Hachi - Nocturnal Bimaculoides?

abdopus147

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Hi, I am currently keeping a wild, small bimaculoides in a mature 55 gallon, hexagon-shaped tank. Though it has been a month, it only shows up at night to feed on live crab and specific frozen foods. He has eaten live food from my hand, he's even touched my hand and definitely knows I am here. I thought they were diurnal? Does it just need more time to get used to its fairly new environment?
Thanks,
Cameron
 
I've only kept one bimac and even before Diego's eye problems he was more crepuscular than diurnal. Now he is mostly blind but one eye is light sensative and he does not come out until the tank lights and the overhead light are off. Other lighting in the room does not seem to bother him. Diego is a special case but it makes me suggest trying to turn off the tank lights, leaving the room lights on to see if the tank is overly bright for his sensativities.
 
Thanks guys. I am now wondering how long do you think it will take for him to get used to the tank. Also, I don't really use my tank lights and have tried to go a day by just using the sunlight, he still didn't come out. I have also seen him a few times around 6:30. I will take your advise and try it out. Thank you for your feed back.
From,
Cameron
 
Cameron,
They are all anywhere from slightly different to extremely different :lol: and age at introduction to the tank makes a lot of difference. My undocumented guestimate for initial tank acclimation is 2 full weeks and I am never comfortable with the success of the physical introduction until day 15. If the animal is an adult, day/night patterns should begin to be obvious but not before this "break-in" period and the behavior during that time cannot be assumed as what to expect afterwards. Often they will appear quite friendly and then disappear, especially if they are less than 5 months old.

I have found that very young octopuses of several species hide and appear anti-social up until somewhere between 4 and 5 months and day/night patterns are not clear or they appear totally nocturnal. As young juveniles they seldom leave the rock and you may only see them at feeding time. At some magical point they seem to blossom into social animals very quickly and I often use this behavior change as an age gauge. An adult octopus will interact within a month (vague approximation) if it is going to interact, some never do.
 
Thank you for your advice. The octopus is only 4 inches long, approximately how old is that for a bimaculoides? I've heard they grow up to 2 feet, so it must be pretty young. It acts just the way you described; showing up at times like 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., even at 6:00 a.m., it is sometimes friendly, but has not broken into its tank. Sometimes he seems uncomfortable and sometimes acts as if I'm not there. He hunts with little enthusiasm to chase after his prey and eats from 5 to 3 crabs.
From,
Cameron Joe
 
Diego was pretty small when I got him a year ago and my journal mentions that he started being more social after a month. I don't have any size notes and photos don't help a lot without a reference but you might flip through the journal for isolating a similar behavior. However, Diego has twice shown a problem with his eyes, the second problem left him almost blind so I can't say that he is typical (in addition to being the only bimac I have kept). Joe-Ceph would have more experience with the species and you might PM him to bring his attention to the thread.
 
Again, thanks. I have had it for a month now, its name is Hachi (meaning eight in Japanese), and it still fears/ doesn't pay attention to me. It's weird, anyways he doesn't come out at day time either. What are the signs for an octopus breaking into its tank? How long should I wait before I know he will never get used to captivity? Could I still release it into the wild for its own sake?
 
abdopus, I move Hachi's thread to our journals - hopefully you will include some photos and continue to record his/her progress.

Releasing any animal back to the ocean after keeping it in a tank is a major no,no. Larger aquariums with open flow through systems will do this but home tanks have a risk of introducing pathogens into the ocean. In FL, confiscated, illegally collected animals are never returned.

If Hachi is still very young, the shyness is likely age. If she/he is eating well and not showing signs of infection or self-mutilation, then more open activity will come with time. I have found that just sitting in front of the tank and letting them see you as often as possible without your hands in the tank seems to be the fastest way to get them to relax around humans but it takes time and patience and reaching an age where they are naturally more curious than concerned with being a snack for another animal.
 
Sorry I haven't been responding lately, I've been very busy.
Now that this is a journal time to start from square one. A few years ago I was dragged along to go fishing with my father to a rocky, close by fishing spot. A few visits later my mother was standing on a rock when a piece of seaweed (she thought) was wrapped around her leg. When she looked down...... an octopus! She screamed and scared it away, I was unprepared so I couldn't catch it. That soon sparked my interest in octopus. I came back multiple times seeing maybe a few different species and even caught one (too big).
On March 1, I got a shipment from saltwaterfish.com, a small octopus (another story), when I came to the same rocky spot to collect hermit crabs, two girls were playing with an......octopus! My dad asked for it and they gladly sad yes. I was exuberant! When I came home I separated it into a different temporary container and realized it was a bimaculoides, and it was missing the tips of two tentacles.When I acclimated it into its home it squirted at my hand! I soon released it and it happily went into its new home.
 
Bimac troubles

Hi, I have had I bimac for four months and recently it has been acting strange. Well, first of all, it never really showed interest in me(that doesn't really matter). Second, he doesn't hunt, though it's wild it seems unwilling to get out of his shell and chase a crab. Third, it inked yesterday(for no apparent reason, I wasn't even home) and since then it has been acting strange. It used to sit in its shell 24/7, only coming out when I'm gone to eat(and when the prey is in front of its face) , since the ink-bomb he has been out 24/7(acting very weird, sitting out in the open, but not getting close to me, my protein skimmer already picked it up. The water is fine I checked everything, but what could it be? Why is it so lazy? I recently installed a chiller, could that be it?
 
He was really young when you got him so hiding out is not odd from what I have seen of other species when they are very young. Hanging out on the wall may well be stress though and Diego did that for awhile when initially introduced. The inking without know cause is supect. Is there any chance you have hidden animals in the tank (mantis shrimp and some types or worms are often not detected for some time). With adults, most reef critters are not a problem but with the little ones they can be.

If you should change temp again for that kind of change, it would be better to do it over a much longer period, 2-3 degrees a day rather than an hour.
 

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