Best predatory animal
- Thread starter Dumb Guy
- Start date
I have an octopus that is without a doubt the coolest thing to watch eat and behave in general. The caveat is that cephalopods are some of the most delicate creatures in terms of water quality. The bigger the tank the better, but the commonly available (and relatively hardy) O. bimaculoides can be kept in tanks as small as 30 gal. Most sharks that you can keep in smaller (300 gal) aquariums are pretty boring, not really active swimmers. The very smallest sharks need at least a 180gal full grown. If you have a 10,000 gallon tank you could keep leopard or blacktips. The smallest really cool predator might be frogfish. They don't need much space at all and watching them eat a fish twice their size is amazing. They just sit like a rock all day though.
Wombat,
Does your octopus move around a lot? The ones I've seen (both captive and in wild) seem to hide in rocks most of the time. The only time I saw one out "swimming" was when diving in the keys. Probably the coolest thing I've ever seen underwater.
Does your octopus move around a lot? The ones I've seen (both captive and in wild) seem to hide in rocks most of the time. The only time I saw one out "swimming" was when diving in the keys. Probably the coolest thing I've ever seen underwater.
No, definitely not. He is day active and he'll move from rock to rock during the day but usually only shows himself at feeding time. Not a good choice if you want to see your pet all the time. They have no scales or shell or poisons so they have to hide a lot. If you're REALLY interested in owning an octo, check out the cephalopod forum at reefcentral.com and ask lots of questions. Also tonmo.com
I haven't fed live food to my fish in about ten years, but back when I was young and stupid I would invite my buddies over to see my 5" (?) clown trigger kill and eat goldfish. It was like watching an underwater version of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Eyeballs over here...the rest of the head and gills (still breathing) over there...a fin over here...yikes...never mind the crunching sound. My (then) girlfriend was horrified. Looking back, it was awful to do --bad nutrition, cruel to the goldfish, made the trigger nastier toward his tankmates. Cool in a way ---ok,yes, but as I look back I was an idiot to do it. My current trigger has never seen live food and looks fabulous without it.
I had the same worries about feeding my octo FW prey, but apparently FW crustaceans and molluscs have about the same nutritional value (for cephalopods anyway). The university here raised hatchling O.bimaculatus on FW snails, and ghost shrimp and crayfish are a staple diet for captive cephs. Unlike FW fish, they have about the same nutritional value as their SW counterparts.
"dunb guy" it doesn't really seem like you know much about slatwater. How old are you? Anyways Octo's are supposed to be hard to take care of. I hear that you need to tape or saran wrap all of the oppenings of your tank so that they can't swim out. But they are fun to watch. They are very smart and you can teach them tricks so I've heard. I would reccommend a trigger or a grouper. They are very ammusing to watch. Snowflake eels are a very ammusing creature also. They'll tear stuff apart by wrapping themselves in a not around there prey then munch on it's head. I wouldn't reccommmend an octopus for begginers because you kind of remind me of a young me. I had piranhas for my first fish. They were so fun to watch, especially when you feed them shibuken goldfish(goldfish with really long fins). They would first immobilize it then work there way up to the head from the tail. and then they would tear all the skin off leaving only the skull, that was real entertainment(Iknow I was a sick child). Anyways that's my pathetic, stupid story. And my 2 cents worth.
:twisted: John
:twisted: John
No comment to the above.
I had octopi before, the only fascinating part to it is when it is searching for prey. Once it grab of it's prey, It's pretty boring from that point on. The coolest thing I have seen is feeding earthworm to a crayfish. You can see the worm wriggling to get free while the crawdad munch it away.
Oh, Saltwater critters, eh? Well, I have to give it to the triggers. Try dropping crabs into a trigger tank. You will understand.
I had octopi before, the only fascinating part to it is when it is searching for prey. Once it grab of it's prey, It's pretty boring from that point on. The coolest thing I have seen is feeding earthworm to a crayfish. You can see the worm wriggling to get free while the crawdad munch it away.
Oh, Saltwater critters, eh? Well, I have to give it to the triggers. Try dropping crabs into a trigger tank. You will understand.
Enzo wrote:
O. Bimaculoides and O. Bimaculatus are frequently kept in open top tanks with no escapes. These are the only two shallow water species I know of that won't climb out, the majority of the others definitely can't wait to! Mine has been in a 12" high tank with LR going right to the surface for 2 months, and no escape yet. Although I wouldn't recommend an octopus in a first tank, they can be reasonably kept in a tank by someone with a good grasp on the basics. Plus you can keep it in a much smaller tank than you would need for the "muscle" fish: lions, triggers, eels, etc.
