Starting my octo tank!

[dagtaggart]

hello everybody,

i have recently become bored with reefing and have sold off my reef tank to upgrade to a ceph tank! my tank arrives tomorrow, and it's a 29G biocube all-in-one. i saved my 8G BC to be used as a food tank. i am still trying to decide on a skimmer, so if anyone has any recommendations, that'd be appreciated. i was going to just go with the biocube skimmer, so if this won't be sufficient, i'd like to know.

it will obviously be a specimen tank, i plan on keeping it bare-bottom to assist with cleaning. i am also looking to grow various macroalgaes in the tank for aesthetics. the cycle should begin tomorrow with cured rock from my LFS, where i happen to work

as far as species go, i haven't narrowed down a supplier yet, was thinking of liveaquaria but they are completely ambiguous as far as species, it just says "indonesia". i called to find out an estimate of the possible species and they couldn't tell me. i obviously want something smaller, perhaps o. briareus or o. joubini. any other species recommendations/where to get them appreciated. i emailed tom and he said to check the stock list on saturday.

i look forward to this experience and am extremely excited to be the owner of such an intelligent and fascinating creature!

thanks for your comments,

joy

 

[lance]

welcome to TONMO

lance

 

[DWhatley]

Joy,
You will need to cycle the tank for 3 months before attempting an octopus so you can look but don't touch on Tom's website.

A 29 gallon tank is way too small for a briareus. Briareus is the largest of the most commonly kept Caribbean octopuses and need a 65 gallon or larger tank.

O. mercatoris and O. joubini are the most common Caribbean dwarfs. Tom typically gets the briareus and the mercatoris with a very rare occassional joubini that slips in there and could be sold as either depending on its size. Be very sure when you order to specify mercatoris and not briareus or make it clear that you want the dwarf species.

While you are cycling, enjoy reading through some of the journals. You will find a link at the top of the Forums->Journals and Photos thread marked List of our Octopuses 2008, 2009 and 2010. These Threads show the journaled octopuses species and have a link to their journals.

 

[monty]

 

[dagtaggart]

Joy,
You will need to cycle the tank for 3 months before attempting an octopus so you can look but don't touch on Tom's website.

A 29 gallon tank is way too small for a briareus. Briareus is the largest of the most commonly kept Caribbean octopuses and need a 65 gallon or larger tank.

O. mercatoris and O. joubini are the most common Caribbean dwarfs. Tom typically gets the briareus and the mercatoris with a very rare occassional joubini that slips in there and could be sold as either depending on its size. Be very sure when you order to specify mercatoris and not briareus or make it clear that you want the dwarf species.

While you are cycling, enjoy reading through some of the journals. You will find a link at the top of the Forums->Journals and Photos thread marked List of our Octopuses 2008, 2009 and 2010. These Threads show the journaled octopuses species and have a link to their journals.

if my rock is cured and my water comes from an already cycled tank, do i still need to wait 3 months?

 

[DWhatley]

A lot depends on the "already cured" rock and under what conditions it has been while out of the tank. If the rock is newly cured (never been in a CYCLED tank), then yes. If this is a transfer of a decent amount (1-1.5 pounds /gallon) of LR that has been sitting in a cycled tank with water movement then I would suggest allowing at least two weeks. If the LR has been in a bucket of circulating water but came from a well cycled tank, it is hard to tell. There will be some die off and the need to build bacteria again but you might get away with a month but I would wait two. These guys have a short enough life span, putting them in an unprepared environment will only shorten it.

I would use new water in any case.

 

[dagtaggart]

A lot depends on the "already cured" rock and under what conditions it has been while out of the tank. If the rock is newly cured (never been in a CYCLED tank), then yes. If this is a transfer of a decent amount (1-1.5 pounds /gallon) of LR that has been sitting in a cycled tank with water movement then I would suggest allowing at least two weeks. If the LR has been in a bucket of circulating water but came from a well cycled tank, it is hard to tell. There will be some die off and the need to build bacteria again but you might get away with a month but I would wait two. These guys have a short enough life span, putting them in an unprepared environment will only shorten it.

I would use new water in any case.

the tank has been in a 4000 G system at the store where i work, there should be limited die-off, though of course i'll be carefully testing. any thoughts about the skimmer?

 

[DWhatley]

Starting with cycled rock vs uncycled rock has more to do with the dieing mater on the rock itself but is separate from cycling an aquarium. You will need to build the bacteria over a three month period and there is no short cut.