Molly - A. aculeatus

octomatic

GPO
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Jan 27, 2011
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Praise the Lord he's here! MY FIRST OCTO!!! I ordered from live aquaria it he got here yesterday. I acclimated and left the lights off all night and this morning I finally got to see him when the lights turned on. hes about the size of a golf ball when hes all balled up. its a abdopus aculeatus and for the time being im calling him a "he" i told my wife she could name him if it was a female. if its a male i get to name him....no name as of yet. my tank had about 20 hermit crabs in it and as soon as he got in the tank he jetteed to the rock and ate about 3 of them.:biggrin2: this morning i put a shore crab in and hes eating it right now. he caught the crab and drug it behind some rocks and i cant get to it to get the remains of the crab. is this bad? i couldnt get any good photos yet because hes still shy and the ones i did take turned out crappy because i didnt want to use the flash!

i will post pics as soon as i can get some
 




i was using my phone sorry for the bad quality
 

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Congratulations! Welcome to octo keeping, glad you decided to start a journal here. Picture quality improves with practice, so don't apologize, just keep up the good work!!
 
also this fish store by my house sells 10 ghost shrimp for $2.50. is that ok to feed to him too? (not as a staple, but as a variety snack)
 
is it normal that after they eat they just kinda hang out in its den? i fed him at like 2 and i havent seen him after that....
 
Imagine its Thanksgiving dinner and hes doing the traditional after dinner nap... its the same concept I think :biggrin2:. Live Aquaria has been changing things up lately. I ordered two from them and believe the first one I got was a dwarf (Mystique) and am hoping the second (Baby) is the same as yours.They were both REALLY small when I got them and look almost identical from what I have seen so its hard to tell based on looks. Arm to mantel ratio is the best indicator.
 
Im not really sure whats "normal" size for these guys but he is a tiny one. I will take more pics tomorrow after i get back from the beach (need more octo food)
 
:welcome: Little one and CONGRATS!

I find it hard as well to take nice photos of tanks. I'm still learning my camera. Those were good for a cell phone.

I'm also thinking on getting one from Live Aquaria. I'm nervous still with who I decide on finally but so far great reviews on them.

How was he/she packaged? How did the water look? Was it insulated? Heat pack? Do you know how long she was in transit? :talker: I'm so sorry for the Million questions, but getting closer to getting mine, and I need all the details I can get. :smile:

So excited for you!
 
Live aquaria did an excellent job. Its packaged in an insulated cooler with packing peanuts inside surrouding the tripple bagged octo. One of the bags was black about half way up to help it feel secure. There was a heat pack and the water was about 75 degrees. The water looked great and was clean. They shipped in about a gallon of water. I paid for next day air shipping and transit time was about 27 hours. I was worried at first when i opened the bag to drip acclimate, but as soon as i put him in the bucket he was swimming around and exploring! I was very nervous because this is my first ceph. IMO live aquaria couldnt have done a better job and i will buy from them in the future. They left a great first impression!
 
octomatic;175172 said:
also this fish store by my house sells 10 ghost shrimp for $2.50. is that ok to feed to him too? (not as a staple, but as a variety snack)

Usually as long as you stick with salt water crustaceans, you'll be good. I'm up in MI, and crayfish are cheap and easy to come by, I
ve had to talk my LFS out of feeding those when they get an octo in. As long as you're feeding your marine animals with marine prey items, you'll do fine. I notice a long nap following feeding time, too. I usually opt to feed only every other day, one of the experts on Tonmo, Roy, feels that captive octos live longer if not overfed.
 
QueenB;175203 said:
:welcome: Little one and CONGRATS!

I find it hard as well to take nice photos of tanks. I'm still learning my camera. Those were good for a cell phone.

I'm also thinking on getting one from Live Aquaria. I'm nervous still with who I decide on finally but so far great reviews on them.

How was he/she packaged? How did the water look? Was it insulated? Heat pack? Do you know how long she was in transit? :talker: I'm so sorry for the Million questions, but getting closer to getting mine, and I need all the details I can get. :smile:

So excited for you!

I've met one of the guys from Live Aquaria and they really are impressive. He was at our annual convention last year talking about SHORT CHAIN DISTRIBUTION! These guys are doing everything they can to ensure that the animals being collected are well cared for, that the locals collecting are educated and collecting with sustainability in mind, and that the animals spend as LITTLE time in transit as possible. Then they go out of their way to explain to customers so that when we go in to a LFS, we can ask informed questions about how they obtain their animals!
 
ok, im back from the beach. i found 15 crabs and 1 clam? (it was on the side of some rocks) when i got home i descovered his den. all i saw was his eye, watching me. i cracked open the clam and dropped it right in front of him. he ignorored it.....so i pushed it closer with my feeding stick BAM! he grabbed it and hes eating it in the open right now. this is the only pic i got. (i gotta use my phone until my wife comes home, then im gonna talk her into getting a camera:biggrin2:)

 

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hes still VERY shy....watching me and staying all curled up. eating is a good sign though right? i can tell what sex he is because hes so shy and i havent got any clear pictures of his arms. also anyone buy any cameras lately im shooting for something $300-$400 range. any input and/or reviews would be great!
 

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