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Starting Octo Tank

Here's a shot from a little further away showing placement on the tile floor:
aquarium1.jpg


...and here's a closer look:
aquarium2.jpg


sorry for the low-res blurriness, not a very good camera phone taking the shots lol
 
Looking most excellent! The rockwork appears to give very nice choices for dens and is the most appropriately filled we have seen in awhile. You might want to move the ends in about 8" (4" on each side) as you have no way to clean where the rock touches the tank wall. General rule of thumb is to make a fist and if your hand from thumb to pinky cannot fit between the tank wall and the rock surface you have the rockwork too close to the outside wall (this obviously does not apply to the back wall but does to the front and to a lesser extent the sides unless you plan to leave the side wall uncleaned - nothing wrong with it but it will become opaque and algae covred over time).

You will want to get some water movement around the rocks very soon. I typically put my Koralias facing each other with one in each corner or facing a wall that will "bounce" the current. I try to "bury" them with a piece of curved LR that can be easily moved if I have to reposition or replace them. The more circulation (but not necessarily current, just water movement) the better. The octos tend to hang out where the water is moving. My females have all chosen a brood den where there is current from the Koralias.
 
Good tip on moving the rocks in a bit, I'll be sure to do that.

I'm going to pick up two power-heads tomorrow to get water moving and one of those magnetic scrubbers for the walls. The filter is doing a great job still and the sand seems to have settled after only a few hours.
 
If the tank is glass, add a saltwater safe metal scraper to your list (otherwise get one for acrylic which will be saltwater safe by default). You will need more than the mag floats to clean the walls but be careful with the scrapers around the silicone seams. Unfortunately, it is more than "a bit". To understand fully how far, try to clean the sides without shifting the LR. Once you have occupants, you won't want to risk moving the rock to clean and you won't be able to clean if your hand won't fit (even though a scraper might). Alternately, as a very miniumum, run your new (to be acquired) mag float between the rock and the glass and be sure it won't get stuck. The longer handled scrapers help a lot with getting where the rock is a little too close but you still have to angle it so actually tryin to clean is the best way to test (and my continuously cut up hand are testimony to why I point this out).

I am particularly fond of the Koralia's over other types of powerheads (as are many). The intake pressure is distributed (I have held my breath as my hatchlings have crawled over the ones in the tank and they have no issue not being pulled in) and the worst that may have happened is an arm tip or two have come up missing (with one cuttle fatality when it tried to zap food from the front). There is a snap on front housing that is somewhat mysterious when you get them but it will fit on the front, should be used and does help keep arms out of the critical area.
 
So I put in a heater and powerhead yesterday, its been running smooth, the powerhead adds tiny air bubbles and pushes the water towards the canister intake.

I've noticed a whole lot of little polyps sprouting, I saw one this morning on a rock and when I came home from work there were three, what do I do with em? Just leave them?

I've read online that I should expect some die-off from the rock, I don't think I've witnessed anything like that, and it doesn't seem to give off much of an odor in the room.
 
Are the "polyps" sort of pinkish and translucent in color, shrink into the LR when you try to touch them and extend on soft stalks when left alone? If so you have a common nuisance anemone called aiptasia and dealing with it now is best. There are dozens of formulas for eliminating it and you might as well pick one and try. My most effective with all but the ones in my nano (slightly less common than the ones in the picture and much harder to eliminate) is a product called Joe's Juice. Don't follow the label instructions, however. Douse the extended anemone and leave the power heads off for 24 hours. Siphon the areas where you melted them after 24 hours and turn the pumps back on. Douse and repeat if you see more (using a flash light at night usually exposes more than you see in the daytime). If they don't look like the picture in the link, post a photo.

You won't necessarily "see" the die off but you will notice an ammonia spike in your tank. Typically you will only visually notice macro algae dying off if the LR has it attached (only very fresh will have attached wild macro).
 
That's exactly the polyps that on the rock, although theres also one thats completely clear and white.
They all extend out in the dark, is it not safe to just take the rock out and remove the polyp?

My local shop lists a 20mL syringe of Joe's juice for 18 bucks, may as well pick one up tomorrow and get the job done, I'm going camping with a few friends for 5 days on August 2nd so I'd rather they don't proliferate while I'm not home.

(on a side note, is it irresponsible to leave the new tank unattended for five days?)

Also, what if I add a couple hermit crabs or true peppermint shrimp in, I also heard Nudibranches can do the trick and only feed on them, they might also help the cycling along yes?
 
I would add the peppermint shrimp after you attemp an eradication. I find the seem to keep the population from exploding but don't do a lot to remove the existing ones. You can try to remove them by taking out the rock (don't let it dry) but I think you will learn quickly why this is not among the recommended solutions :sagrin: Hermits won't effect the aiptasia but are not a bad thing to add to the tank. Be aware that both may become octo food at some point but I have had peppermint shrimp that successfully learn to avoid the octos (and some that did not). At the moment, one of my little two month old hatchlings stalks the one loose in its tank but can never quite get an arm on it.

The nudi's that eat aiptasia, Berghia, are hard to find and aiptasia are the ONLY thing they are known to eat. Once the population is gone, they will starve. If you choose to try this method of control the recommended way is to put the rock and nudibranch in a separate container so its disruptive to aquascaping. There are a few folks that trade them around but most just die and then the aiptasia return. For really bad infestations, this is probably an acceptable solution to not giving up the piece of rock but you should be aware of the way it works before proceeding. There are a few fish that will eat them but none that would do well with an octopus.

Leaving a cycling tank for a week is not irresponsible or even a concern. Once you have critters, a tank sitter is highly recommended.
 
OH, leave the WHITE ones alone IF they don't come out very far from the LR or have a tube they can quickly slip into. These are not aiptasia but small feather duster worms. They are a nice addition to the tank (fortunately Joe's Juice will not likely kill them but don't target them). The tiny ones that live in the LR are not sold but their larger cousins make very attractive additions to any reef. They are octo safe but it is sometimes hard to put the larger ones where the octo won't crawl on it and ultimately kill it by damaging its tube house. I have had mixed success with them in octo tanks but they are a personal favorite. The small one in the LR just pull into their tubes and survive nicely.

If the white one look just like the others with a soft "stem" then it is still aiptasia but one has not had much sunlight (as is likely the case with the clear one).
 

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