newbie here - looking to buy

[lethstang]

Hello all,


Great setup you have here! I am straight off the boat and have a few questions.

Where can I actually buy me an oct?

pros/cons of starting a breeding program?

If there are established posts addressing these issues, could you point me in the right direction? Thanks!

Steve

 

[CaptFish]

to TONMO

Where can I actually buy me an oct?

Well it is best to keep an eye on our Octopus Availibility thread Here. But Two steady sources are Liveaquaria.com and tomscaribbean.com, I'm not sure if either one has any octopuses right now. You can also check with your LFS(Local Fish Store) as often they can special order them. Please stay away from Wuderpus and mimic octopus as their populations may be at risk. TONMO also advises against Bluerings as they are deadly, in addition they don't ship well or live very long in captivity.

pros/cons of starting a breeding program?

Pros:
Basically they are the coolest creatures ever! but if you need more I'm sure I can come up with a few thousand more pros.

Cons:
The biggest con is that they have to be kept by themselves in a species only tank. No Fish. starfish, snails, hermits, cucs, and some non stinging corals are ok buts that's about it.

They have a very short life span 8-18 months depending on the species 12 months being the average. Most octopus purchased only live a few months as they are usually adults when they are caught.

Some octopuses have trouble accepting non-live food so providing constant live crabs/shrimp can be a pain. I have been lucky enough to have all my octopuses accept frozen shrimp.

Breeding: Has only been done by a few hobbyists. octopuses come in two types small egged and large egged, The small egged species are nearly impossible to breed outside of a lab. and no hobbyist have been successful to our knowledge. A few people have been successful with the large egged species but it is extremely demanding process and only the most diligent individuals have been successful.

good reading:
Check out some journals here.


Articles on octopus care here

 

[lethstang]

i appreciate the response. after some further digging i came across this

Sources of Live Cephalopods - The Cephalopod Page which is turning out to be a great resource.

 

[CaptFish]

That is a great article written by one of the TONMO staff members unfortunately none of those suppliers are any good anymore. except the ones i mentioned.