• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

What are the best begginer octos?

Adwilk

Hatchling
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Dec 21, 2007
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I'm looking into setting up a tank and getting an Octopus. I've always been amazed when I have seen them at pet stores. I have5-6 years of experience keeping SPS corals so I understand water quality issues. This is not something I'm looking to jump right into but I'd like to educate myself for when I am ready. Could anyone reccomend a good Octopus for begginers? I've seen a lot of references to Bimacs. Would this be a good option? If possible I would like to avoid adding a chiller. Also as I understand it larger cephlapods usually live longer. Is this correct?

Thanks,
Alex
 
Adwilk;106674 said:
I'm looking into setting up a tank and getting an Octopus. I've always been amazed when I have seen them at pet stores. I have5-6 years of experience keeping SPS corals so I understand water quality issues. This is not something I'm looking to jump right into but I'd like to educate myself for when I am ready. Could anyone reccomend a good Octopus for begginers? I've seen a lot of references to Bimacs. Would this be a good option? If possible I would like to avoid adding a chiller. Also as I understand it larger cephlapods usually live longer. Is this correct?

Thanks,
Alex

:welcome: to TONMO

That's all pretty accurate. The octos that seem to be the best suited as pets are bimacs and briareus, although a number of folks have had good luck with aculeatus recently as well. Bimacs are on the edge of needing a chiller; they seem to live longer and happier when they have one. Smaller octos are shy, nocturnal, and short-lived, as a rule. The bimac/briareus size needs about a 55-75 gallon tank, which seems to work out best for most people... a vulgaris or other large octo that needs more than 125 gallons seems to be more than most folks want to deal with, and I imagine the food cost for an adult vulgaris gets very expensive.

If you haven't already, check out the ceph care articles under the ARTICLES tab at the top of the page for an overview of the details... they emphasize bimacs, but are relatively applicable to similar sized octos like briareus and aculeatus as well (except for temperature).
 
Adwilk;106674 said:
Also as I understand it larger cephlapods usually live longer. Is this correct?

:welcome: Adwilk!

size and longevity is not really related in Cephs. We get a very large species (2m arm spread) here in Southern NZ (Pinnoctopus cordiformis) but it only lives 2 years. It may be temp related with arctic and antarctic species appearing to live longer than their tropical cousins.

J
 

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