low outflow to keep octo from escaping from top?

[gmcbride]

I am also at the setting up stage of a tank that will be for our local O. bimac. One idea I have been considering is to set my overflow about 15 cm below the lid. It would allow the tank to look like a tide pool; some rocks could be above water level for shore crabs (food). The main thing is it would be nearly (I never say always about an octopus) impossible to escape from the top. The overflow will have to be correctly done. But otherwise it seems like this will greatly simplify a number of issues, hot lights, escape...escape.
Have any of you tried this approach?
__________________
Greg

 

[DWhatley]

Lowering the water level in a ceph tank is one of the recommendations you will find in some of the tank talk topics. All my octo tanks have an extra inch or more of air space but not anywhere near the 6" you are proposing. A couple of people have discussed trying tidal pools as an interesting setup idea but I don't recall anyone journaling actually accomplishing the task. If you proceed with this idea please photograph you build-out efforts and start a thread in the tank talk forum.

We are about to inherit a 65 gallon tank from my son and have been playing with interesting ideas on how to set it up so it would be interesting to hear more about how you would design the tank. The soon to be inherited tank is glass and not drilled so we may destroy it with the drilling attempts but have pretty much decided this is what we want to attempt. With the acrylics, we have drilled lower than where we want the water level and used piping to set the desired level. The same idea may be useful if you decide to try this but later find you want the water level higher.

 

[gmcbride]

I still have not decided what I am going to do. I recently had donation of a chiller and a filter/pump setup. Now I am scrounging for a small acrylic tank I can convert into a refugium. Will post my results as this slow process continues. Creating an octohabitat is a huge responsibility, specially in a public classroom. So it has do be done with as little money as possible and as perfect an outcome as possible. Welcome to everything in California public schools.

 

[Jean]

The octopus will still get out! 15cm is nothing for a determined octopus to climb. Our midgets used to do this regularly. They can survive some time out of water and frequently do, the only way to be (almost) sure your octopus is going to stay in the tank is a secure lid!

J

 

[DWhatley]

Good catch Jean, I did not understand that he intended to leave the top OPEN . NO open tops! It WILL escape.

Jean failed to mention their latest escapades at the aquarium with their large male that kept finding his way out of a tank that has contained many similar species. After two times making its way to the drain, I believe it was allowed to return to the ocean to find the mate his adventures failed to produce.

 

[Jean]

google Sid the octopus he became an international star! Yours Truly gave two newspaper interviews (local paper) and two radio interviews (Australia!).

Note Sid's antics happened despite a door to the tank!

J

 

[Joe-Ceph]

I've kept a bimac for almost a year, with no escape problems. When I told my wife I wanted to keep an octopus she said "ok, but the first time I find an escaped dead octopus behind the couch, your hobby is over" so I designed and built a super secure tank lid that bolts down with nylon bolts and has a hinged acrylic top that automatically latches when the top is closed, so that I can't forget to latch it. The top is made with two panes of acrylic, about 3/4" apart, so that the acrylic can't warp, and so as to help insulate the tank (I chill it down to 63 degrees).

Take a look at the pictures, and if you are interested in building something like it, I can post more pictures, tell you where I got the materials, describe what tools you'll need, and tell you some of the things I learned the hard way.

 

[gmcbride]

I plan to get a bimac so your experience is right on point. YES I would like to have more pictures, materials, glue used, source of hinges etc. Thanks.
I was thinking about putting old school astroturf inside the lid so that an octo that managed to climb up the aquarium wall would have nothing to grip on to.
But your lid looks functional and cool.

 

[DWhatley]

General consenses is that astro turf is pretty useless and gets nasty quickly.

 

[gmcbride]

dwhatley
Thanks for the heads up on astroturf. It is so much easier to find out when someone already tried a solution and found it a bad idea.
joe-ceph
I am VERY interested in more details on building the plexi-hinged-lid. My dad used to make things using plastic and I know that the wrong materials can make the entire project go very, very wrong. But your lid looks like such a good solution for my aquarium. And since I will be trying to get the same Octopus you have kept, I want to try making your lid.
Money is a big issue for me. I am a teacher and my budget for all science supplies, paper, pencils, photocopying is exactly zero. But I can fund this myself, within reason.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

I just started a new thread in the Tank Talk Forum giving a ridiculous amount of info about how I made my acrylic top, plus more pictures. It is called something like "Escape Proof (and idiot-proof) Top / Lid": Escape Proof (and idiot proof) Top / Tank Lid

 

[DWhatley]

Joe-Ceph,
Terrific post on the tank lid!

 

[gmcbride]

Joe-Ceph,
Thanks so much for putting in so much work to share your expertise. I am just reading through it and figuring out how to use the information. So I want to say thanks before I get too engrossed in making a similar lid and forget. I think your lid is the best solution for an acrylic tank that already has an variety of holes in the top.
Excellent work
gmcb