Dumb Guy":zxkd7lhx said:
Hmmmm, I betcha the reaction I get from my 3 morays (white muth, dragon, zebra), 2 triggers (niger, huma), 2 tangs (purple, chevron), and large annularis angle, when I dump a 1/4 pound of fresh seafood into the tank makes those piranhas look like a 4 year old picking at their lima beans.
I used to keep Snakeheads. They are the raptors of the fish world.
I had two that were about a foot and a half long- and I would feed them about 4 DOZEN large minnows at a time. They would fly through the tank, slashing and scarfing in a cloud of scales that made the tank look like one of those little things you turn upside-down to look like it is snowing.
SCARY fish.
One ate the other, then he ate himself.
I am not kidding.
He got long enough that he saw his own tail when turning around in the tank, he managed to get ahold of it and shredded it to pieces and then died from the infection.
He had once survived a full day OUTSIDE the tank when he was about a foot long, covered in carpet fuzz after an apparent suicide attempt (or perhaps he was after the cat). I put him back in the tank (carefully!) and he immediately ate a minnow, even with fuzz encrusting him!
They have a lung, and can survive out of water for a short time- and live in the nastiest water with no problem.
I think they will be the last animal alive on earth, at least until they eat themselves.
I had two that were about a foot and a half long- and I would feed them about 4 DOZEN large minnows at a time. They would fly through the tank, slashing and scarfing in a cloud of scales that made the tank look like one of those little things you turn upside-down to look like it is snowing.
SCARY fish.
One ate the other, then he ate himself.
I am not kidding.
He got long enough that he saw his own tail when turning around in the tank, he managed to get ahold of it and shredded it to pieces and then died from the infection.
He had once survived a full day OUTSIDE the tank when he was about a foot long, covered in carpet fuzz after an apparent suicide attempt (or perhaps he was after the cat). I put him back in the tank (carefully!) and he immediately ate a minnow, even with fuzz encrusting him!
They have a lung, and can survive out of water for a short time- and live in the nastiest water with no problem.
I think they will be the last animal alive on earth, at least until they eat themselves.
:twisted:
YES!!! You have unraveled my diabolical plan to seed the planet with Snakeheads that I have been feeding minnows laced with a mixture of Crack Cocaine, Nitroglycerin, and Taco Bell food!
Soon my monsters will swarm the earth, as I have fused them Genetically with Aiptasia Anemones. If you shoot one, all the bloody little pieces will turn into new Snakeheads and THESE WILL EAT COPPERBAND BUTTERFLY FISH-
So you have NO HOPE, YOU SEE?????!!!???
.... it all would have worked, too- if it hadn't been for those pesky kids.....
:twisted:
YES!!! You have unraveled my diabolical plan to seed the planet with Snakeheads that I have been feeding minnows laced with a mixture of Crack Cocaine, Nitroglycerin, and Taco Bell food!
Soon my monsters will swarm the earth, as I have fused them Genetically with Aiptasia Anemones. If you shoot one, all the bloody little pieces will turn into new Snakeheads and THESE WILL EAT COPPERBAND BUTTERFLY FISH-
So you have NO HOPE, YOU SEE?????!!!???
.... it all would have worked, too- if it hadn't been for those pesky kids.....
:twisted:
Has anybody ever heard of keeping a barracuda? Those fish are awesome. If you've ever been snorkeling in the Keys, you know what I'm talkin bout. They're by far the most curious and seemingly intelligent fish I've swam with. And I bet they could tear the crap out of just about anything. If I've got a fish on my spear, that's the LAST animal I want to run into on my way back to the boat. I just pictured a big one staring at me underwater and got the chills.
You would only get a barracuda if you were a complete dumb@ss... Oh wait... Saw your name... My b. bUT SERIOUSLY BARRACUDS ARE A VERY VERY BAD Idea. They need tanks ranging from 500 to 3000gallons because they get 10feet. That is a stupid Idea. And one day if you some how manage to get a 3000 gallon tank the thing will eat you because you have kept it so cooped up in a small tank. Trust me that's a bad Idea. Your better sticking with Hungry tigers and Grizzly bears than a barracuda. I would not get them. They are huge fiah. I would stick with a snakehead or Piranhas. Piranhas are geniuses in eating but are lazy otherwise. If you want real entertainment get a triggerfish, They are very active and eat like all the time. Piranhas will just make you clean the tank every single day because you'll have pieces of fish everywhere, I had to endure that crap for a year untill I sold them. Boy was I happy when I got rid of them. Anyways don't get a BARRACUDA. Your an idiot for even thinking about it.
John
John
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