What is the safest and best way to ship an O. briareus?

[twinkiewink]

I am very willing to help you out. As far as getting a bigger tank I maybe able to help you out with that as well. Although a new tank would be better, If you talk to a few of the local fish stores (LFS) you can almost always get them to donate a used 55 gallon or 75 gallon tank. Also craigslist is another good place to look. You can find people who are trying to get out of the hobby and getting rid of theirs for cheap. Also one other thing to be very careful of is copper. If your tank has ever been used for freshwater fish then copper is of great concern. Copper can kill octopus very quickly and is to be avoided at all cost.

The water that I get is collected by NOAH and filtered then stored in a storage tank in Galveston. I take three (3) 15 gallon water storage containers to Galveston and pick up the water then bring it back home. The salinity is normally a little low so I need to add a bit of salt (maybe a cup, if that) to bring it up. Its ready in about 30 min. as there isnt a lot of salt to mix.

Being that the tank is a fresh set up you need to make sure that there is as much live bacteria added to the tank as possible. The sand needs to be precycled at least some (5lbs at least) precycled sand should be added to your current sand, and precured live rock is needed as well. I can help you acquire these things as well. Also starting with natural sea water will help with this. If you can get the tank up and running before spring break that will help your cause greatly as it will give the tank time to cycle if it has one using the above method (adding already cycled bacteria).

Please let me know if I can be of assistance. The sooner you get on this the better your results will be for your new octopus.

One last thing, do you have a protein skimmer on the tank?

As you will soon find out keeping octopuses isnt for the faint hearted. A lot of time and work goes into the set up, and their already short lives can be easily cut shorter if you arent careful. If you can get passed the set up and the short lives, octopus keeping can be an extraordinarily rewarding and challenging experience.

Thank you so much. I believe my teacher has a bigger fish tank, about 75 gallons, that we will be using this time. I'm going to show her all of this and talk to her about it and then reply with when we should get started and all of that. She's interested in your help as much as I am So thank you and I will keep contact with you.

 

[SabrinaR]

No worries... Its a lot of fun for me setting up a new system.

 

[twinkiewink]

My teacher and I were wondering if you'd be available tomorrow or thursday or next tuesday or thursday after 2:30 so you could help us set up the tank. It's actually a 45 gallon tank so I'm not sure if that's big enough or if you have a bigger one.

 

[twinkiewink]

This is Mrs. Olivier, Yoandra's aquatic science teacher. I really appreciate all of your help! I would love to know where you get the water. Do you buy it? If I can find a source of salt water, that would be great. We do have a 45 gallon tank set up already, with filtered water so the bacteria is good, and cycled sand as well. It has been set up since September (with fish in it) so we should be good with water quality, although I will definitely check the copper. It is a saltwater tank, but doesn't hurt to check.
I do not have a protein skimmer, I haven't had to use them for any of the other tanks I set up. If you would be willing to come and check our set up that would be a huge help! I have a few years of experience in keeping tanks now, but I haven't had much luck with octopuses. I did keep an atlantic dwarf for about a month last year.
This is a student project, and I am trying very hard to let them figure stuff out themselves and do the research themselves without endangering the life of the octopus, but as I told them, this is also something I am learning about too. I would love to discuss this more with you - if you feel comfortable in emailing me, my email is [email protected]. Thanks again!

 

[SabrinaR]

I have sent you an email to the address listed.

 

[DWhatley]

 

[Lmecher]

Good for you Sabrina.
You will get this project off the ground and headed in the right direction.

 

[SabrinaR]

Ok so an update on whats happening here as everything is now being handled via email and phone...

I have gone to the school to look at the set up and it needs some help. I have put calls in to LFS's asking for donations of equipment ie overflow, pumps, skimmers ect. Fish Gallery here is helping to look into the info for me. Hopefully they will have a great deal to donate/loan to the students. Apparently the students are paying for this themselves (wow am I impressed with their effort).

I have connected them with NOAA so they can get water and will be meeting them down in Galveston Thursday.

Thats it for now. Hopefully we can get these kids set up soon and they will be on their way to successfully keeping an octopus.

 

[Lmecher]

Sabrina... a super big to you!!

 

[DWhatley]

Sabrina,
The kids are learning a whole lot more than how to set up an environment. This is a wonderful experiment in learning to find resources and information to be successful at a task so I hope you are making suggestions and not doing ALL the work

Good Job!

 

[SabrinaR]

Sabrina... a super big to you!!

You are very sweet . I am just excited that they have the interest.

Sabrina,
The kids are learning a whole lot more than how to set up an environment. This is a wonderful experiment in learning to find resources and information to be successful at a task so I hope you are making suggestions and not doing ALL the work

Good Job!

I am trying to be just an adviser however I am being active in trying to get the supplies here as time is a big issue. They need this thing set up by Tuesday at the latest so they will have time for a mini cycle. I hope they are able to pull this off.

 

[SabrinaR]

I just got an email from the teacher... The kids are calling me their octopus . How sweet is that!

This is one of those times that just makes my heart swell with joy that I am able to help them.

 

[twinkiewink]

I just got an email from the teacher... The kids are calling me their octopus . How sweet is that!

This is one of those times that just makes my heart swell with joy that I am able to help them.

You have been extremely helpful and we're really greatful Thank you and I look forward to setting up the tank with you

 

[SabrinaR]

Pictures of Yoandra and her teacher. The sump, over flow, powerheads live rock and all other goodies were donated by local fish stores as well as other local reef keepers on MARSHreef.com. They have all been super supportive on getting this project off the ground and I will be going back to the school to help them set everything up tomorrow.

Because we only have a 55 gallon tank we are using a 75 gallon sump to add more water to the system and also to have most of the live rock in the sump and more swim room in the tank for the octopus.

 

[QueenB]

to Tonmo!

Looking forward to following your progress.