Hello

[Huladad]

I'm new to cephalopods, but not new to saltwater. I have always wanted a cephalopod tank, but have wanted to gain the knowledge and skills before I tackled one. I have a friend who has one, which makes it only worse on me. Currently I have a Non photosynthetic tank, and a 180g reef tank. Looking foward to reading many posts and gaining lots of knowledge on keeping cephalopods.

 

[tonmo]

Welcome aboard Huladad!

 

[CaptFish]

Cool!

welcome to your new addiction! What kinda ceph are think about, octopus or cuttlefish? You should definately be able to find all the knowledge you could ever want to learn about cephs here on TONMO. and if you cant find an answer feel free to ask we love questions around here.

what does your friend have?

 

[Huladad]

Thanks for the welcome, my wife want's cuttlefish, but I want to try a octo first. My buddy works at the Coastal Science Center at UNCW in Wilmington, NC. I know it's an Atlantic Ocean species, but not quite sure of the scientific name. Still learning... Very intelligent creature though.... I really want to start with a small octopus, I have plenty of systems lying around not being used, 30g up to 180g, plus I work at a glass factory, so building a tank is not out of the question. I really just want to start out with a smaller, hardier species and get addicted from there... LOL

 

[DWhatley]

Choose something at least 55 gallons and 65 preferable plus anticipate a sump (the bigger the better). Anything under 45 gallons limits you to dwarfs and the most common is going to be nocturnal. You need to size the tank for multiple animals. Your first one will likely live less time than it takes to set up the tank an cycle it. Lifespans are very short and these are wild caught animals that are typical at least 5 months old, often they will be entering senescence when they arrive. This is the hard part about keeping octopuses and I won't say you get used to it but you learn to accept it. Cuttles typically will be with your longer. Their lifespan is about the same (roughly 1 year) but adults do not ship well where eggs do so hatching them from wild caught eggs is the typical avenue. A tank set up for an octopus can easily accomodate cuttles and with the recommended minimum, you can keep several cuttles (we only see the Indonesian S. bandensis here in the US).

Choosing a species is easier than it sounds and then when you order one you never quite know what you will get. This year has been particularly surprising in variety. You will quickly learn that vendors have no idea what to look for in a species but they are forgiven because even experts have difficulty identifying many of them. If you want a tropical species and don't want to worry with a chiller (or cleaning a cold tank), keep with suppliers that purchase from Indonesia or collect from the East Coast. There are a large number of octopuses but currently only a few show up in the trade. Many are by-catch from either live rock (usually the dwarf O. mercatoris) or from the crabbing or lobster industry. We also see a few Indonesian animals, primarily through Live Aquaria but if your LFS buys from an importing wholesaler, you will see titles like "bali" (which has no meaning except possibly it is an Indonesian species).

For some first hand experience with the different species, look a the List of our Octopuses 20xx located in the Octopus Care forum under Journals and photos . There is a similar list for Cuttles in the Cuttlefish Care forum. The lists will show the species, the keeper, origination and a link to the journal.

 

[Lmecher]

to Tonmo!

 

[iAlex]

Welcome!