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Temp confusion and concerns.

Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
1,462
Hi all. I ordered what is supposed to be a Bimac yesterday and have a few concerns regarding the temp of my tank. Because of the unsure state of what it is I will be getting I am wondering what the best temp will be to keep the tank until I have an absolute ID on the octo. Currently I have the tank at 70 degrees but I am sure that will be to low if this turns out to be some other warm water octo. So, should I keep the tank at 72 as a high end for the cold water species and the low end for the warm water octos? Needless to say because of all of the newness of dealing with this company and some of the statements made earlier I am feeling less confidant in this deal that I was previously. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
I would call them and ask what temp they keep them at. The page that listed the bimacs said they caught them locally. But really it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and ask them.
 
So what is considered ideal temp for these guys? I have read so many different opinions including Nancy's care sheet but some keep it really low at 60 or 62. I will try to call them tomorrow and ask but I want to know you guys opinion.
 
LOL I got the tank down to 67 yesterday just to make sure my little chiller that could... actually could do it. and yeah... it was a bit nippy. I need to find out what cold water clean up crew I can get... it has struck me that I just might kill the hermits and snails I have now if I kept them at 60. Any thoughts on that?
 
I kept my first bimac at 62 degrees, but I keep my current one at 56 degrees because I also have strawberry anemone and they like it that cold. The octopus doesn't seem to mind (hasn't said anything), and I think the cold temperatures slow his metabolism, so I feed less (about 1.5 tablespoons of scallop meat ever 2nd or 3rd day), and I suspect that this will extend his life. I caught him 13 months ago, and I thought he was fully grown then. He's gotten about 50% larger, but I think he must be close to two years old, and doing fine.

I know people have kept them at room temperature, so I'm sure that keeping yours at 72 until you get a positive ID, will be fine. Bimacs (at least bimaculoides) live in tide pools, which can experience very rapid temp and salinity changes, so if you get a bimaculoides, a gradual temperature change from 72 down to 65, or whatever, should be no problem (a degree per day should be fine).

O.Bimaculatus, which usually lives a little deeper than O.Bimaculoides, may not be able to handle rapid temperature changes as well. To help you tell them apart: the blue ring in the eye spots on O. Bimaculoides is made of a solid line of blue, while the blue ring on O. Bimaculoides is more like a chain.
 
As a hint when you are trying to look at the eyespot :biggrin2:, use your camera and get as close (zoom) as you can and still get a GOOD focus. I have found that I can't see this kind of detail with my eyes but a decently focuses pictures exposes much more.
 
Thank you for the help and suggestions.... At this point I just pray he does what he says he can. He said hes picking them up today, will have it ready for shipping tomorrow and I should get it Wednesday. But if the octopus they have isn't bimac then depending on what it is, I might cancel the order. Cause 200$ is a lot for an octopus other than a mimic, especially when I can get an octo locally for under 100$. When I talked with him this morning he said he keeps them at 68 degrees. so a degree a day would be good for lowering the temp. I am just happy that the temps here in Houston have cooled off a bit so it wouldnt take to long to lower the tank even more if I needed too.

Cross fingers for me:fingerscrossed:
 
dwhatley;163764 said:
As a hint when you are trying to look at the eyespot :biggrin2:, use your camera and get as close (zoom) as you can and still get a GOOD focus. I have found that I can't see this kind of detail with my eyes but a decently focuses pictures exposes much more.

I completely agree. I also learned, the hard way, that you must be directly perpendicular to the glass, and probably use a tripod, to get pictures in focus. Grab all the magapixels you can, and then crop and blow up the eye spot. This trick is also the best way to determine the sex of an octopus (IMO)
 

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