Octopus isnt eating!!!

[cuttlegirl]

im not trying to avoid it.. i understand that i should have a skimmer.. but i honestly DONT think that, that is why my octopus is so stressed
5ppm of nitrates isnt horrible....
for all we know it could be the way he was caught or stress from getting shipped or something (albeit a little late for him to stress so much now...) maybe he doesnt like the tank layout? i honestly dont know... IS it the 5ppm nitrates?

Keep doing water changes to bring down the nitrates. While it has been said that octopus can tolerate nitrates, it does actually stress the animal. Protein skimmers remove oils and proteins from the water that other filtration does not. At this point, I would still recommend a protein skimmer.

 

[alien4fish]

10 % water changes EVERYDAY for the next 5 days get the levels to ZERO you MUST have pristine water conditions, however he is still alive i take it? what is the behavior today? is he he taking food? is his tentacles still curld? is he digging a den? stuck to the glass in a corner of the tank? give some info on his behavior

 

[Brock Fluharty]

Yeah, give us a general update, and if you can, shoot a quick movie showing his behavior, or take some pics.

 

[Fishfreak218]

Well,
he is just sitting on the sandbed against the glass doing nothing... and sometimes he will move to the back of a large rock.. no eating... he pushes the food out of his den... His tenticles are not as badly curled up...but still curled up.. not much moviment besides breathing... maybe moving to a different spot every few hours.... he never comes out....
WC tomorow!

 

[alien4fish]

have you offerd him LIVE food? or are still tryin to give him frozen? remember he is a preditor( sorry about the mispekkings i just woke up)

 

[Danthemarineman]

I live in fla and i can send you all kinds of live crabs,snails,and shrimp to feed your octo.
Contact me
Danthemarineman

 

[Nancy]

What's your tank temperature? Have we identified what species you have?

Nancy

 

[Fishfreak218]

Nope.. no Id yet..
i have tried Live food...(Ghost Shrimp)
thank you Danthemarineman, as of right now i dont need any but thank you very much for the offer.....
themps are 78.6 (i know a little warm.. should I try getting this down?)

 

[Danthemarineman]

I hope you mean live saltwater shrimp and not the freshwater ghost shrimp you can get at the local fish store. My octo wont eat the freshwater shrimp. You live in fla, try a local baite shop.
good luck

 

[monty]

I hope you mean live saltwater shrimp and not the freshwater ghost shrimp you can get at the local fish store. My octo wont eat the freshwater shrimp. You live in fla, try a local baite shop.
good luck

Also, freshwater shrimps (and crayfish and whatnot) don't have the proper nutritional balance for a healthy long-term food for a ceph, although they're OK as an "occasional treat."

 

[Fishfreak218]

lol.. i know that they dont have the proper nutrition.....first i used the FW kind... then
i used a peppermint shrimp.. and he is still in there... i thought i saw an egg sack but i cant really see back there...the pep shirmp is RIGHT infront of the octopus...

 

[alien4fish]

do you have the ability to post up pix?? if so can you please

 

[Fishfreak218]

pics of what? the octopus? There is pics on this thread... if those dont suffice please let me know what you want pics of and i'll try and get them.....
the egg sack lol that was his arm BTW lol.. i was looking through a coral skeleton and i thought it was maybe some eggs... whoops..
anyway he STILL hasnt eaten the peppermint shrimp and the Nitrates are down to 5ppm

 

[cuttlegirl]

Ok,

More water changes please... Did you get a skimmer yet? Have you offered hermit crabs? Is the octopus spending most of its time inside a den? Good luck.

 

[Fishfreak218]

the ocotpus is spending literally ALL of his time in his den... i took my skimmer off of my Seahorse Tank and hooked it up to this tank...
hermit crabs have been in the tank since Day 1... I think he is to big to notice hermit's.....