Need Some Help

[Green_Tree]

Ok i'm beginning to set up the new tank i have my skimmer and everything but got snagged on plumbing. How am i going to escape proof everything for the octo. Figured i'd ask you guys. So just wondering if people could post ideas on how to escape proof the top and the overflows (U shaped PVC pipes). Pictures of what you did with your tank would be great too.

Thanks
Green Tree

 

[DWhatley]

You might cruse the Tank Talk thread for existing ideas and give a more detailed idea of your planned set up (sketches are nice to, even if they are crude had drawings scanned in as a picture).

 

[Neogonodactylus]

Long ago I invested in a set of diamond drill bits. In our octopus tanks, all plumbing goes through the side walls. The weighted glass lids fit flush to the tank making a tight seal. The only real drawback to this solution is that something like a skimmer either must be placed in a sump or custom fitted to the tank.

Roy

 

[CaptFish]

I covered my return and overflow with plastic mesh it's called gutter guard I think and you can get it at Lowes/HomeDepot. then I covered my whole tank with plexi, anywhere I have a cord or plumbing I just marked it and cut around it with a jigsaw. what i did was very simple and the whole octo proofing took about an hour. I remember looking at the tank before I did it and thinking how hard it was going to be, then doing it and being surprised at how easy it was.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

When I wanted to get an octopus, my wife said: "Okay, but the first time I find a dead octopus behind the couch your hobby is over." I realized that the biggest threat to my plans was an escape, so I spent a lot of time and trouble designing and building a top that was not only octo-proof, but idiot-proof (i.e. would latch itself when closed so that I didn't need to remember to latch it (or worse, put a heavy brick on top to hold it down)). I posted an overly verbose thread about it with lots of pictures here:
Escape Proof (and idiot proof) Top / Tank Lid

As you design your top, keep asking yourself:
"If I were really strong, clever, persistent, and could fit through a hole the size of an octopus's eyeball, could I get out of this?

For your water ins and outs, don't just hang a J-tube over the side of your tank, even it it is going through a tight hole, because the octo might push it out, or pull it in. I recommend using screw in bulkheads if you have to go through your top. That would mean that the part of the top the bulkheads go through needs to be permanently fixed, and the moveable part needs to be hinged, or whatever.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

...I covered my whole tank with plexi, anywhere I have a cord or plumbing I just marked it and cut around it with a jigsaw. what i did was very simple and the whole octo proofing took about an hour. I remember looking at the tank before I did it and thinking how hard it was going to be, then doing it and being surprised at how easy it was.

I also used plexi, but I went the "it's got to be perfect" route, and it took many hours, a table saw, and a pistol drill. Fair warning!

Oh, and if you cover your tank with a sheet of acrylic, realize that you need to have some other way to keep your water oxygenated, even during a power failure. I put my water through an external wet/dry trickel filter, and I have a battery powered airpump that is set to come on when the power fails.