• 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.

Hello, new here and had some questions for you all.

dasOctopus

Cuttlefish
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Nov 17, 2004
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About a week ago I went to my LFS and saw the neatest thing ever for salt water, a Octopus!! I have not stopped thinking about getting one since that moment.

Afew problems.

1) I have a Eclipse system 12. I know this is to small for the larger Octopus such as, Bimac. (SP) I have seen some post about Dwarf Octopus's but can not seem to find any info on them. As to how big they get. I am to the point now where I wanna throw caution into the wind and buy a bigger tank to house a Octopus. I do have a line on a used 55 gallon set up.

2) I can not seem to find any LFS that knows anything about any octopus noless a dwarf. Everyone is ready to point out that Blue ring Octopus are not a good pet. I have read that you can mail order some octo's. Does anyone sell them mail order? I also know they do not live as long as they are caught and not hatched. i'm willing to suffer the early loss for a chance to observe and enjoy one.

3) I just reset up this small tank about a month ago and have to wait atleast another 2 before I can move on anything. This is a old set up and still has some of the old rock in it. I have added more LR to it also. Hiding places.:wink:

So if anyone can take a few minutes out and give me some links, or more info, I would be very thankfull.

Awsome site by the way. Best I have found so far, by far.

Thanks

Lon
 
Well, welcome to Tonmo!!!
Regarding care and setup, there are some great articles under Ceph care, as well as an entire checklist for bimacs !
Octopets sells captive raised bimacs for a very reasonable price, and ships them out frequently.
Dwarfs are hard to locate with any amount of regularity...even us lucky enough to catch young ones only get a few months of life in the tank out of them, whereas a bimac can live for a year or more...
Be sure to look at the care sheets written by the Tonmo staff, and hit :
http://www.octopets.com
Glad you found us!
greg
 
Bimacs are definitely the best choice, they're interactive, not escape-prone, flash brilliant colours and patterns, plus as Greg stated, they're captive bred. That means they're disease free, reasonably priced and can get to a good lifespan.

If you can get the 55 it would be perfect for one.
 
Hi and welcome to TONMO.com :welcome:

You've already been given good advice - it's worth it to set up a tank for a bimac, even if you have to wait 3 months until it cycles. Be sure to read the articles in Ceph Care (click on the button above) there are a lot of things to consider like where you will get food for for octo, a supplier for RO/DI water, and so forth. It's not all that complicated and not too much different from keeping a reef aquarium.

Just avoid used tanks that have ever had any copper treatment in them - copper is fatal for octopuses.

People report in about their pet octos under Journals and Photos, so you can see what it's like having an octo pet.

Glad you like the site!

Nancy
 
Thank you guy's for the replies. I have already been all over this site and read most what you have told me to already. This is the only site I have found with good info on it. I have seen the warnings about past copper use. This tank I may get was a reef shark tank, and has never had copper in it. It's a friend so he wouldn't mislead me.

I was hoping to get some Dwarf ocotpus info from you guy's. Like maybe even some names to search, or some links. I'm in the WOW phase and just want to read every thing I can find. I'm sure there are some people on here that have Dwarfs, what are there screen names? I'll search their names and read what they have posted to share.

Thanks again.

Lon
 
the only one I have worked with was Octopus digueti...after my last male died, I haven't had the heart to keep any more...my wife and I are kicking around getting a bimac, as our bichir has outgrown the 60 and will be moved into a 150...which leaves us with an empty tank...can't have THAT now can we? :biggrin2:
O. digueti is from mexico and bits of baja california, it does very well in the aquarium, but lives such a short life, less than one year as far as I can tell. They do bite, and are somewhat aggressive compared to bimacs...
Cool deal on the tank...once you get it set up, be sure to enter it into the database!
greg
 
Actually, there aren't many people who keep dwarves (or pygmy octos) because they're not readily available at your local fish store. When they do come it, it's usually by accident. Carol (corw314) recently kept one - you can read about him in Journals and Photos. His name was Rummler.

Also, they don't live very long and most seem to be adults by the time they reach the aquarium store.

A bimac can be kept in a 55 gallon tank and most people eventually opt for this solution.

Yes, you can mail order a bimac from www.octopets.com or from Fish Supply - our Tonmo members have ordered from both with success.

Nancy
 
Theres a site which sells either joubini or mecatoris i believe, but again, they're wild caught and you could end up with a baby vulgaris or an adult dwarf. Hope this helps :smile:
 
Thank you all for the repleis. I know have enough info to keep me busy for a few more days. (Searching and reading) I've got the 55 set up I mentioned in my first post home now and will start setting it up this week :biggrin2: Which raises a new question. Now I will have to wait awhile for this new set up to cycle, which will be after my Eclipse set up is ready. Could I get a Bimac and keep him or her in the 12 gallon for a few months till the 55 is in perfect condition? Will this just be to much stress moving a Bimac after a few months ? If you can not tell I'm chomping at the bit to get one. I talked to a guy at my LFS. and he has 2 Octopus's now. He did not help matters any, he has me wanting one more than ever. Once I mentioned what my plans where (Octopus) he had all kinds of questions and info to share. Seems people have a passion for Octopus's once they have had one. I feel like I'm missing out on something great right now.
 
Some members have had some luck with starting the octo in a smaller tank, some not...if it was me, I would just wait until february or so after the tank is cycled...but, I also understand the desire to have an octo!!
Nancy and Carol might be able to shed some more light on the merits of either situation...
greg
ps, this is an old photo of a cute O.digueti...clever little things!
 
None of these is captive bred. The joubini and the briareus would be at the end of their lives by now. Maybe the vulgaris would live a little longer, but would be too big for your tank!
So pass on these - only order in the spring.

Nancy
 
Yeah, that is the sad part...you get them in april or may, and by september, they are done in...if that long!
greg
 
Ok I'll pass on those for sure. What about the captive breed Bimac's and transfering to another tank in a few months? Is this just to much stress on them or would it be ok? Thanks

Lon
 

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