DON'T BE ALARMED! LoL I know that upon reading this post's subject and author more than one of you thought "OMG what did this kid do this time!!!" but it's nothing like that LoL. I was at a LFS today that I had never visited. Reason being that I heard it was a terrible place and seeing their tank conditions I agree that it's a terrible place. In one of their reef tanks, they had a, what must have been 1 gallon, plastic jar with a sealed lid with holes in it. Inside the jar was an octopus!!! It was small but it was trying so frantically to get out. Anyway...I didn't think it could be done....Can it? Do people actually keep these things and if so, under what conditions? I'm curious to hear about someone successfully keeping an octopus in their home. Anyone know anything about this? Did you know they sold octopus?
Octopus
- Thread starter IcantTHINKofONE
- Start date
8)
It's nice to see people thinking in the mode of ask questions first, buy later! :wink:
If you thought that it was a lot of work researching corals and fish...octopus should have even MORE research done before purchasing one! 8O
They are VERY short lived creatures, have special diet needs, and even more special environment/saftey requirements.
You CAN'T feed them goldfish food in a jar with a lid on! :evil:
Octopus (octopie?) are facinating creatures.
People will learn WAY more from a few books than they will from buying one and watching it die.
Mitch
It's nice to see people thinking in the mode of ask questions first, buy later! :wink:
If you thought that it was a lot of work researching corals and fish...octopus should have even MORE research done before purchasing one! 8O
They are VERY short lived creatures, have special diet needs, and even more special environment/saftey requirements.
You CAN'T feed them goldfish food in a jar with a lid on! :evil:
Octopus (octopie?) are facinating creatures.
People will learn WAY more from a few books than they will from buying one and watching it die.Mitch
Carpentersreef, I've been researching all day. I haven't found anything of an octopus being kept but I found lots of articles about the related Cuttlefish and it's success in home aquaria. James B. Wood even said that Cuttlefish can be kept in a 55 gallon tank? Seems a bit far from the truth. http://www.fishroom.com/library/cuttle.html That's where he gives advice to someone in a dialogue.
There are some forums on keeping these animals (I believe there is one on RC?), but they are some of the most difficult to keep.
They are very very intelligent, and generally die from being a prisoner, IMO.
First, they will try to do anything to escape from the tank, and they will fit through very very small openings (much smaller than the animal, as the only hard bits are the mouth parts).
After they realize they can not escape, they will sleep most of the day until it is time to eat....
Then they will stop eating....
Then they will die.
Even large public zoos and aquaria have a difficult keeping these animals alive, and keeping them entertained. It is important to feed them live crabs and snails so they have some hunting to do (often, people will put food into scew top jars so the animal will have to 'think' to get it).
I do not recommend keeping them. They are among the many animals carried by LFS that are doomed and should not be kept. If you do choose to try, it is important to make it a species only tank, meaning, you get the octopus and nothing else except its live food.
But people do try, and their information is out there on the net...
They are very very intelligent, and generally die from being a prisoner, IMO.
First, they will try to do anything to escape from the tank, and they will fit through very very small openings (much smaller than the animal, as the only hard bits are the mouth parts).
After they realize they can not escape, they will sleep most of the day until it is time to eat....
Then they will stop eating....
Then they will die.
Even large public zoos and aquaria have a difficult keeping these animals alive, and keeping them entertained. It is important to feed them live crabs and snails so they have some hunting to do (often, people will put food into scew top jars so the animal will have to 'think' to get it).
I do not recommend keeping them. They are among the many animals carried by LFS that are doomed and should not be kept. If you do choose to try, it is important to make it a species only tank, meaning, you get the octopus and nothing else except its live food.
But people do try, and their information is out there on the net...
- Location
- San Francisco (formerly Manhattan!)
Mitch is right about them short lived as well. In fact almost all warm water octopus have a life span of one year or less...
I have kept and even bred octopuses that ended up being used for research at the National Resource Center for Cephalopods. It turns out that I just answered the same question in some detail here. They are short lived, but it is possible to keep octopuses in aquaria provided that you do some research and planning before you buy one.
Mitch is right that octopuses (this is correct plural, Micth) should definitely not be fed goldfish, and Ophiuroid is correct about them needing to be entertained for them to do well over the longterm in captivity. Check the other thread for a bunch of links that I have included that explain what is involved with keeping one of these animals in an aquarium and proividing them with sufficient enrichment that they do not commit suicide from boredom.
Kudos to you for checking first - you'll have more success if you decide to get one after you find out what is involved and you're prepared to care for it properly...
Rob
Mitch is right that octopuses (this is correct plural, Micth) should definitely not be fed goldfish, and Ophiuroid is correct about them needing to be entertained for them to do well over the longterm in captivity. Check the other thread for a bunch of links that I have included that explain what is involved with keeping one of these animals in an aquarium and proividing them with sufficient enrichment that they do not commit suicide from boredom.
Kudos to you for checking first - you'll have more success if you decide to get one after you find out what is involved and you're prepared to care for it properly...
Rob
Rob,
Did you breed the tropical brown Pacific octopus? If so what did the newly hatched babies eat? Years ago I had a female spawn in a tank. The babies are so big that it seems like raising them would be easy. Of course the female died shortly after the spawn.
Also why does it do any harm to occasionally feed a goldfish to an octopus. I mean maybe once or twice a month? I had one that would come and take them out of my fingers once. It is very freaky when the octopus grabs onto your fingers and trys to pull you hand in the tank.
They are truly fasinating creatures that should only be kept by people who are willing to meet their needs. I will look for the other thread you mentioned.
Did you breed the tropical brown Pacific octopus? If so what did the newly hatched babies eat? Years ago I had a female spawn in a tank. The babies are so big that it seems like raising them would be easy. Of course the female died shortly after the spawn.
Also why does it do any harm to occasionally feed a goldfish to an octopus. I mean maybe once or twice a month? I had one that would come and take them out of my fingers once. It is very freaky when the octopus grabs onto your fingers and trys to pull you hand in the tank.
They are truly fasinating creatures that should only be kept by people who are willing to meet their needs. I will look for the other thread you mentioned.
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