New Ceph Owner

UNMC2010

Blue Ring
Registered
Joined
Nov 28, 2006
Messages
30
Hello all,

I am a new ceph owner as of today (right now they are dripping). I ordered two O. mercatoris and I am putting them into a 29 gal tank. I would not have ordered two but I really wanted to increase my chances of one surviving (hopefully both). I have been reading many posts on this forum for around a month or so trying to learn as much as possible.

In my tank I have probably about 30lbs. of very nice live rock, sand, and shells (soon to be to octos). I have been cycling my tank for a month now with live rock, sand, hermits, snails, 3 fiddlers, and some marine shrimp. I also have a 2 gal feeder up and running with excess feeders in it. Both tanks are up and successful (great water quality).

I am actually a med student here in Omaha, NE at the Univ. of NE med center. In my spare time I am deep into african cichlids (mainly tanganyikan species-breeding comps and calvus) and this is my first salt tank. I know this is a huge jump, being a rookie saltie but I feel that I am somewhat prepared by keeping freshwater species for a while now (doing consistant water changes, tests, and such).

Hopefully I won't have any trouble with my new buddies, but I will have no trouble upgrading tanks or splitting them up if need be. I have around 15 tanks going in my house and could easily set up another salt water.

Sorry for the novel, but I have wanted to post for a while now. I wanted to thank everyone for all the great information. I learned so much just reading through threads. I would post pics but I don't have a camera. Hopefully over break I will borrow one and get some pics (but having nocturnal species, that is easier said than done).

Thanks again to all. I have been waiting to own an octo for a long time!

Garrett
 
:welcome: to you and your 2 friends. Keeping 2 octos in a tank is usually something that's concerning, since it doesn't always end well, although some people have gotten away with it. In addition to the possibility that they might not get along, it might start to be pushing the filtration capacity of a tank that small, but I'm not positive how big mercatoris get, or how territorial they are.
 
Hey Garrett, welcome to TONMO. I'm a pretty new member myself.

I have an O. Mercatoris myself, which you may have noticed if you've read any of the threads I've posted in. It's the little guy in my avatar.
Einy is my first octopus, and it's been a great experience so far. I started out with freshwater also.

15 tanks! I thought my house was overrun with tanks.

Taking pics is pretty much impossible unless you have a camera that can take good pictures in low to no lighting. I haven't had any luck getting Einy to come out during the day for pictures. My girlfriend took a few great pics while he was acclimating.

Good luck to you and your new friends.
 
monty;83997 said:
:welcome: to you and your 2 friends. Keeping 2 octos in a tank is usually something that's concerning, since it doesn't always end well, although some people have gotten away with it. In addition to the possibility that they might not get along, it might start to be pushing the filtration capacity of a tank that small, but I'm not positive how big mercatoris get, or how territorial they are.


While it's always better to go bigger, O. Mercatoris only get 2 centimeters mantle length, not even an inch. You make a good point though.

Einy rarely explores his tank, he prefers waiting for his food to come near his den but he does get adventurous occasionally. He is an individual though so your two may be more bold. Just be prepared.
 
I really don't care if I have pics. I just thought people would ask for pics and that's the only reason I mentioned it. My two little guys are only 2" max, maybe a little smaller! I barely looked at them while starting the drip; I kept the room as dark as possible and agitated them as little as I could. If i do have problems I will get a critter container, line it, and separate the two until I have another tank setup and cycled.

If the grow out of the tank, I will do the same. I will keep a close eye on all the water parameters (as I do with all my tanks).

I was wondering how long per day I need to keep my light on to keep my live rock alive?
 
Im a new octo. owner as well as of a month ago I'm not sure on the exact species of mine but its a dwarf from the GOM. I finally seen him out and about last night around 2:00 am. When he noticed me he started acting shy and hid after a while.New to this sight as well and dont have to much info to share because I'm new at oct. keeping myself but best of luck to you and your new found friends.
 
I did not want to purchase an octopus to watch him wiz around that tank all the time. I have plenty of cichlids that do plenty of that. I do, and will, thoroughly enjoy the intelligence of these animals. I can't wait to observe the little things they may do, be it out-smarting their prey or simply building a den.

Anyway, I have to get back to work.

Once again, I can't thank everyone enough for all the info. There is an unbelievable amount of info on this forum. I came into all of this totally green and have learned a ton by just reading threads!!

Thanks,
Garrett
 
Octo Joe, O. digueti comes from the Gulf of Mexico I believe. They are very rare in the States, and a few members tried to get a breeding project going with them. Customs got the better of'em though!
 
Actually the Sea of Cortez for O. digueti. I'm pretty sure they're not imported at all.

Garrett:

You seem completely on top of things and I believe you'll have no problem at all. It seems like a few people have had good luck keeping more than one of that species.

Good luck,

Dan
 
Thanks. My intentions were not to have two octos in the same tank. I just wanted to increase my chances of survival for atleast one. I can't afford to pay multiple shipping charges, even with a replacement being free (shipping to NE). I will however, do my best to keep both happy.

I have problems shipping fish and so I wanted to be safe with an octo.
 

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