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Looking for Octopus!(Desperate)

AprylWillis

GPO
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Aug 23, 2006
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Hi, I'm new to this website. I was wondering where I could purchase a Bimac octopus without having to pay $75+. The websites I have visited all inform me that I'm paying $30, but then I get the ridiculous shipping charges and it ends up being near $200.


I've had the tank set up for over 4 months now and I've gone through the water cycles. The PH is normal and the gravity is 1.024. I just spent 189 on a (normally) very expensive eclipse lighting to make sure they have the best! Now that everything is set up and ready, I can't seem to find an octopus of my very own.

Can anyone help me locate one? I'm not a new aquarist.

Also, I would like to know what other alternatives there are to feeding him if I cannot get the live shrimp.

Thank you,
Apryl Willis :confused:
 
I have baby bimacs if you are near southern oregon or northern california. You probably could have saved some money on the lighting, they don't like bright lights.
 
AprylWillis;78776 said:
Also, I would like to know what other alternatives there are to feeding him if I cannot get the live shrimp.

Thank you,
Apryl Willis :confused:

:welcome: You can always get live shrimp, crabs, if you are willing to pay for them. There is no way to predict what your octopus will eat so you should be prepared to have to pay for live food to keep your octopus happy. The biggest expense in keeping a cephalopod (once you have a tank set up) is feeding it. Good luck.

You can sometimes train (convince, coerce) an octopus to eat defrosted, raw (as in still gray in color, not pink...) shrimp. You can usually get raw shrimp at a seafood market.
 
I would like to know if an automatic brine shrimp feeder will keep my octopus happy (once I have him)? I just purchased an Aqua 200 Brine shrimp feeder and it promises to automatically hatch and dispel live brine shrimp in 23-46 hours. They will be full grown in 2 weeks and I was planning on feeding him mollusks until then.

Please let me know your opinions?

Zyan. How much are you willing to sell your Bimacs for? I really want that breed of octopus. I have a 30 gallon tank that's in full gear right now, with all of the latest equipment. (We plan on dimming the lights for the little guy by putting a strip of tint over it.)

(I realize the expense in keeping these guys happy and I'm willing to do anything to ensure the survival of my pet.)

Also, I recently placed an order on Aquacon.com for an octopus. They are selling them for $59.99. If you can offer me a cheaper price, I will be more than interested in doing business with you. I am tired of finding ridiculous prices for overnight shipping. I understand the care in shipping them out, however, but I cannot afford to pay 50-$60 for shipping costs.

Let me know your decision. ASAP.

Thank you,
"Apey"
 
AprylWillis;78821 said:
I would like to know if an automatic brine shrimp feeder will keep my octopus happy (once I have him)? I just purchased an Aqua 200 Brine shrimp feeder and it promises to automatically hatch and dispel live brine shrimp in 23-46 hours. They will be full grown in 2 weeks and I was planning on feeding him mollusks until then.

I understand the care in shipping them out, however, but I cannot afford to pay 50-$60 for shipping costs.

Brine shrimp are not a good option for octopus, or cephalopods. They are not very nutritious. Live mysid shrimp are a better option. What kind of mollusks are you planning to feed your octopus?

Shipping costs include the cost of mailing the water they are shipped in and water is heavy...
 
I have a 30 gallon tank that's in full gear right now, with all of the latest equipment.

This is also unfortunate because keeping a Bimaculoides...which you want right now needs a minimum of 50 gallons unless you have a spare tank set-up as well for when it grows larger or plan to get one immediately. They can grow to approx. 24 inches long.

For a 30 gallon, only Dwarf Octopuses should be kept in those which only grow to a couple inches. For the feeding, live food is always the best choice but consider purchasing different varieties of live...AND raw/frozen dead seafood fresh of course at your local seafood market to see what your octopus will accept and what type of food suits it the best. Some can be picky and some can only eat live food. Shipping is always expensive for livestock...usually 50+ dollars alone simply because of the box charges.

Good luck.
 
I am getting a 55 gallon tank within the next week.

I plan on getting an even bigger tank afterward. Maybe a 125 gallon tank sometime in the future.

I was hoping I could feed him brine shrimp, but I should cancel my order with the brine shrimp feeder. I know a place where I can buy him some fiddler crabs, mollusks etc.

Has anyone ordered from Aquacon.com before? Can you tell me how good they are on their job ethics?

