[Octopus]: Frank - O. vulgaris

That first pic is Vulgaris no question LOL Sitting on top of the rock looking over his kingdom which you just so happen to live in.

What's a good strategy for cleaning Frank's Tank he has a tug of war with every thing I put in there. There is a pile of fiddler crab shells he is protecting. Should I put him in a bucket when I clean his tank? How long can those shells stay without raising the nitrates to quickly. Totally a pack rat. He becoming a change to clean his tank, today he took hold of my siphoning hose and pulled all his rocks down. He does not like me touching his stuff.
 
Frank loves a challenge!
 

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LOL!!! Welcome to having a Vulgaris!! It does get better when he gets older. For now I would wait till Frank is really hungry. Feed and then clean wile he is eating. He will get somewhat used to you having a hose in the tank. I use a long pair of long tongs kind of tool to grab shells. I suggest feeding pealed whole shrimp every other day to keep down on the waist. On the other days crabs or live shrimp which Casper eats the live shrimp shell and all. "She is a real pig" Only in the last few weeks have I seen her ever full. She would eat a 5+" blue crab and if there are live shrimp she would eat those 2. I find frozen peeled raw shrimp are the best as far as not making a mess.
Lets put it this way, Your going to have N03 and P04. With an octo that eats and poops like a Vulgaris its going to happen. Try not to leave shells but if Frank is like Casper he will take shells and hide them in his cave. I suggest getting a reactor going with GFO of some other P04 remover. Also the bio load is going to be heavy so use lots of rock. I use a ceramic media in the sump for extra surface.
 
LOL!!! Welcome to having a Vulgaris!! It does get better when he gets older. For now I would wait till Frank is really hungry. Feed and then clean wile he is eating. He will get somewhat used to you having a hose in the tank. I use a long pair of long tongs kind of tool to grab shells. I suggest feeding pealed whole shrimp every other day to keep down on the waist. On the other days crabs or live shrimp which Casper eats the live shrimp shell and all. "She is a real pig" Only in the last few weeks have I seen her ever full. She would eat a 5+" blue crab and if there are live shrimp she would eat those 2. I find frozen peeled raw shrimp are the best as far as not making a mess.
Lets put it this way, Your going to have N03 and P04. With an octo that eats and poops like a Vulgaris its going to happen. Try not to leave shells but if Frank is like Casper he will take shells and hide them in his cave. I suggest getting a reactor going with GFO of some other P04 remover. Also the bio load is going to be heavy so use lots of rock. I use a ceramic media in the sump for extra surface.
What kind if shrimp? Is that fresh peeled shrimp from the market?
 
Raw frozen shrimp from the grocery store is fine. It does seem that shrimp are not Vulgaris's fav as I see susan having issues with hers not wanting them. I go through times where Casper doesn't really want shrimp but if she is hungry she will eat them. If you have local bait shops selling live shrimp that seems to work better. Casper eats shells and all when she is hungry.
 
My husband's says he has grown since last week to quit feeding him so much. He wore me out to day cleaning his tank. He does not like me moving his home. I cleaned his shell and he let me know it was definitely his. Once I put back in the tank he went straight to it. Picture of Frank on his shell below.
 

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So envious! We have to break down one of my octo tanks this weekend to move/remove my washing machine. Maybe after everything settles back down, I will have the opportunity to acquire an occupant :fingerscrossed: (of course I DO have an alternate tank should an opportunity present itself early :sagrin:)
 
Frank has been pretty funny lately. He comes to top to say hello, I give some food then he hangs out a while and wraps on to my finger. I pull them back and tell him that there is no more to go eat what he has. He then squirts water up at me and it goes all over the floor. Then he goes to his cave to eat what I gave him. He's hilarious. What is up with water squirting?
 

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Reports of octopus showers (not to be confused with current politics :sagrin:) have been reported as anything from dislike of a particular person, dislike of an action/lack of action (like being served food or getting face time) and outright playfulness. My personal thinking is that all octos of a species have the same physical abilities but how they use them is individual. Most octopuses are not social animals and are not reared by their parents so they don't have an opportunity to learn from each other but do observe the world and animals around them and act/react from their individual experiences. I suspect that if an action gets a desired result, it will continue to be used for that action.
 
Frank is in his new tank finally. He did not do very well on his transfer he escaped his bucket during acclamation 3 times. I though he was going to be goner. Lucky I was very upset and my husband prayed for him and he snapped out of it. He's doing good now. Thankful he's adjusting well.
 

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