OCTOPUS

[nio]

Does anyone keep or have any info on obtaining an Octopus OTHER than O. bimaculoides or O. vulgaris? I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to long-distance it(have it shipped) because the few shops I've asked get lost as soon as I bring up species.
And yeah, it is sad they are so short lived no matter what species. O. vulgaris is reputed to live the longest, but unfortunately it outgrows a medium tank quickly.

 

[wedfr]

why would you get one if you are just going to kill it?

 

[glipper69]

Fish town had a couple in last week.
you might wanna check with them

Frank

 

[nio]

Tanks guys, I was at FT last Mon and they just sold their octo a few mins before I arrived...
when I asked what species was it they said the brown one. I guess I would still get one if they don't know, I could read up and try to determine it myself on the next they get?

Lots of people have octopus specimen tanks and their octopus live out their full lifespans, oftentimes moreso than fish or other reef inverts. They tolerate high nitrates and don't need lights, chemical supplements, waves, etc. Just if they ink (startled) you have to do water change or filter with fresh act carbon. Oh, and feed live/fresh seafood.

Theres even people who breed them successfully (the large egged species) in order to deal with the short lifespan.

Who's gonna kill what?!?! LOL Life spans are all relative.

Has anyone seen any other LFS get octopus? I will keep checking or just go with shipping.

 

[House of Laughter]

Yes, relative to their environment - and if in the wild would live allot longer than a year or so - the lifespan you are referring to is in consideration of being kept in a captive envioronment - this animal doesn't survive close to its full life expectancy in captivity - this is what I read.

Good luck with it and you should also email [email protected] - the admin tried and Octo tank.

Hope that helps

House

 

[beyondnp]

i have jellyfish if anyone wants some!

 

[Rebels23]

Yea, House is right, I think Josh on this board has an octupus. He could probably give you some good advice.

 

[partagas]

Originally posted by wedfr:
why would you get one if you are just going to kill it?

To be truthfull, are we not all doing this just by have fish tanks. How many fish have died in your ( not meaning just you wedfr, meaning all of us) tanks. And we just go out and buy another.

 

[glipper69]

true very true.

 

[wedfr]

sre of course, I think i may have read his post wrong but i thougth he was saying max life expectancy in captivity is 1 year.

I know i wouldnt get anythign that i knew i was going to kill. fish coral or anythign else. Of course everyone has things die.

 

[partagas]

Well unless you know something we do not, everything we put in our tanks is going to die. We can only hope that we as a group can make them live as long as possible. I know I have fish that have lived for 14 years. I do not know what their live span would have been. But hopefully I was able to let it live a long life. And then their have been things that have died days to weeks after getting them

 

[nio]

LOL I'm not going to go buy a live Octopus every couple months

That's why I got out of full reef keeping after 8 yrs. Too many fish, coral, misc inverts still being added to established system every couple months..or sooner! How long do snails, hermits live? Good ridence, the guilt. Im sure some people have great thriving reefs where existing inhabitants live for many, many years. Reeftopia...

The aquacultured ones are sold at 3 mos average age, and the O. bimaculoides species is the most commonly offered species. (Wild caught ones tend to be older and more suitable for the massive seafood demand not aquarium.)

Live mussels and clams by the lb are fairly cheap food, for seafood.

I guess I will go mail order with this critter. Me better hurry up, it's gettin COOOLD. Will keep yous posted, thanks for the input.

[ October 17, 2004, 10:12 PM: Message edited by: nio ]

 

[ghostshadow]

i stopped by country critters in patchogue this weekend and saw they had an octopus for sale..

 

[heuerfan]

Saw one at New World in Manhattan. Good luck!

 

[nio]

Tanks guys. For the record, the normal/wild lifespan for the species most commonly aquacultured, O. bimaculoides and O vulgaris, is the same 1-2 yrs maximum. Octopus of other genera, may live up to 5-6 years. But that is a totally differen, less common, octopus genera

 

[partagas]

Good luck, Please keep us up to date. Would love to see one in a home tank.

 

[Josh]

I've had three octos, and decided to stop keeping them until I can get a larger tank.

They are by far the best aqua pet you will ever have, extremely intelligent. Mine used to climb onto my hand and play with me.

The biggest problem with keeping them is their short lifespan. Imagine getting a cat and having it die after a year, this is normal with octos, you'll grow very attached to them.

Also, my cats frightened one of our octos to death. He was so timid and constantly changing colors to show distress.

For food, I recommend you find a place nearby that sells glass shrimp (very hard to find), mine absolutely loved them. It is really cool to see them eat them. You can also try crayfish and fiddler crabs, the crayfish have the most meat and are actually decent food for your octopus.

Be sure to check out tonmo.com, best resource for cephalopods on the net.

Best of luck.

 

[nio]

Hi Josh,

Yeah I'm on Tonmo its very cool compared to the yahoo ceph group where whoever the admin is, keeps rejecting posts, what a waste of time.

We have 5 cats, but they arent usually in the basement where our tanks are. I've got 5 albino turtles and a few other small critters down there, but that shouldn't bother an octopus in a separate tank.. I think. I'm surprised you are going to get a larger tank for your future octopus -- what size did you have the passed one in? The octos I have seen are about the size of a grape with tentacles... I will prolly get a pygmy and keep it in a 12 gal, which is not too small. They grow according to how much you feed....

Glass shrimp, ghost shrimp can be bought at liveaquaria at around $30 for 100... I've tried keeping them alive in a huge 100gal tank but something about shipping them seems to put them on a death notice even though they arrive alive, they can't seem to stay alive after shipping.

Did you feed live mussels and clams? I'm planning on offering those, if they are palatable and healthful choices. Will octopus eat guppies? If so then now I have a place for my culls.