Is there another wholesale place where I can buy live shrimp? I may just buy from them anyhow. I really want the little guy to be healthy and happy. How do you keep the live food for the little guy?
 
I'd ditch the brine shrimp feeder.

There's a few different considerations for food. Right now most of the bimacs that are available are hatchlings that need real tiny food and special requirements. Marine Depot has been selling some older wild-caught bimacs, but I can't vouch for their quality.

If you get one of the baby bimacs, you'll probably need to feed it amphipods or mysid shrimp. Mysids are a bit of a pain because they're very cannibalistic (I had the experience of buying 100 at a time for my cuttlefish and running out in a few days, even though my cuttlefish would only eat a few each). You should have a separate tank set up for your feeders. Mine is plumbed into the main system so it doesn't need much maintenance.

A hatchling octopus will also need a special home: if you just release it into the 30 gallon tank it'll disappear. It will probably won't find food or get sucked into the filter. There's a chance it might survive, but you probably wouldn't know that for a month or two when it just suddenly appears out of hiding!

If you get an octopus that's a bit bigger its easier to feed and house. Live crabs and mussels are good feeds, and with a bit of practice you might be able to convince it to eat grocery store shrimp.

The two favorite food sources are Tony's own Shrimp Stuff and Sach's Aquaculture Store.

Dan
 
What size aquarium are you keeping your feeders in? I can fit a 10-25 gallon tank underneath the aquariums stand. I can easily set it up this week before his arrival.

I bought an octopus (Small) assorted from Aquacon.com. I hope he arrives OK. I'm having him shipped overnight for 15-$20. They include the "works" for the shipping. The octopus itself cost $59.99 and I plan on having every kind of food for him to try when he gets here. I'll probably end up spoiling him to death. I already souped up the tank wtih PVP pipes for the little guy to hide in and I got him some river rocks to play with.

Also, I have approximately 3 damsels in the tank that he -might- enjoy. I also have hermit crabs and other types of mollusks for his first meal.

In the meantime, I will look for a small tank to place the feeder food in. The 55 gallon aquarium won't arrive until a later date at this time. I plan on using that as my show tank. The reason why I got the Eclipse lid is because it is secured completely all around and there aren't any openings for him to squeeze through.

Do you think I'm prepared enough to have the octopus? I feel that I am and I feel confident that he will survive in our aquarium. The only real issue is finding him enough food supply, but I think we all have that problem in the end.

"Apey"
 
The damsels should be removed. They are territorial and they may bother (nip, bite) the octopus. Even if they don't hurt your octopus, they can still make his/her environment stressful and your octopus may not be visible because it is spending all of its time hiding from the damsels.
 
I don't know if an eclipse hood is octo proof. It looks kind of moveable/openable, or maybe the octo could hurt itself touching the lights? Does anyone have any experiece with these hoods?

Joey
 
Just wait until you see the latch we built on the eclipse light! We've childproofed everything! We're getting the little guy possibly tomorrow at 7-10 a.m.

Other news: I set up my feeder tank lastnight and it looks -wonderful-. My fiance' is spoiling me by buying me a 55 gallon tank this weekend for the little guy to use when he gets bigger. I don't know what sort of breed I'm getting, they just say: "brown octopus". So, I'm thinking it could be anything from a Bri, to a Vulg.

What is the correct acclimation time for an octopus? Considering most sites say 2-3 hours, I was wondering what the -correct- time is.

I guess I lied about not being able to afford him. My fiance' said he would rather spend a fortune than see the little guy unhappy. I guess he's the new family pet. I hope he arrives ok. I'll keep you guys updated. My fiance is willing to spend more than $200 on food for him. We'll show you pictures of our tanks soon. In the future, we plan on turning the bottom one into a sump tank for fish...but we won't be getting fish for a very, very long time =)

Thank you all for your help!
 
AprylWillis;78887 said:
Just wait until you see the latch we built on the eclipse light! We've childproofed everything! We're getting the little guy possibly tomorrow at 7-10 a.m.

:smile: Disregard my critical words then! Good luck with your new octo! Have you thought of a name yet?

Joey
 
Im very suprised you bought from Aquacon.com...they never had any Octo's in stock when I tried and I even called him and he told me they hardly get them, but I guess your lucky. I don't know what species their giving out.
 

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