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o. aculeatus information please!!!

Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Messages
11
after looking through some pictures and some very undetailed articles, i think ive settled on the idea of owning one. but im wondering what i have to do to get ready for this particular species. Is the 125gallon tank im planning on getting going to be big enough? also, is this species cold water? does it live long for an octo? is it okay as a first octopus? from the reading ive done it seems like this octo is slightly larger than say...a bimac, and also seems to be more interactive. correct?

also, does anyone know if this species is prone to eating clams/mussels that are okay for humans to eat? my boss gets them cheap and is willing to order them for me. i live in the southern tier of ny...not many options when it comes to seafood... but we do seem to have crayfish available year round. are crayfish suitable food?
 
A.aculeatus is one of the smaller octopuses we commonly keep. No problem with 125 gallon aquarium, even half that size would do nicely. This species requires tropical water temperature, around 78 degrees. It should be fine as a first octopus.

It's smaller than the average bimac, but with longer arms. A bimac is very interactive, but so is aculeatus. However, the amount of interaction depends to some degree on the individual octopus.

Crawfish can be used as an occasional treat but not as regular food - but beware those huge crawfish the size of small lobsters that appear in seafood stores. Chose female crawfish with small claws. They can live only a few hours in saltwater, so I made sure my octo saw I was holding a live crawfish, and she chased it and caught it right away.

Nancy
 
Nancy,
Are you referring to the clawless "live lobster" in the grocery tanks that run between $12 and $15 a pound and weigh about a pound and a half? If so those would be the FL lobster and are saltwater. They are an octo food in the wild but I would not put one in a tank, even with a briareus, because of the room. They can move backward very quickly and have strong sharp spines. SueNami would likely win a battle with one but the tank would be a mess before and after the confrontation. Now, a cooking pot is another story altogether (sorry Jean).
 
Life span is still to be determined. My guess is less than a year, but most specimens show up in the trade at near adult size and live for two to four months. They are great for observing a lot of behavior including brooding, but if you are looking for a species that is interactive and that will be with you for awhile, this is not the best beast.

Roy
 
Hi

I have had one for about a month now and she is AWESOME. very friendly and interactive. She is eating from my hand now (fish, shrimp) and loves to follow me around the tank. I posted a video in another thread "Octopus, Eel, Cuttle and Shark".

As of today, she also let me pet her without being scared.

She is my first Octo so I have nothing to compare to but I would recommend this species.

Also, my tank is not octo proof (at all) and she seems to be perfectly happy to stay inside (its a 600 liter tank).
 
TDean;138129 said:
Very nice videos and tank.

Where did you get your o. aculeatus from?

I live in Hong Kong.

There is a "Fish" street where they sell all tropical fish, etc. my Octo was $US 20 and my Cuttle $US 10.

Hard to find Octo sometimes.
 

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