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Which Octo to Choose?

Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Messages
77
I have an old 36 gallon bowfront in my basement that hasnt been treated with copper and have been wanting to turn it into an octopus tank. I know i dont want mercs because they arent interactive and are nocturnal. What should i do? Would an aculeatus be comfortable in that size tank? If not what are my octo options. I definitely dont want to get a species that will require me to upgrade down the road because i just dont have that kind of money.

Thanks
 
Do you have the spare parts to add a sump? I kept Octane (large hummelincki/filosis male) in a 35 thinking it was a 45 with a 10 gallon sump. It was too small in the end for him and the lack of room may have been the reason he started trying to escape. However, my other 2hummelincki females would have been comfortable with that sized tank.

I have only kept an aculeatus for a very brief time (acquired at the end of its life) and I would expect a 36 with sump for additional water (recommend 20 and not 10 gallon) would work. Their arms are longer than most hummelincki but the body is pretty small. If you arrange your LR in a center piled penninsula you should be able to provide a lot of rock climbing/denning and swiming area and a 20 gallon sump would solve most of the water issues (with weekly water changes).
 
dwhatley, I dont have the spare parts to add a sump. If i didn't have one would it still be ok with extremely efficient skimming and frequent water changes?

Thanks
 
Unfortunately, I don't feel comfortable confirming that. I change out 5 gallons every week (and upped it to twice a week when Octane got large and started into senescence) and that was will an extra 10 gallons on the 35. The 36 bow is just at the bottom end of maybe with a sump so you don't have a lot of wiggle room. Can you rigg up something to create more volume? A sump does not have to be fancy (but you DO need a reliable pump and overflow). Canisters work well ... for a while but they are so easy to ignore and so difficult to check that I only use that setup on one aquarium that cannot be sump filtered (and only has anemones and a few fish). My filter socks and carbon get weekly attention. That being said, my little merc tank has a simple Skilter (and LR) and does well with a 30% water change weekly so large weekly water changes (10 gallons) might compensate but eventually you have paid for a sump with the salt and effort without ever having the sump.
 
Liveaquaria always seems to be a gamble you never know what your going to get. I have ordered other stuff from them but not Cephs. There are a lot of people that have used them, but again it was a gamble as to what you were actually going to get.

Aculeatus is from Indonesia
 
ok, thanks, I remeber hearing that they sold them. And Im hoping that they actualy know enough about octopode to at least semi succesfully identify them. Im weary about their description though... 2-5 inches? They might be talking about how long their tenticles are when they ship them. Acleatus' mantles are much smaller than 5 inches I thought? I thought they were 2.5in or something.
 
Most place you buy from have no idea what kind of octo they get and the specifications. Aculeatus are from indonesia. If you order the indonesia octo then you will get some kind of octo in the adbopus complex(spelled that wrong). So if you dont get an aculeatus you will get one thats is like but a little different.
 
What are the major differences? If they are basically identical thats fine. I still want a generaly friendly species, and diurnal is best. So if I order from them Im not going to end up accidentaly getting a large octo or anything like that right?
 
Ryan Smith;151114 said:
What are the major differences? If they are basically identical thats fine. I still want a generaly friendly species, and diurnal is best. So if I order from them Im not going to end up accidentaly getting a large octo or anything like that right?

It's a pure gamble. You just have to be ready to care for whatever comes your way. You could get a full grown dwarf species, or you could get a nice Briareus.


"...the question you gotta ask yourself is... 'Do I feel Lucky?'...Well, do ya?" -Dirty Harry
 
If I end up accidentaly getting a large octo, what do I do? I cant care for it in a 40 gal tank. What do you do if you cant care for an octo, unlike fish, im guessin you cant bring them to a lfs.
 

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