Sedona - O.mycropyrus

[SabrinaR]

I saw Sedona last night! My son woke up in the middle of the night last night and was rather upset so we came to sleep on the sofa. Well I had upgraded the lighting on her tank to the Aqualife 24" T5 with 4 lunar lights so its pretty easy to see into the tank at night and there she was stuck to the glass. Once she saw me she hid and wouldnt come back out. I only saw her for about 2 min but it was great to know she was doing ok.

 

[Lmecher]

That's good news, glad to hear you found her

 

[SabrinaR]

Its been almost a month since I have seen Sedona... I had been thinking of getting a pet cam for at night so I might be able to see her. I havent seen food disappearing and my hopes are a bit low at the moment. I figure she was about a month old when I got her... that is if size is any indication lol we all know how accurate that is lol. So if she was a month old when I got her and I have had her for about 2 months then it is likely that shes about 3 months old... Only 2 more months or so till I might actually get to see her on a normal basis yay lol. Though I dont hold much hope at this point. I do check every night when we wake up (normally around 2 or 3) to see if shes out and about and have had no luck maybe its a once a month veiwing lol.

I really wish I had kept her in the critter keeper. I have NO IDEA how D found her babies to feed them. I cant even find one!

 

[DWhatley]

ONE is much harder than 30 By the time we were down to one in each tank, they were accustomed to being fed at a particular time and place so finding them, although still a challenge, required only looking in particular spots.

 

[SabrinaR]

I am really getting discouraged here. I keep finding clues or things I interpret/make into clues. I see some dust or poo or what ever in my devils hand coral and I assume that its GOT to be octopus poo... I dont even know that Sedonas actually eating... I mean I assume shes eating because some crabs seem to be disappearing but I dont know... I dont know for sure if thats true. For all I know the crabs could be dying and the little poo like bits are just remnants of them. Ugh! I feel like I am losing my mind at the moment... so dont mind me, crazy woman party of one over here just ranting away over her octopus.

Feeling a little huffy right now, sorry.

 

[DWhatley]

We still have a hard time finding Monty when he is not trying to be seen. Neal went to feed him tonight and was looking deep into the rock where he makes his, "you can't see me" den. Failing to find him he put the shrimp in the water and kept looking. As it turns out Monty was in full view but in rock disguise in front of the den waiting for supper. Neal only saw him when he waved an arm in sort of an, "Hey, I'm right here, human!" gesture.

 

[matthewjgrabow]

Can someone - anyone -please lead me to a Bimac supplier?

Hi,

I have set up and cycled a 65 gallon tank with sump, protein skimmer, live rock, etc. All of the levels look great.

After hours of research it seems to me that the Bimac is the best species to keep (for my tastes).

And you say in your post that they don't even try to escape?! That fact and so many others really make this species the one that I would most like to keep and care for.

Here is my big question:

From where can I acquire a young Bimac?

Can you recommend any suppliers that can pretty much guarantee a young Bimac? And at a decent price?

I would so very much appreciate any help whatsoever in finding a young, healthy specimen.

Thank you for reading.

 

[SabrinaR]

First I would like to welcome you to TONMO!

As far as the "They don’t escape" part, I learned the hard way that it simply isn’t true. I currently have 2, Sedona and Isis, maybe 3 though it is VERY unlikely that Junior is still alive.

Isis unfortunately did escape 2 weeks ago. I wasn’t sure she was going to make it and still isn’t acting like herself. They may not escape for the sake of escaping but they sure do like to get out and about learning about there environment so a lid is still required. My avitar is a picture of Isis coming to say hello a few weeks before her actual escape just to give you an idea, she had done this 3 times before the actual escape. I will say from watching Isis and the bit of time I could observe Sedona that they don’t seem to like to squeeze themselves into small areas. I have watched Isis a great deal and she would much rather go around something than squeeze through.

As far as a good source, I really don’t have one. Isis was a gift from my husband. He wont even tell me were/who he got her from for fear that either I would bug this person for more or that I would post here and others would bother them. All he would say was it was a friend from college.

