• 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.

is it normal for an octopus to turn white?

ajones5289

Hatchling
Registered
Joined
Sep 11, 2012
Messages
3
my newly acclimated octo keeps displaying lots of white colors, she is hanging out on white coral so i cant tell if this is natural but im worried my ammonia and nitrate levels may be the problem or is this normal behavior for new acclimatees?
 
i'm new here and new to octos but i have seen a few pics of aparently healthy octos in white buckets that turn white to match so i would think yours is just reacting to all the white rocks in your tank
as far as ammonia any amount is bad for anything in the tank and nitrate is no good either and i think you need to do a water change if this is a new tank thats not fully cycled you may have problems to come
 
Some species are more likely to display white than others. O. briareus is often white as is O. mercatoris and, as mentioned the background will have an effect on all of them.

What concerns me is that you said you have white rock. This alone is not normal for a cycled tank but your worries about ammonia (less so on the nitrate but that should not be high either). You should not be able to detect ammonia or nitrite in your tank if it is well cycled and you are doing water changes regularly. If you can detect them then you need to do daily water changes to give the octopus a chance.
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top