our team has really covered most of the options and I can't add much BUT ... If you use some of your current LR and substrate to start a small tank (maybe for home or in a dark corner with a red light) while you look for a more suitable octopus, your little Merc can do fine in a round/hex 15 or rectangular 20 gallon tank. If you keep the water level a good 2" below the top (read that as 2"-3" not 1.5") and invest in a $35 skelter skimmer/filter and LOT of replacement filters, your little Merc can also have a home. You may even decide to keep the tank active after this one passes on :wink:.

If it is female, the egg hatching (about 4 weeks) would definitely be something the kids will remember but it will be very difficult to feed them since they too will be fully nocturnal. I believe it might be possible to get them to feed earlier if you keep the tank covered (like a bird cage :biggrin2:) and I have found that a red light can be left on 24/7 without impacting their eating. If your little one ate several shrimp at one sitting, there is a high chance it is female and about to brood so you need to decide about a tank switch very quickly (you can't successfully add another at this point, even another Merc would be risky). Also, if you can quickly find a set of the large purple barnacles (pictured in the links gholland provided of my journals), I have had two females to take up residence and brood in them and was able to observe them over the entire brooding process.

Unfortunately, when you see a Merc out in the light of day, it is very near the end of its life (two weeks max, more likely a couple of days). Sisturus has started coming out at about 9:30 now but I try not to count that since it is not really daylight (he has been a very unusual Mercatoris and I don't expect to ever have another this interactive so I am fighting with reality as he is now 11 months old).

After I looked at your website (nice job)I was going to comment that you might not have a Mercatoris - then I saw the photo credits.
Welcome to your new addiction!
 

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