Which Octo to Choose?

[DWhatley]

As I mentioned in a prior post, the Indonesian octos from Live Aquaria journaled on TONMO have always turned out to be either abdopus or macropus complex animals of relatively small size (none that would not work in a well maintained 40). They DO NOT SPECIFY SPECIES, only local, and they do not send the same specific species in either of the two complex all the time (I was expecting abdopus and got macropus with Puddles. I adore this complex but had wanted a diurnal octo - would not trade Puddles for the world though). You do not have to worry about briareus if you order one marked Indonesian as the origin but you DO have to worry about it if you choose (when it is available) the Caribbean option. Both are shown as options when you place an order but both are not always available.

 

[Ryan Smith]

Thanks. How much interaction do you get with a nocturnal octo? Are they just more active in a dark room? or do they know when its night?

 

[DWhatley]

Ryan,
The best way to get an idea of what to expect from a species or complex is to read through several of the journals. If you will click on Forums->Journals and Photos you will see several threads that remain at the top of the forum, regardless of dates posted (we call them stickies or stuck threads). In the Journals and Photos forum you will see stickies for List of Our Octopuses #### where #### is a year. The list shows the species and the name of the animal and, starting in 2008, will be linked to the threads journaling the listed octopus. The only caution I would have you keep in mind that the journals are over the tank life of each animal so the time span is compressed and sometimes it is not clear on how long it takes to see interaction.

Some octopuses (like briareus) are considered crepuscular (early morning/early evening hunters) and will often acclimate to some daylight activity. Full nocturnals will only interact at night and a night pattern needs to be established (ie you can't just turn off the lights and expect the octopus to think it is night time).

 

[Ryan Smith]

Thats what I figured. Its fine though, I'd rather have a diurnal over nocturnal octo, but to tell you the truth I'd be fine with any octo. During the school year interacting would be a problen, but summer, weekends, and breaks I could spend hours with them. I want to own a tropical pet store or something like that. I love fish and other sea life. Marine biologist would be cool too, but Im not a fan of the water that much. Sadly, you would think owning a fish store wouldnt be considered a succesful job... Oh well, Ill win the lottery, move to florida, and own a tropical fish store, and I will just be able to go diving and catch my own fish. I guess its been a passion for 15 years. As corny as it sounds my first word as a baby was fishes. I didnt have a fish either, so the word was totaly random