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Trying again

Wafflez777

Blue Ring
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Oct 7, 2012
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I finally got my first octopus (Caribbean 2 spot) yesterday and as of a few hours ago it has died. I'm going to try the to get one again but I'm wondering if I should do anything better this time.

Here's a list of what i did:
-got octopus (already had tank set up for year)
-set it in the water inside its bag for a while
-slowly integrated my own tank water into the bag
-realeased into the tank
(At this point it goes up to the around the top of the tank and just stays there)
(Has moved but is still at the top of the tank next morning)
(Return from school and it is on ground looking like it's about to die, I go into panic mode)
(Change water, salt, test tank, lots of stuff but octopus eventually dies)
I'm mainly just wondering how I should have set up the tank better because I probly should have been more prepared and don't a water hangs before I put in the octopus.

I was also wondering if anyone has any ideas of why it died, when I tested the water I did have a NH3 (nitrate) level of 20ppm if that did anything plus I had pretty low salinity that morning and added some more salt.

A side question is if you guys have any good sites to recommend we're I could buy a Caribbean 2 spot because my fish store took a year until they finnaly found this octopus.

Thanks for any help of any kind.
 
And have you ever used medications with copper in it. When ur tank was set up did you have fish to start the whole prosses. And have you ever tested for coppers in your tank. Plus is it ro/di water or tap
 
And have you ever used medications with copper in it. When ur tank was set up did you have fish to start the whole prosses. And have you ever tested for coppers in your tank. Plus is it ro/di water or tap
I have not tested for coppers and tommarow I'll post all my test results because my local store is going to test the water for me.
 
What size is your tank? What other animals are in the tank? What kind of filtration do you have?
40 gallon tank (I know it's a bit small) 1 clown and 2 sapphire damsels (I'll take them out next time because they started to bully) and I have a marine land canister filter.
 
20 ppm of nitrate should not be a problem but ANY ammonia or nitrite would be. If you have EVER used a copper medication for your fish (most fish keepers have for ich) then the tank is not going to support a cephalopod even if you test negative for copper (lethal amounts will not show in a test from your LSF). Low salt will effect the animal and could contribute to its demise in a stressful situation or over a long period.

I should change my tag line to "NO FISH with octopuses" just so everyone know what I believe to be incompatible. Octopuses are very susceptible to stress so acclimation and tank mates are extremely important. You are the second person this year to attempt and fail placing an octopus in a tank already territorialized by fish. There are other causes for loss, many we cannot explain but the added stress of fish likely contributed to its death.

My normal process is to fully open the bag, and add some sort of container with holes (like a brood chamber or plastic bottle with holes - some people use a shell from the target tank). I place the bag and container in a bucket of tank water for temperature equalization and then take about 3 hours to match PH and salinity (I use a turkey baster and 15 minute intervals but other use a drip). I test the outside water (ie the tank water in the bucket) against the inside water (water with the octopus) using test strips to be sure they match. Once I have a match I encourage the animal into the plastic container if it has not already made its way there, move the holding bucket to the tank and carefully but quickly move the animal in the plastic container to the tank, allowing the acclimation water to exit but quickly replace with the matching tank water.
 
20 ppm of nitrate should not be a problem but ANY ammonia or nitrite would be. If you have EVER used a copper medication for your fish (most fish keepers have for ich) then the tank is not going to support a cephalopod even if you test negative for copper (lethal amounts will not show in a test from your LSF). Low salt will effect the animal and could contribute to its demise in a stressful situation or over a long period.

I should change my tag line to "NO FISH with octopuses" just so everyone know what I believe to be incompatible. Octopuses are very susceptible to stress so acclimation and tank mates are extremely important. You are the second person this year to attempt and fail placing an octopus in a tank already territorialized by fish. There are other causes for loss, many we cannot explain but the added stress of fish likely contributed to its death.

My normal process is to fully open the bag, and add some sort of container with holes (like a brood chamber or plastic bottle with holes - some people use a shell from the target tank). I place the bag and container in a bucket of tank water for temperature equalization and then take about 3 hours to match PH and salinity (I use a turkey baster and 15 minute intervals but other use a drip). I test the outside water (ie the tank water in the bucket) against the inside water (water with the octopus) using test strips to be sure they match. Once I have a match I encourage the animal into the plastic container if it has not already made its way there, move the holding bucket to the tank and carefully but quickly move the animal in the plastic container to the tank, allowing the acclimation water to exit but quickly replace with the matching tank water.
Thx I'll do that next time
 
I want to mention one thing that still bothers me and has for quite some time.

My first Octopus Mercatoris was a very small specie but the Pumps were so powerful in my tank that I think it stressed her out and she couldn't move around well in the tank. I believe it resulted in her death and is that only thing I can think of. The tank parameters were fine, she acclimated fine in the pet carriers I like to use, but when I released her out of the pet carrier she died shortly after.

What I'm saying is depending on the size of the Octopus you have to be careful of everything including pumps and power heads. Too strong of a current will bounce them around like tiny beach balls.
 

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