Isis O. bimaculoides NEW OCTOPUS Surprise from my Husband!

Joined
Oct 2, 2009
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Ok so some of you know about the whole octopus drama I had a week or so ago. Well after all the disappointment and confusion my husband decided to put a call into a friend of his in California.

Apparently he has a friend from college whose in the marine bio field and his friend had octopuses available! Holy Cow!

So I am on my way to get water this morning at Galveston and I get a call. He asks me where I am cause I'm not online like normal. He then tells me I need to turn around and go home cause a package he ordered is there on the front porch and needs to be brought in... he says its time sensitive. I say ok and come home. I get here and it says on the box live fish parishable! I call him and ask whats up and he tells me to open it. Low and behold, He got me a BIMAC! A much LARGER Bimac!

I am STOKED!

I am acclimating her now. He says that he knows for a fact that shes a she because this friend of his told him. I will be posting pics in a few.

Because I know that shes a female I have decided to call her Isis after the Egyptian mother.

I am just bubbling with excitement! I cant contain myself!
 
When it rains it pours. Is she going in with Sedona and Jr? We don't have any experience with mixing ages and unfortunately, only success will tell us something since the other two are newly hatched and not past a point of natural die-off.
 
Isis isnt going in the same tank as the Junior and Sedona. I currently have 2 octo tanks set up. I put Junior and Sedona in the smaller tank because they were so small I didnt think I would be able to find them in the other and Isis is in the larger tank.

I had read that octopuses that were of similar size have been kept together in tanks successfully but I don't think it would work out to well if Isis was there too. Isis' is much larger than the other two. Her mantel is about the size of a small lemon and her arm span is probably about 5 to 6 inches. So far she has been exploring her new home and already ate a large hermit crab.

I am really excited about her.
 
SOME octopus species MAY be able to be kept together IF they are introduced young and are about the same size. MOST species will eat each other. It is important to include the species when considering experimenting with multiples. Under those guidelines, O.bimaculoides and O.mercatoris have grown to adults as sibblings living together but we have no experience with other species and total failures with mixed species. We KNOW O.briareus consume each other in the wild and my hatchling experience suggests competitive consumption starts at a month or two (there is conjecture that it starts after a week but, in spite of the die off, I am almost sure this it not the case because of food sizing and the amount of time I was able to keep sibbling together).

If Sedona lives, please make comparisons with how the behavior compares as she approaches the size (age) that you are able to watch with Isis. This is a really great opportunity for anything that you may be able to record as one approaches an age that the other is leaving.

I really enjoy having multiples but am trying not to think about all three of them being about the same age with similar life expectancies. Can you find out if Isis was tank bred or hatched?
 
dwhatley;164605 said:
SOME octopus species MAY be able to be kept together IF they are introduced young and are about the same size. MOST species will eat each other. It is important to include the species when considering experimenting with multiples. Under those guidelines, O.bimaculoides and O.mercatoris have grown to adults as siblings living together but we have no experience with other species and total failures with mixed species. We KNOW O.briareus consume each other in the wild and my hatchling experience suggests competitive consumption starts at a month or two (there is conjecture that it starts after a week but, in spite of the die off, I am almost sure this it not the case because of food sizing and the amount of time I was able to keep sibbling together).

Thank you I should have said this as well.

dwhatley;164605 said:
If Sedona lives, please make comparisons with how the behavior compares as she approaches the size (age) that you are able to watch with Isis. This is a really great opportunity for anything that you may be able to record as one approaches an age that the other is leaving.

I will but I am no where near as good at chronicling information as you are. You asking questions helps a great deal.

dwhatley;164605 said:
I really enjoy having multiples but am trying not to think about all three of them being about the same age with similar life expectancies. Can you find out if Isis was tank bred or hatched?

I asked my husband and he wasn't sure. Him being a non hobbyist didn't think to ask. Hes being purposefully evasive about his friend or who they work for because he doesn't want me bothering them for more octos in the future. Apparently they dont normally supply octos to hobbyists.
 
How much sand room should should a bimac have? I dont want to have to much rock in the tank since they like tide pools. I had put some fake plants in the tank the other day then realized after putting Isis in the tank that fake grass (being sharp and pointy) is not a good idea so I took it out. I tried to create a rock wall and I know that we normally say more rock is better but I still wanted to ask so I could create the best ocean like environment I could... what do yall think is the best rock to sand open space ratio. Anyone have pictures?
 
My bimac tank is about half sand, and the octopus spends almost no time on the sand. In the wild, bimacs come out on the sand when it's dark, to hunt, if they need too, but they prefer to spend time in the safety of rocks where they can hide. My bimacs are either on the rocks, or on the glass, and sometimes swimming between the two. A bimac will dig if it can, so keep that in mind. The thing that should limit the amount of rock isn't the need for sand space, but the need for room to swim. (which they don't do much of anyway)
 
Thank you Joe-Ceph. I appreciate the input. You just saved me time from moving everything.

So I went to do a water change tonight. After hiding all day Isis surprised me by being out hunting. I think I made her mad because as I stood there she flashed her spots at me then went to hid until I was done. For once... MY CAMERA DIDNT LET ME DOWN!!! PICTURES TO SHARE YAY! They arent super but man they are way better then they have been lol.

Isis006.jpg


Isis008-1.jpg
 
I am not very good at trying to make photo adjustments but I tried a few simple modifications to sharpen Isis to show off her eyespot. :biggrin2:
 

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Neat-O!
I think I can see in the picture that the blue ring in the eyespot isn't a solid ring, but more like a chain. Is that true? I think that means that you have a bimaculatus, not a bimaculoides. Bimaculatus is a small egged species, and gets a little larger than bimaculoides. If it's bimaculoides, I don't see how they could have been captive hatched, so maybe I'm seeing things in the picture that aren't there.
 
I love bimacs - see them all the time scuba diving in La Jolla (and smaller octos up here in the Bay Area - though we have seen twice now BIG mama GPOs). Full grown they are a lot bigger and stronger than I would have expected. And not very friendly - one stole my buddy's dive light.
 
Jabba954;164701 said:
I love bimacs - see them all the time scuba diving in La Jolla (and smaller octos up here in the Bay Area - though we have seen twice now BIG mama GPOs). Full grown they are a lot bigger and stronger than I would have expected. And not very friendly - one stole my buddy's dive light.

From what I have read their personalities vary greatly. Some are far more friendly than others. I wouldnt want to be alone in a tank with one though.

Lmecher;164709 said:
Congratualtions, she is beautiful. I love the name too.
Thank you... I think shes beautiful! My husband called his friend for me because I wouldnt leave him alone about her and he said she was wild caught.

Joe-Ceph;164684 said:
Neat-O!
I think I can see in the picture that the blue ring in the eyespot isn't a solid ring, but more like a chain. Is that true? I think that means that you have a bimaculatus, not a bimaculoides. Bimaculatus is a small egged species, and gets a little larger than bimaculoides. If it's bimaculoides, I don't see how they could have been captive hatched, so maybe I'm seeing things in the picture that aren't there.

There seems to be some confusion as to which has which spots. I was reading here http://www.tonmo.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-6173.html and other threads that contradict each other so I am unsure which I have. I know now that she is wild caught so at this point it could be either.
 
Ok so I looked over the pic of Ollie on the bimac care sheet and his spots look like a chain link to me...Cephalopod Care and Isis looks different than Ollie being sunburst like to me. But I really have no idea. I can clearly see a chain link and sunbursts but I cant see them on Isis

When are O. bimaculatus most active?
 

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