I had thoroughly researched O. Mercatoris here on this site several years ago and was about ready to set everything up for a specially made micro-reef LLC setup when I learned that the college dorm I was about to move into would not allow even fish tanks, so I set the idea aside for awhile. Now that I have graduated, I've started a saltwater tank and am thinking about a cephalopod again. I have a 48" long, 18" deep, and 13" high tank that has been up and running for about a year. It doesn't have much in it at the moment: 2 clownfish, 2 damsels, a royal gramma, a lawnmower blenny, a banded coral shrimp, some snails and hermits, and some zoanthids. I have an overflow to a sump and could easily secure some netting or a top over the main tank. Most of my live rock is in the sump, along with chaeto, carbon, heater, and protein skimmer. I keep the temperature between 78F and 80F degrees. There isn't much space taken up on the 1" thick sandbed, I have one rock near each end of the tank that are maybe 5"x5"x5", and then a large bonsai type of artificial coral with shelves that takes up maybe a 12"x5" area of floor space in the middle of the tank. Moving these around would be fine as well if having them grouped instead of spread out would be better for swimming space.
I have several questions:
1. Would I need to worry about an octopus working it's way through the return hose coming from the pump inside my sump? I think it has an inner diameter of 3/4" or 1".
2. What would be the best way to prevent an octopus from getting inside the overflow box and entering the sump?
3. While most of my parameters are good, my pH is only at 7.8. It stays there continuously, no matter how much buffer I dose. I do use an RO/DI unit, but have been told since I live in an old house currently with no HVAC system it is likely due to high ambient CO2 level in the house. Is this pH just too low?
4. I do sometimes dose carbon in the form of vinegar between water changes just to make sure my nitrates stay extra low. Would this be a problem? Should I stop doing that with an octopus?
5. And finally, what species would you guys recommend? I understand with a tank this size that I am limited to one of the smaller species with a shorter lifespan, so a large egged species that would be easy to breed would be ideal, unless there is a longer living species that would do well in a tank this size that I do not know about. And if I get a short-lived species that I will need to breed, I would like to keep two or three of them to try to ensure breeding instead of hoping I get a pregnant female. A species that would leave my fish alone would be nice, but since none of them are bigger than 2" or 3" I anticipate having to move them. If I have to move the fish anyway, then changing the temperature of the tank for a colder water species wouldn't be a problem.
Thanks in advance for any and all help,
-Josh
I have several questions:
1. Would I need to worry about an octopus working it's way through the return hose coming from the pump inside my sump? I think it has an inner diameter of 3/4" or 1".
2. What would be the best way to prevent an octopus from getting inside the overflow box and entering the sump?
3. While most of my parameters are good, my pH is only at 7.8. It stays there continuously, no matter how much buffer I dose. I do use an RO/DI unit, but have been told since I live in an old house currently with no HVAC system it is likely due to high ambient CO2 level in the house. Is this pH just too low?
4. I do sometimes dose carbon in the form of vinegar between water changes just to make sure my nitrates stay extra low. Would this be a problem? Should I stop doing that with an octopus?
5. And finally, what species would you guys recommend? I understand with a tank this size that I am limited to one of the smaller species with a shorter lifespan, so a large egged species that would be easy to breed would be ideal, unless there is a longer living species that would do well in a tank this size that I do not know about. And if I get a short-lived species that I will need to breed, I would like to keep two or three of them to try to ensure breeding instead of hoping I get a pregnant female. A species that would leave my fish alone would be nice, but since none of them are bigger than 2" or 3" I anticipate having to move them. If I have to move the fish anyway, then changing the temperature of the tank for a colder water species wouldn't be a problem.
Thanks in advance for any and all help,
-Josh