3g octopus

[yota924x4]

as unheard of as it may be, I have been keeping a dwarf octopus in a 3 gallon tom's deco kit for about 6 weeks now. his name is waldo and here is his introduction

 

being a species that has a natural lifespan of only 6-8 months and being wildcaught it is very unlikely for him to live even another month but for that short amount of time he is the neatest animal I have ever encountered. I saw a special on discovery channel one day and now I know why they think cephalopods could one day inherit the earth, Lb for Lb these animals are stronger than anything i've ever seen, very intelligent and colorchanging that crushes anything else in the animal world

 

his diet consists of live saltwater feedershrimp, crayfish and fw ghost shrimp, he is maintained at 70 deg and gets daily 15% waterchanges. Tank mates several various starfish, some zoas, shrooms, 2 turbo snails, and a mixture of several hundred copepods and larger amphipods and a soapdish of chaeto

[cyenna]

wow

[bucknellreefer]

Thats amazing, you have some sort of lid i assume?

[Idesone]

Thats Flipping Sweet!!! Keep us updated. Where did you get it?

[Duffy]

thats an amazing tank/octopus

 

very nice

[supraeli]

i love the look of your tank, with the macro algae oasis in a desert of sand.

 

great shots of your octopus too!

 

a pity such an amazing animal has such a short lifespan =(

[exigency]

that's cool, can you tell us more about how you are keeping it from escaping?

[xmen0075]

Very Nice Set-up!

 

What does it eat?

[yota924x4]

picked him up at the LFS for $15 bucks, he only eats crustaceans (last pic has him tangled up with a larger crayfish:no contest)

the bioball is there for mental stimulation, since that top pic was taking I added LR rubble for him to make his den out of(he does all of his own aquascaping), and a soapdish of chaeto

as far as escaping I have the stock toms lid on, he only escaped once that I know of and he even returned to the tank on his own, only evidence is a dried salt trail around the perimeter of the table he sits on then back to the tank

[rev138]

as far as escaping I have the stock toms lid on, he only escaped once that I know of and he even returned to the tank on his own, only evidence is a dried salt trail around the perimeter of the table he sits on then back to the tank

 

That's priceless

[Carinya]

That is awesome. Let us know how it does with that small of a tank. I had thought they needed to be in bigger spaces...even the dwarf. But admitedly I don't know a lot about them, so I'm interested to see how yours does. Thanks for posting the tank.

 

C

[NanoBobby]

Are these a common species? I would love to get a dwarf octo. Can you give us more info on dwarf-specific related care? Thanks, and awesome tank/octo.

[Phuntoon]

Cool Looking Octo. I don't want to sound negative though but that tank is way too small to house an octopus. A dwarf octopus needs about 30 gallons. They are very curious and need room to explore and 3 gallons is just not enough. They are also extremely smart unlike most fish and this is the equivelent of you living in your bathroom. He probably excaped due to boredom. Once again, I'm sorry to sound negative but Cephs (primary octopus) are my true passion and it kind of strikes a nerve when I see one in a habitat that is not optimal. It's great you do such frequent water changes to handle such a heavy bioload that an octopus creates. Also, good job on the varied diet but you should only give the ghost shrimp on occasion. Freshwater animals don't have the same nutritional value (protein to fat ratio) that an octopus needs. I have over a decade of cephalopod experience with that being mostly octopus care so I'm not just trying to flame you or put you down. I just try to educate people on proper octopus setups because I care about them so much. If you or anyone else here wants more octopus info than you know what to do with, go here.....

 

www.tonmo.com

[sandlot13]

wow, thats pretty sweet! makes me kind of want to try something along those lines....... how big is this dwarf octo?

[yota924x4]

again it is certainly not recommended to try this, his head is roughly the size of a seedless grape. I also realize this tank is small but considering you can buy these octos live by the Lb in mexico to be used as fish bait i think his life must be a few clicks more worthwhile than that. His species O. digueti is collected mainly from the gulf of cali in the tidal zones where they usually live/hide in bivalve shells. He is also nocturnal, eats alot, produces alot of waste therefore waterchanges happen on a daily basis

 

so the reasons to not buy a dwarf or pygmy octo

-mostly eat live crustaceans, bivalves, small fish $$$ i have spent much more than the octo itself cost in live food for him than he actually cost

-heavy polluter of water and sensitive to water quality, daily water changes (temp, SG, ammonia, no2, no3)

-you will not see it in the daytime, night viewing is possible under red light

-eventhough somewhat reefsafe, eats most inverts and will redecorate to his liking not yours

-very short natural lifespan (6-8 months from birth, not from when you get one)

-they can and will escape

-needs mental stimulation (ie toys, bioballs, floating thermometers, mine "plays with snails")

[jdog123]

wow thats awesome that you put an octo in there. i would never try it haha way to much work for me. i also have the tom deco kit three gallon. i love this lil tank i htink its a nice setup. do you like yours? also what do your nitrates read? mine constantly stay high even with a handful of cheato in it and some in the small filter. mine are reading at a steady like 20 ppm. i cant seem to get them down. any suggestions?

