Sedona - O.mycropyrus

[DWhatley]

I would probably add pods if your tank is low. Most octos will hunt these all their lives and I usually take the ones in the other tank overflow socks and add them to the octo tanks to help keep them populated.

I only use shore shrimp while they don't take table shrimp (either because of octo size or being new to the aquarium environment) but that has more to do with pocketbook than desirability. Paul's fiddlers are my main staple for live food. I keep a few free swimming shore shrimp in their tank for snacking when I order them but mostly I feed them as dead food. When the octos get larger they don't seem to eat them but I think it has more to do with the difficulty in catching them than anything else.

I would not get the mysis. IMO, They don't live long and are too small to interest your little guys.

 

[SabrinaR]

Trust me I know, they are crappy. I am working on getting a better camera for Christmas

 

[DWhatley]

We have had discussions on how one hobby mandates another and camera's fall heavily into the pot

 

[SabrinaR]

Last night I sat watching the tank with no lights except 1 white moon light LED. It was VERY creepy to watch the fiddler crab run around in the dark. I think Sedona hunted him down cause for a while it was running around and I could see shadows following him. And then just like that it stopped. It was very cool/creepy lol.

 

[Nancy]

My experience with a bimac feeding amphipods and shore shrimp is this:

Although people told me that Ollie was far too big to eat amphipods, she continued to hunt them (just as D says) and I got the impression they were tasty treats.

Shore shrimp are difficult for bimacs to catch. I watched young Ollie jet towards them and then have to turn herself around to try to capture them - never worked. But octopuses are innovative. Finally she developed a new method. She waited until the lights were out (and remember, she is diurnal), turned black (a bit creepy), hung upside down at the water surface by the overflow intakes. She could finish off a whole shipment in one night this way. Only downside was that she was sleepy the next day.

Your bimac might a develop it's own stategy for catching shore shrimp, too.

Nancy

 

[DWhatley]

What a cool video that would have made!

 

[SabrinaR]

I still havent seen Sedona since I put her in the tank. I have been putting fiddlers in with her and then a while later I see legs floating around lol so I think shes doing ok.

 

[SabrinaR]

I dont think Sedona is alive any more. I havent seen any new poop for a few days and I am a little nervous about it. I feel like I made a very bad move putting her in the main tank. I want to kick myself to be honest. I should have just found a way to make the keeper work.


Update**

Just when I started to give up I found a dead crab which had obviously been eaten by something capable of taking off a crabs shell! So hope is still alive.

 

[DWhatley]

Legs and Kalypso (who also escaped his critter keeper) both grew up in large tanks. Zyan Silver kept his bimacs in a large system as well so the larger tank is likely just fine. I don't know how many times I decided Wiley (mercatoris) was dead just to have him show up (I decided I need to pronounce him dead daily because he would show up almost immediately after I would post his demise). Cassy and Tatanka, likewise have been pronounced missing and presumed dead on several occassions so just keep looking and putting food in the tank.

 

[SabrinaR]

Legs and Kalypso (who also escaped his critter keeper) both grew up in large tanks. Zyan Silver kept his bimacs in a large system as well so the larger tank is likely just fine. I don't know how many times I decided Wiley (mercatoris) was dead just to have him show up (I decided I need to pronounce him dead daily because he would show up almost immediately after I would post his demise). Cassy and Tatanka, likewise have been pronounced missing and presumed dead on several occasions so just keep looking and putting food in the tank.

In this case isnt it nice when they make a liar out of you? lol. Every time I have noticed a dead crab I take it out and put a new crab in. I just keep crossing my fingers that she will get bigger stronger and then someday... some very far away day I wont worry so much about her other than feedings of course lol.

I am turning into Pauls next best customer. He knows me by name now lol. I had been ordering very small crabs because thats what Sedona needs but then Isis the little piggy that she is keeps wanting more and more and more. Shes not as bad as say Legs thank God. I hope to have raw shrimp later today. I just hate buying the China shrimp cause who knows whats in them so I have to be on the look out for American shrimp. Even then, you have to be careful because they will say "packaged" in the USA not farm raised in the USA. They can be pretty tricky. It would almost be easier to just get Gulf Shrimp locally but we have the oil spill so then thats even more complicated. Man who knew feeding could be such a pain. I feel like saying water water everywhere and not a drop to drink. But instead of water its octo food lol. I dont even know if Isis will eat shrimp. I know that Sedona did but the one time I gave Isis a shrimp she dropped it and every other time I tried to give her a shrimp it would fall off the stick and be a total failure.

But yes I am keeping the faith that Sedona will come out of hiding one of these days. How old would you say that a 3 inch octopus bimac was? I know everything is a guess but a best guess from you guys is better than mine any day in this case.

Also 5 months?... thats the point yall say baby octos should be out and about with out fear and should be more brave, at least she should be if shes a bimac?

 

[DWhatley]

5 months is my guess based upon tank raised nocturnals (I don't think anyone else has ventured a number but wish they would). Our briareus twins are much more visible now (at almost 5 months) but still don't come out during the day. Monty's age is unknown but I am guessing him to be about the same age (he is a small egg species so tank raised growth has not been observed).

The best go by I can suggest for the bimacs is to look at the thread on Zyan Silver's hatchlings that went to TONMO members. There is a, Zyan's Babies - Please Report in thread that might help to trace back some of the timing and what to expect.

Zyan's first post about the hatchlings was on September 2, 2006 and he mentions that they were about a month old. Unfortunately his reports are not all in one thread but you may be able to piece together some of the behaviors and timings from the report in link. I spent a few minutes in an attempt to cross link some of the journals in the Report In thread so you should have a lot of reading available

 

[SabrinaR]

Thanks D you are always super helpful. And thanks for pulling the thread up for me.

 

[Lmecher]

I put the feeding stick through the shrimp twice to keep it from falling off.

 

[SabrinaR]

Still no sightings and none of the crabs have been eaten. I did however put some pods in there so she could be eating them.

 

[SabrinaR]

Should I continue to put pods in the tank or not? I want to know Sedonas alive and I really cant do that if shes not eating the crabs. I dont know how D found her babies all these months. I cant even find one little octopus in a small 40 gallon tank.