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GOP in the home...is it possible?

Dr.octo

Hatchling
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Sep 28, 2011
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I have taken care of bimacs for several years and i recently found this forum i need to know...is it possible it keep a GOP and how big does tank need to be? i am constructing my first home and i would like to know also what would be preffered tank material...i know i will at least need a 1000 gallon tank but i would like dimensions if possible...and how stong is a GOP so i know how strong to make the top...as far as feeding and such...i live VERY close to puget sound
 
If you're going for a GPO your going to need more than just a tank, you will need a big chiller, a protein skimmer (very large one) and an additional res, so a lot of space and money would be needed. I would seriously consider whether you want to go down this route they are stunning creatures and a pleasure to work with but need a lot of attention and maintenance. Also I'm not sure who would sell you one if your not in a commercial aquarium.
 
I agree with perke. You need to think long and hard if you really want to get into this. Setting up and maintaining a system for a GPO is very demanding and time consuming. Most systems are kept between 45 and 50 degrees F and as far as octopus go, they are very messy. I know from first hand experience. Our animal is kept in a 1000 gallon system, but as much as I've seen them 'swim', I would say a longer tank would be better. They are also very strong. A fully grown GPO is capable of pulling your shoulder out of socket(may be exagerating a little, but if they get a hold of you and pull...it hurts. I KNOW). You will need to have some form of screw or locking device to keep the tank sealed. Anything is possible though. If you have the right sized tank and filtration system. Not only will you need a very large chiller for the tank, you will also need a large chiller for your water that you use to do water changes with. It will also be difficult to acquire one unless you know someone or can collect them yourself.
 
They are also very strong. A fully grown GPO is capable of pulling your shoulder out of socket(may be exagerating a little, but if they get a hold of you and pull...it hurts. I KNOW).

Tell me about it I constantly have sucker mark bruises on my arms, Pinky(our GPO) gets a little excited if he hasn't seen me for a couple of days. Bless his little cottonsocks
 
Our current GPO(Romeo as I call him)is a sweet heart. He doesn't show a single act of aggression at all. He wont even interact. He grabs the feeding stick, pulls off the food, and then pushes the stick away. He's not shy by any means though. He is just not aggressive, not even when feeding lol. He's my little sweet heart.
 
Ok.....so like i said I HAVE RAISED bimac for several years perke...and as far as chillers i have a lightly used commercial aquarium chiller for a 3k gallon tank and i have been in the process of finding commercial filter and protein skimmer with a goof pump....as far as getting a small GPO i am a amatuer diver.... it is very easy to collect GPO's since they grab any stick u put into their den.....on the other hand....i live like 3 miles from puget sound...so getting a food supply will be the easy part...i have heard full grown GPO's eat like up to 3 crabs a day
 
i was also wondering when the hatching of GPO's eggs are...so i can collect a small as possible creature...just so i dont try and take a full grown one..because i have heard of them getting aggressive....and i like having all my fingers and arms lol
 
GPO's are small egged and have planktonic young so what ever the spawning is, I would wait several months after to try and find one, but then again its not that hard to get a juvenile. Just figure what size you want and don't collect anything else. Good luck, and be carefull about miss id'ing O. Rubescencewith juvenile E. Dofleini(GPO).
 
My husband and I were both considering this once upon a time... We had it all planned out and the expense was enough to make my eyes hurt. there was a man up north somewhere who built a 20,000 gallon saltwater aquarium in his house and hand made everything for it. It cost him something like $100,000 to do all the work himself. If he had paid someone else it would have been like 500,000. I saw the pictures and it was awesome. He posted them like a week ago. His skimmer was about 9 feet tall and about 3 feet wide. The collection cup could have been a babies bath tub!

In any even, I would just take care here. GPO's can pull small children into the tank if not careful (this is why we decided not to do the GPO) I have two small children and wasnt willing to risk it.

Good luck if you do decide to go ahead with it. And POST PICTURES!!
 
Interesting proposition but I am not sure we have good answers. You might try to contact Jim Cosgrove being sure to preface your request with the additional information you added and the seriousness of your inquiry. I have never communicated with him and don't know if he has opposition to keeping them in tanks but that has not been my impression. A quick search found this page at the Royal BC Museum but no email address.
 
Dr Octo sounds like you've thought about this a lot. We use an aquamedic protein skimmer which is about 7ft tall they have two Ocean runners which produce your skimmate this might fit with what you want as they don't take up too much room width wise. I think it is doable in a home situation but careful planning needs to be done things like having an output for the commercial chiller so your not producing heat near the tank and how you are going to do water changes to give you an example we have a stand alone somewhat portable system for our GPO and we do 219 gallon water change a day on tank of similar size to what you're proposing.

Most tanks in the UK that keep them are usually fibreglass either rounded cylinder with a half window but I have seen smaller GPO's in rectangular tanks or square tanks. One of the better ones I've seen was a 7-8ft corner tank which must have been around 1500 gallons but had a lot space for the octopus to move around. I guess the problem about getting GPO is that they start of small and get big so a big tank to start off with may mean you don't see the little one much. Basically the set up I currently have is portable (it's been to Spain, Germany and the UK) which means I can't see why it wouldn't work in a home situation if done well.

Good luck with the plans and let us know how you get on
 

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