octopus...

[Vincenzo.]

has anyone ever had one? Info regarding? Seem quite interesting. Been doing some reading, seem that they are at expert level for care. Asides from that octo/cuttlefish site [for get the name] know where u can get more info? any one have any books i could borrow? Or rent from you?
Should be a cool topic to talk about.
Thanks in advance

[Nerine]

a VERY cool topic!! I love the creatures I don't know much about them...other than they are escape artists!

Looking forward to seeing if anyone else has one?? I saw one for sale at BA's Innes once...

[Funkmotor]

They are at expert level, and there are lots of things you need to be aware of.

Check out http://www.tonmo.com/

[Vincenzo.]

ya thats the website i been looking on for the past month or so. I have a few more months research..If all goes well im thinking to get one for xmas/new years. i got the g/f a bit interested last night talking about them..so 3 more months of convincing and i might get lucky. They are cool creatures that sparked my interest some time ago. So any help/advice is wanted. And if anyone has some reading material

[salvini55]

wicked idea, i have a buddy that loves my tank soo much and he wants me to put an octo in it. I said no so he wanted his own tank with an octo, but Ray kinda turned him off the topic abit. I know they are mostly nocturnal and very intelligent, so the must be entertained with puzzles and intersting games to keep them happy like putting food in locking containers and such. Would make a great buddy!

[Funkmotor]

The biggest problem with them, to me, is that they don't live very long at all.  It's not that captivity kills them, it's that they don't live very long anyway.

[Hookup]

I've seen them in Ottawa Inverts... Though I've no idea what's involved in keeping them, as a general rule, if it's in their store they know a good amount about keeping it happy and healthy...

[Vincenzo.]

i guess i'll talk to pat and the 'gang on sunday.

and from what i have read some octo's live for 3+years. im looking into it. i dont mind their nocturnalness or anything. less money on lights more on the diy rockwork.

[Tyler.L]

vince it took to much to read through all this and am lazy to ready it

reef central has a cephalopod section and pat and i spoke about the life of an octo before and was only between 6 months to a year dependant on its age....but you could get lucky...

read the reefcentral section though but yeah do the cuttlefish they cant climb out from what i think but always learn something....

[Vincenzo.]

ya i been doing lots of reading on the two. but i think the octo is dope. the cuttle fish is basically all sand and a few rocks. with the octo you can still have a few leathers, and other corals that dont require much light. from what ive seen on the cuttle most tanks just look like water and sand are in them with 3-4 large rocks. it dont float my boat. though i still have lots more reading to do. might change my mind, might.

[redbelly]

I have had octopus before. What type were you thinking of exactly?

They can be picky eaters sometimes if the conditions are not just perfect.

I was able to cheat a bit too and was able to have a VERY stable tank for him, by plumbing the octo tank into my main system

[Vincenzo.]

bimac, briareus, hummelincki.

But im not sure. the turn offs are deff the lifespan. 8-12months. Gen rule of thumb the bigger the mcto the longer lived. But well see. Some claimed to have octos for a few years. But its rare.

[redbelly]

The biggest problem is that you never know how old they are when you get them.

So you could get a 2 month old octo or you could get a 11.5 month old octo, and obviously the 11.5 month old octo with a 12 month lifespan is a bit of a bummer. Unless of course it lays eggs, which they have been know to do on occasion.

I have kept the briareus but all of your choices are semi local. Because they are from the caribbean and cali the transit time is very short and as such the survival rate from shipping is pretty high.

And be prepared to try different foods when they come in. When I first received mine in, i fed them live peppermint and emerald crabs to get them to start eating. Even tried a chromis, but they never went for it.

[Vincenzo.]

ya, thanks pat. This is still in the thinking stage, im not 100% on this still. And lots of planning/tank setup is required. The av tank setup from nothing is from 500-1000+ and i dont have much lol. I just think it would be cool. And ur deff right u never know how old they are. But i been reading on captive breedint and it seems straight forward. a lot less harder than breeding clowns.

[Vincenzo.]

all this octo reading is spinning me out. seems like a dayyum hassle for such a short lived animal. some of the pictures ive seen though at stunning. my fear is i spend all the dough and have 1 octo, then not like it after. reading on tonmo, lots people get them, and they end up dying (same with the cuttle) or short lived. and you dont see any other posts from them. with corals its not so bad is half your zoo's 'melt' because you have the other half and they will live forever. octo does not eat in the first couple days, it's done. all that, time, planning, and money - for nothing. and from what i seen many arrive DOA from shitty shipping. everyone in the USA have it easy they go to a local tide pool and pull them out. if they live good for them if they die..they go the next day and catch another. we do not have this accessibility. plus i can imagine the rate one of these would go for here. -- so in the end, is it worth it? it would be hella cool. but idk, maybe if i move to the tropics

[Hookup]

Even tried a chromis, but they never went for it.

And after I said nice things about you/your store, you go and slam chromis fish... Some people do actually like them you know!!!!! hahahaha

[Vincenzo.]

^i even read some cases where the chrom's .. attacked the octo's eyes. and they die from a horrible death - infection of the eye. so you have to be careful with even the type of fish you feed.