My favorite invert is Ollie my O. briareus octopus. This is my first attempt at a video, thought some may enjoy it

sooo coool!!!!!

I demand a video of feeding time!

Enjoyed much.

Thank you.

Wow, very cool.
What's the jar for?
Mental stimulation?

Sweet. You should put up a tank thread. Want to know about the gear, how long you've been keeping it, how to feed it, etc, etc, etc.

ooooo! i want to know more! tell tell!

awesome!!!

No video of feeding time but I have a few photos of him eating shrimp on a feeding stick. I have found it to be rather difficult to take photograophs w/one hand but these did trun out prettty good.







The jar contains a fiddler crab. This was my first attempt at getting him remove the crab and eat it. I have tried the jar with no cover and still no success. I have tipped the jar as far as I can, don't want the crab to escape. I think once he makes the association he will be all over it. This is a work in progress, will post updates if he figures it out.

this is pretty neat but i have a few questions

what kind of lid do you have on the tank to prevent him from escaping and how do you have the overflow protected?

I have a very tight fitting lid made of lexon with access door that has screw down top. The overflo is covered with plastic gutter guard. The back chamber which contains skimmer and built in fuge is open. I have photos if you like to see it.

Awesome!

Yes, please.
How long have you had Ollie?

Ollie arrived on October 24th. He came from a guy in FL who gets them from crabbers. The octopuses that get caught in these traps are usually destroyed. Some of the lucky ones are sold to hobbiests. Ollie arrived healthy and evidence of being in the trap was immediately apparent (as is usually the case) he had an arm severed at the webbing. His arm grew back rather quickly and is now just slightly shorter then the rest.
My tank is an oceanic 50. It used to be a reef tank with 250 w. HQI and T5 atinics for color. I moved all livestock into a 40 breeder in order to house an octopus. It looks like a pile of rocks, I can only keep nonstinging corals with him. I am always on the look out for nicely colored leathers to help remedy the bleekness. For lighting I modified a old T5 unit and usually only keep 2 of the bulbs lit. I have a small light fixture, I believe it is around 15w that I modified to be a red light (supposedly they cannot see red light) that is on all night, he accepts this as night, and I can view him. Octopuses preferr dim lighting and it is fine for the softies I keep. He is nocturnal so I have his lights go on at 5am and off at 5 pm. He has taken a while to adjust to humans, he is still very leery when he sees me often he will head back to his den. I have only seen him out a few times, on those few nights it was around 11pm. I am trying to get him to associate me w/food. Maybe one day he will trust me enough to let me pet him, that is my dream.

My cover : this is actually my second attempt, the supports (my husbands design) are essential to keep it from warping and creating gaps at the edges. Learning as I go....

What temp do you keep the water at? Does it require having a chiller running? Are the water params the same as for keeping a regular reef tank?

Yes, all same, temp runs 77/78 (from tropical waters) and full strength seawater SG 1.025. Some people will lower the temp for winter months to simualte natural enviroment but I plan to keep it in this range all year.

i think that cover is designed perfectly and how long did those fish last before they became meals?

thats awesome that you have one!!! i dont know if you answered this but whats in the corked test tube??

The fish are still alive and well. I would have moved them but they really bother my pair of spawning clowns. I felt bad leaving them in there but so far so good. I keep him well fed, maybe that is why he hasn't gone after them, keeping my fingers crossed.

The bottle/beaker thing has a fiddler crab inside. Hoping Ollie will go after it but so far he has only checked it out and gave it a few touches. It is a work in progress.

Ollie got the crab out of the bottle sometime last night. I found remains on the bottom. I am hoping he is getting the idea. Tried to get a video of him eating a shrimp but didn't go so well, will try again tomorrow. Here is a still shot of him tonight.

cool he is learning now try it a few more times with the same setup and then change it up on him and put the crab in a jar with a different style lid to see how long it takes him to figure it out.

ROFL "let me pet him", id be too scared of that damn beak

awesome!

SO cool, I wantz. Thanks for sharing.

I haven't seen much of Ollie over the past week or so. I finally got a video of him. It is dark but I thought I'd post it anyway.

Pfffftttt, if they were as smart as people say he'd grab that mag float and clean the glass for you...

Just kidding, this is the coolest critter hands down!

Does it ever try and squeeze through that pipe near the top?

I <3 cephalopods. I miss my O. Briareus and my O. bimaculoides and my S. Bandensis

It goes to a scwd before the pump, going to change it. I had it covered with screen but it fell off a couple months ago. Have never seen him go near it. I think I am going to cover it again, need to find something to secure it better, zip ties slip off.

I LOVE HIM! What do you use for your nightlights??

That is way cool.....what an animal!

Benny

Thank you for putting up this thread. It's very interesting.

I have a small fixture from a pico that wasn't being used. (don't know the wattage, but small) I covered the plexi galss sheild with several layers of red cellophane. I need to get to the science surplus store to look for something better, the cellophane is ripping. Maybe I can find another crab container to try.

Thank you for all the kind responses. It's nice to have feedback as this is a journey, I am learning as I go.

Ollie was out today with the lights on. I could not pass this opportunity to shoot a video.

Very cool! I have always wanted one. I love colors on him too.

Lmecher

what is this?

http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll139/L...nt=CIMG6875.flv

just curious!

Peppermint shrimp spawn : ) The sound on that one is aweful huh?

I have been making contact with Ollie and it has been progressing wonderfully, today he let me pet his mantle and head. My daughter wanted to gove it a try. I taped her first encounter.

Cool vid! I was thinking of your tank last night, they had some show on Discovery or one of the other nature channels where they followed an octopus from cradle to grave. They claimed it was the same octopus the whole time, but either way it was a pretty interesting show.

Darn, I missed it, would have loved to see it. sounds right up my alley : )