Im new with alot to ask please bare with me

Reefreefer

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Apr 15, 2010
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I am new to this site, I have been very reluctant to get an octopus but after 5+ years of fish and 3+ reef keeping it is time to take a plunge. I have several shrimps, starfish, and snails that I have taken care of all doing well the pistol shrimp pops a lot and the snails and stars come out at night, all healthy, I mention these because when I first asked about octopus I was told I should get a little experience with inverts and coral first. So years later I have a 180g tank and I am looking for a few recommendations from a few avid Members of this site. I know that octopus can be short lived so I would also like to hear about Cuttle fish and Nautilus, as well. Which ones are best kept in captivity? which ones live the longest, If I am dedicated, would it possible/worthwhile to breed them? I am not concerned much about size I am not looking for one that is extremely small and I dont want anything that needs a bigger tank foot print than 6 feet x 2 feet he has to be comfy. What other inhabitants can you house with an octopus? I know they are supposed to be in a specimen type tanks, but will it really eat everything you put in the tank but the rock? Is anything safe to keep with it, without harm to either animal? I have seen videos of them in tanks with coral is this o.k. as long as the coral don't sting? I will leave this alone for now and see if some of my questions get answers, while I try to answer them browsing around this site. All tank perimeters are Great but I do not feel I have enough knowledge yet I want to make sure everything is just right and ask more ?'s thanks for looking I look forward to meeting new folks from this site.
tanks Daniel
 
:welcome: to TONMO

With a 180 gallon tank your option are open to any of the commonly kept octopus species. Unfortunately it is true that you cant keep any fish or other inverts with an octopus, unless they are food. Crabsand shrimp are the most common food. I tried with mine and everything was eaten even things i figured she would never get. Corals are OK, but remember no stinging ones and also remember octopus can be pretty rough on some corals just from moving around the tank. I had mushrooms in with my O.briareus and she always knocked them over and eventually I just moved them. however my corals that were well established to the rock was fine.

I have not kept them but cuttlefish are very cool especially if you get into breeding them. The common cuttles to keep are Sepia Bandensis or dwarf cuttles. you can read about the cuttles here: Cephalopod Care

In general we discourage nautilus keeping because they have requirements that are hard to meet in a home aquarium, and they may be in danger of being overfished for their shells, so we don't think it would be good to create a pet trade for them that would further impact wild populations\

I suggest you get your hands on Nancy and Colin's book its really awesome! 'Cephalopods: Octopuses and Cuttlefish for the Home Aquarium' you can find it on Amazon
 
To house an octopus, you will need to add a secure cover for your tank and a skimmer is preferable. Breeding a medium sized octopus is unlikely unless you can maintain a the tank under 72 degrees. If that temp is viable then, if you can locate a mated female, it may be viable to raise O.bimaculoides young and breed a pair of sibblings. We have no record of successfully keeping two WC bimacs in a single aquarium but sibblings have been raised together and mated (results of Zyan Silver's sibbling pairing is unknown). The only other large egged species of octopus that we commonly find is thought to be cannibalistic and housing two would be risky at best. We have had a few O.briareus to lay fertile eggs that have hatched but the hatchlings have not survived more than a couple of days. The large, benthic egged species should be tank raisable but we have not been successful. The small egg, palegic species are beyond the home aquarist but when we have hatchlings, we give it a try (I believe the record is 21 days with 11 days the next best attempt).

Cuttlefish are less disruptive to an established tank, don't require a secure top, can be kept in multiples and we have seen them mate and produce viable eggs. Raising tank bred cuttles has been more of a challenge than the difficult process of hatching and raising WC eggs. See "List of Our Cuttlefishes 2009-2010" for links to the more recent threads. Thales has been having remarkable success propagating them at Steinhart.
 
I asked about the coral because about 1/2 my rock is covered in the mushroom forest, I am not too concerned on keeping the mushrooms though just longevity of an octopus I was going to put them in another tank to prevent them from being eaten and just put more rock in. I guess I would like to get just one and learn a little more on there care before trying to raise a bunch. What is the longest lived specimen in around a stable 75% environment? And where would be the best place around Northern Ca to get one? I have asked my L.f.s and all I got were generic names like Philippine, Bali, Brown, Common, and a few others, probably not my best place to order. The only ones I know for sure are Blue ring, Mimic, and Nautilus, and some Cuttle's. All have been tempting, but I am glad I have waited. Thanks for all of your help, I guess I will go look around for the book tomorrow, if I can't find it at Barns and Nobel I will just have to order it. Does it give good Id information? I have seen several different octopus in sushi shops and if they have any I could save I would like to. I just want to make sure I am saving it in the right manner, and can care for it, not prolong his suffering a few more days by putting him in the wrong environment. I guess this all comes down to Identification, I would like to know that I am getting the one I order.
 
Octopuses do not eat corals, urchins, starfish or macro algae. They are not careful about their movements over the rocks and can damage them by dislodging them though. The caution on most corals is to protect the octo's skin.

Blue Rings carry a poison that is deadly and are far too small for that sized tank to be able to properly quarantine. Mimic's are a major concern as a species that is in decline (or at least in unknown numbers), not being monitored and don't do well in an aquarium. Nautilus are also not monitored, not well suited for an aquarium, require a rounded side tank and cold water (additional depth is also desirable). There are discussions on all three in the exotics forum (you must be signed in to see the forum).

The generic names you see at your pet store are a common problem. As a general rule of thumb, the Bali and Philippine are often A.aculeatus, the common are sometimes a O.briareus. As for the Common and Brown, they mean they will ship an octopus and have no other meaning. The issue is that very few people can identify even the most common species. What most see are briareus (FL), mercatoris (nocturnal dwarf FL), aculeatus (Phillipines and Indonesia). If you will look at the List of Our Octopuses 2010 sticky at the top of the Journals and Photos forum you will see the species, keeper and a link to each journal. There is also a nocturnal unidentified (on TONMO) species that is likely part of the Macropus complex that is shipped from Indonesia.

As for cuttles, virtually the ONLY cuttlefish we see are S.bandensis (there are no cuttlefish native to the eastern hemisphere). The current journals are also listed in a List of our Cuttlefishes sticky in the Journals and Photos forum.
 

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