As far as who I got Sedona from, I wouldn’t recommend them. I got 3 octopuses from them and in the end paid more than 200$ for them. The first 2 he sent were tiny babies and one of them didn’t make the trip (shipping method was sub par). The second one did make it but it is assumed that Junior (that’s what I named him) didn’t make it. He was maybe an inch long (a week or two old) and I couldn’t find him to feed him as he escaped the critter keeper he was in very early on.

The company then sent me Sedona and while she was much bigger being around 3 inches, she was no older than 1 or 2 months old. I had her in a critter keeper for about a week or two but then I put her in my tank because of possible trauma she might be facing due to me cleaning and messing with her rock home every day. I regret putting her in the tank now more than ever since I have only seen her once in the 2 ½ months that I have had her and can’t be sure she’s eating or even alive.

There is one person on TONMO that’s willing to catch them and mail them to people at your expense of course. But you would have to be active here for a while and prove to him that you have a firm understanding of the octopuses care as well the ability/eagerness to maintain them.

Bimacs also have special needs such as a chiller. The waters they come from are cold and they should be kept under 70 degrees though they are more tolerant than others as far as temps go because they are tidal animals.

There are other places to get octopuses from you just have to look. Tom from Caribbean Tropicals in Florida gets octopuses on a pretty regular basis in the winter and a 65 gallon would be a good size tank for one of them (as long as you actually get O. briareus and not O. vulgaris). Also Live Aquaria gets octos sometimes however I have to warn you, the ones they mostly get are Abdopus aculeatus and no one on TONMO has been able to keep them for longer than 2 months.

I wish you luck on your octopus adventure. They are well worth the stress and work involved.

 

[SabrinaR]

I SAW SUCKER SHED!!! Its not as great as seeing Sedona herself but its wonderfully great right about now!

 

[DWhatley]

We must remember that clue! I have never thought to suggest looking for shed when octos can't be found. Great observation!

 

[SabrinaR]

It took a few seconds to realize what it was that I was seeing lol. I have seen Isis shed a few times and just watched the little flake float around the tank... kind of like watching the plastic bag move in the wind from the movie a beautiful mind. But when I did realized what it was I was just thrilled!

 

[SabrinaR]

You know... It has accured to me that I still have no idea if Sedona actually is a bimac. I have the word of that company and I think we can all agree that they are shady at best. So... yeah no idea... she could be nocturnal or a dwarf for all I know.

 

[SabrinaR]

Picture of Sedona!

Ok so I have been having this hair algae problem so I had turned off my moon lights and shortened my day lights on her tank. Well tonight after it had been dark in the tank for about an hour I turned on the moon lights and there she was! She looks good, though she doesnt look any bigger to me at all. I was able to get a picture of her with my camera phone (couldnt find reg cam and actually the flash wouldnt have been a good idea)


Heres the pic.

I am thinking because of the lack of apparent growth that she isnt a bimac at all but maybe a nocturnal dwarf. The arm to mantle ratio appears to be 1:4 or 1:5. If she is nocturnal then I need to add a red light to my tank. Other wise I will never see her.

Anyone have thoughts on the matter?

 

[SabrinaR]

So I went to check and see if she would be out again once I left the lights off for a while. She was... Her size is much like I thought. She is still the exact same size.

 

[DWhatley]

I would guess you have diagnosed the situation well. This is likely to be a Pacific animal and not an O.mercatoris (arm length is too long as well as what we know of the vendor) and the eyes do look (large and bulging) like a nocturnal from what can be seen. You can try adding a giant barnacle cluster with openings a little larger than her mantle. The mercs have taken well to these as well as two little unknowns (possibly joubini) that Sedna has had. If you want to experiment, place the barnacle cluster about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the tank or on the bottom with available dens up off the floor. Put it where you can see in the holes but not in direct lighting. Provide a couple of light weight shells that are about the size of the opening for doors.