[STRINGCHEESE]

as unheard of as it may be, I have been keeping a dwarf octopus in a 3 gallon tom's deco kit for about 6 weeks now. his name is waldo and here is his introduction

 

being a species that has a natural lifespan of only 6-8 months and being wildcaught it is very unlikely for him to live even another month but for that short amount of time he is the neatest animal I have ever encountered. I saw a special on discovery channel one day and now I know why they think cephalopods could one day inherit the earth, Lb for Lb these animals are stronger than anything i've ever seen, very intelligent and colorchanging that crushes anything else in the animal world

 

his diet consists of live saltwater feedershrimp, crayfish and fw ghost shrimp, he is maintained at 70 deg and gets daily 15% waterchanges. Tank mates several various starfish, some zoas, shrooms, 2 turbo snails, and a mixture of several hundred copepods and larger amphipods and a soapdish of chaeto

i CAN'T BELIEVE PEOPLE ARE GIVING YOU KRAP. What you have done is truly genius and the extra care you are taking to keep the little guy fed and healthy is an icon for our hobby. Keep up the inspiring work.

Any mor pics?

-Mike Prokurat

[Phuntoon]

i CAN'T BELIEVE PEOPLE ARE GIVING YOU KRAP. What you have done is truly genius and the extra care you are taking to keep the little guy fed and healthy is an icon for our hobby. Keep up the inspiring work.

Any mor pics?

-Mike Prokurat

 

It's obvious you know absolutely nothing about cephalopods! Don't encourage this!!! This is not genius......it is CRUEL!!!

[05XRunner]

It's obvious you know absolutely nothing about cephalopods! Don't encourage this!!! This is not genius......it is CRUEL!!!

I am sure your one of the ones who think a octo about 8" tip to tip should be in a 55-75gal tank.

I personally think that is a waste of a HUGE tank. I guess the Zoo's dont know crap either since they have a Giant Pacific Octo in a tank that is big..but the Octo is probably 5foot tip to tip ad its relative size isnt much more then the 3gal tank.

I have ALWAYS kept bimacs in 20g tanks and had great success with living just under a year. So please take what you think and do what you like. Tonmo i think personally offers nothing but people who like to say you need to spend thousands on octo tanks..and personally they NEVER offer any replies unless its something to grip about. Its like someone will post and it will get 2 replies in 6months. Yet if there is a thread to make a stink it will take off. Yet what do i know since I dont go retarded with tank size keeping an animal that hardly ever moves around to use it all.

[PhillyEaglesFan]

I dont know if it is cruel or not, so I wont get into that. And I dont know anything about cephalopods. However I do have to be negative now. I got mad when my lfs said they couldnt order me one lol. I love the fact youre keeping one! You have something different, and in my opinion, thats pretty cool! =)

[kismetsh]

Sea Life Inc--Dwarf Octopus

 

From what I understand this is a great company to deal with.

 

KC

[Hobo Reefer]

thisis a series of mumbling rants, so i appologise in advance

 

first of all, the tank looks mazing, and i commend the dilligence towards the 15% daily changes. i do not own an octopus, but have been considering it. i want it to have the best possible existance if kept in captivity. maybe one in a 3gal tank living a "full" life is better than living in the wild and dealing with the harsh environment, maybe not. it was thought that in this hobby we are to be stweards of the marine world. granted not everyone agrees with this philosophy, but if working under this thought process we should be trying to keep our critters in the best possible environment. the tang police bust ass when little blue hippos are kept in 5 gal holding vats, and many people agree that "eventually" those fish need more space. most people who keep corals know better than to put agressive ones too close to one that will get burned or killed easily (granted this happens frequently ina nano setting, but we move our stuff around to limit chemical warfare). we see tons and tonds of threads on this site how people tricked out their lights and the filtration and added a mini refugium

to their itty bitty tank. we are trying to break limits, but the idea is usually something like "i wanna keep sps corals in the smallest tank possible, and give them the best water quality, and lightingg so the prosper". nobody buys coral with the notion that they wish its demise. when things are ripped from the ocean, we have an obligation to prolong, and preferably enrich it's life. otherwise it might as well be left in the ocean. to keep something around in a glass box to watch it slowly wither and die, or to watch it live an unhappy life, then we've missed the mark. yes reefkeeping is an entertaining and educational hobby but if you keep something in a holding vat with reckless abandon, you've again missed out on the mission behind reefkeeping.

in regards to public aquaria, when you see a pacific octopus in a 150 gal setup, rest assured that behind the scenes, there are UV sterilizers, and protein skimmers larger than yourself, and reservoirs in the 20,000+ range that get filtered and then plumbed back into tanks.

and yes, many many creatures can survive in sub par living conditions, but they shouldn't have to, especially when you know better, you just choose not to b/c you don't wanna spend the money on it.

that's like wanting a baby, b/c babies are cute...and recognising that it needs food and shelter and prolly mental stimulation, but you don't feel like spending the money...so you use trashbags to cloth it, and feed it watered down milk, and as it gets larger, you just feed it bread, b/c bread is cheap but you don't buy it toys b/c those cost money, and you leave it locked in the closet, b/c you don't want it escaping on you....etc. etc. we call that child abuse. but in regards to "pets" or our marine setups, where the animal cannot communicate in a way we understand, we don't care about it's living concerns.

 

that was long. sorry, if i offended anyone...just a pet pieve of mine

[Uploadead]

I LOVE YOU! Your tank is outstanding.

[05XRunner]

in regards to public aquaria, when you see a pacific octopus in a 150 gal setup, rest assured that behind the scenes, there are UV sterilizers, and protein skimmers larger than yourself, and reservoirs in the 20,000+ range that get filtered and then plumbed back into tanks.

The big complaint had Zero to do with water quality..it was about the size of the tank in itself..Wich is what I was referring to the zoo size tank in relation.

[s14hayame]

wow thats some super cool S#$@*, very impressed and jelous I WANT ONE . oh do they really live for 6-8months only is so bummer