Rescued an octopus from an Asian Food Market today

[davelin315]

Stopped into an Asian Food Market today and was saddened to see a bunch of octopuses in a tank, all dead with the exception of this one and possibly another one, but this one was moving around and looking very sad to be in there... it's different than buying a "don't encourage them" type of thing from a local fish store, as this is a food source and they're going to bring them in regardless... anyway, I couldn't help myself. It's currently in a 10 gallon tank as that's the best I could throw together with cold water and an ice probe to keep it cool until I figure out what it is (tank is woefully small for it, it's arms stretch across the tank and can curl up the wall while it's in the corner). My guess is that it's from the West Coast as it was in with abalone and I think that they are collected in California waters, but no idea. Here are some pictures that I sent to the National Zoo to get an ID from a friend there in the Invert House. The ones where it's just sitting there are from when the lights were on, the ones where it's stretched out are from when it was dark and I turned on the lights.

 

[CaptFish]

unfortunately everything you describe are the signs of a rapidly declining octo. I hope you dont give up. I am pretty sure we shocked this one to death with the rapid temp changes. the key to the next one will be a nice relaxed environment with no dramatic changes in conditions like temperature.

 

[sulley]

hmmm y not get the two and put one in the colder tank and one in the warmer and see which one does better? then at least you have one boxed checked off...the temp gain was alot to endure in my opinion so the jury is still out...if they were shipped overseas the temp drop was gradual then u put them in a cold tank which they were already used to...when you raised the temp up it is alot of stress..

 

[Joe-Ceph]

I am hopeful that this works out as I now am prepared - I've got a tank set up where it can be comfortable, some food for it in the form of live mussels and a couple of small red claw crabs that seem to be surviving in the colder saltwater, and experience through trial and error for how to care for them. I am not going to try buying 2 again as I don't know what I'd do with a second one if it survived given the fact that these last two began showing aggression towards the end, and I am debating whether I'll go for the smallest one I can find or the largest one I can find. I will also probably bring a bag of fresh water for it in case it inks on the way home.

It sounds like you've got a good plan. Thanks for putting in the effort to learn how to rescue these guys and keep them alive, and thanks a lot for taking the time to keep us informed.

 

[davelin315]

My issue with buying 2 again is that I think that I have it resolved now. Honestly, I can keep very precise control over the temperature right now as I added a 1/3 HP chiller to 80 gallons of total water volume, so I can keep the temp within 1 degree of where I want it and raise it up slowly if I want to and monitor closely. Because of this, I think that I will be successful in doing this and be able to determine what the ultimate temperature will be. If I do 2 of them, the other tank I have is woefully inadequate for an octopus beyond a few days to a week if it regains its strength, plus I've taken all of the rock out of the other one and put it in this one,so no more biological filtration. The mussels I'm assuming will do the same thing as clams do and eat up ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, but they also might do the opposite and simply add to it. Essentially, last time I bought 2 because I thought I would lose at least one due to their health, but I think I was able to overcome that and both regained their health as evidenced by eating. I am guessing that water conditions may have contributed to a slight decline after they regained their health and then were added to the large system and shocked, so this time I think I can succeed with just one - basically I don't need the 2nd one right now! Hope I'm making sense!

 

[L8 2 RISE]

Go for the small one!!! If you go for a big one your chances are higher of getting an octo that's on the edge of senescence and the stress of the shipping probably will have taken more out of them.

 

[davelin315]

Sam, I am debating larger versus smaller because their overall size may be larger than what I am seeing in the stores. My rationale, which may be flawed, is that a larger specimen will have more stored up and a smaller one might become emaciated more quickly than a larger one. I know that with difficult fish, you go for the smaller specimens typically as they will adjust more easily to captivity and your conditions, but wasn't sure that this applied with a such a sentient creature like an octopus which can problem solve. I would rather go with a smaller one, but if larger might mean healthier, then I might do that instead. There's truly not a lot of difference between the octopuses and their sizes, maybe 1/2" so they're probably all the same age, but I'll go with what the consensus is here (again, I'd rather go for a smaller one).

FYI, no octopus tonight, at least as of now. The one I have is still fighting to survive, but it doesn't look good still.

 

[L8 2 RISE]

Fingers crossed on this one!! It works the same for octopuses though. Short lifespan aside, a smaller one will adapt to food and etc. more easily than a larger one.

 

[davelin315]

Looking worse and worse for this one. I noticed that it's flesh is sloughing off in places, although I'm not sure if that's because it has chewed it off or if it's simply coming off. Where I thought it was missing an arm, it simply may be that the flesh is tearing. It tried to swim tonight but didn't get too far, couldn't really lift itself more than a foot off the bottom of the tank before it fell back. It's barely holding on, but is still fighting for life. I'm hoping for it to simply die and get its misery out of the way, but if it's still willing to fight, then I'm willing to give it the chance. I added some mussels to the system to clean up some of the ammonia if it does die, and also offer it a food source if it is inclined to eating.

On another note, the red claw crabs are still doing fine in the system. They show no signs of being affected by the salt or the temperature of the tank. Anyone know where I can order saltwater bait shrimp?

 

[Omega]

Cannot connect to MySQL server sells shore shrimp

 

[L8 2 RISE]

Mr. Lin, LMK if you place an order from a site for food and I'll probably jump in with you and split shipping!

 

[DWhatley]

Unfortunately you are describing what I saw with Octane after his escape. The flesh started rotting and he ate/chewed off his arms as the bacteria spread. A most myserable thing to watch. The inability to leave the bottom is also something I experienced with Octane and OhToo (OhToo was senescent and died of normal causes but in the final breakdown his eye became infected). When OhToo was struggling I placed him in a breeder net to keep him off the bottom and away from the brissle worms and other clean-up crew. He did not want to be on the bottom and when I elevated him he would not release me. It was quite an effort to get him off my hand and into the net but once he was there he was content and allowed me to touch him without grabbing. Do note that during my attempts to release him he did bite. The bite did not draw blood, however and only made a surface red mark. I would not have known he was biting except that it pinched and after release I had a small mark on my hand, these guys might not be as gentle.

 

[davelin315]

Hi Sam, I think these shrimp will be too small for my needs based on what I see. I may do a live crayfish order instead, there are a number of places that sell them out of Louisiana that are food grade, they might be a better overall source for me, but undecided still. Wish I knew of a bait shop that sold mole crabs and/or live bait shrimp that was relatively close, I'd just take a road trip and buy some.

 

[DWhatley]

Dave,
Would you post a link(s) if you come up with places for live crayfish? Thanks.

 

[CaptFish]

I found these suppliers but I have no experience with any of them

http://www.petsolutions.com/default.aspx?ItemId=72498&EID=72498&SID=FROOGLE

http://www.livingaquatic.com/index.php?cPath=21&gclid=CPfBr6uikKACFQmfnAodGRd6eQ

http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/misc_critters/critters.htm#crayfish

 

[DWhatley]

Why I never thought to look on-ine is beyond me

So far I found this to be the most reasonably priced (they offer pet/specimen packages in addition to food packages) at about 2.5 shipped:
Buy Live Crawfish Online | Louisiana Crawfish Company

It appears that they are used as bait to catch our most prolifically fished fish so I will have to find out if the little bait store across the cove is #1 still there and #2 ever has them available.

For anyone interested in catching their own, I found a North American list of rules by state/territory:

http://www.utpa.edu/faculty/zfaulkes/marmorkrebs/crayfish_laws.html