JPF Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 A friend recently cycled his tank with his order of farmed live rock form Florida. Today while feeding his tank some frozen food an octopus hitchhiker appeared out of the rock and grabbed a hermit. The octopus is about 2 inches head to toe and the diameter of your pinky. It is tan/flesh colored. Any ideas what type this is? He wants to put it in my 12 gallon sump. Can it slime its way up and out of the sump if there is a 5 inch gap between the water surface and the top of the tank? Are his damsel, clown and flame angel in danger of being grabbed? Jim Link to comment
jojopus Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 If youve got an octopus in you tank then anything in there is fair game as far as it's next meal concerned. They say octopus are the most intelligent invertebrates in the world even to the point of problem solving. They require PRISTINE water quality and a very tight fitting lid for the tank since they can crawl out of the tank. They can also fit into any tight space that their beak can fit through and with an octo as small as youve explained....it could fit through just about any nook or cranny in your tank. BTW. It's probably a dwarf octopus. theyre found off the coast of Florida and reach a maximum of 4 inches in length. Link to comment
donkeykong Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 I was speaking to a marine boilogist at a public aquarium who had a problem with an octo getting out of there surge tank and crawling on the floor across about 20 ft of tile and getting in there crab tank having diner then going back to his tank. I didnt believe it till he said he got it on film. he said that they are smarter than the average house cat. Link to comment
BlackSumbel Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Octo's can wedge themselves out of just about anything. Moreover, they are one of the more unpleasant things to see sliming (literally) across the floor in a quest for crab. I knew a guy that had one and his method of keeping it all stopped up in the tank was a plexi top that fit -exactly- and sealed in tight around all of the tubes. Now, this meant removing the entire tube-contraption top to feed, but it also meant that he wouldn't be stepping in a puddle of octo on his way to the potty in the middle of the night. Another thing is that they are -intensely- intellegent animals. Not just "smart", no... personally I think they're smarter than primates. They -need- enrichment. They need challenges. Good "enrichments" would be capping their food up in a screw-top jar... which it -will- learn to open, or teaching it to signal for food (the ol string on a bell method). Maybe sprinkling in some tiny cheap cleaner crabs and let the havoc begin. Food, can consist of crab, fish, squid, shrimp, prawns, bulk clams from the seafood place... stuff like that. Once they identify "Food provider" they're really great little animals. Very personable. They just have special needs. Another note: Like a betta they don't really understand the difference between a picture and a real animal, so ... be aware of any images of crabs near their tank or you'll have the thing lomping at top speed right into the glass. -Sumbel. Link to comment
Masoch Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 How long do they live? I remember a thread from a while back about an NYT story about the octopus jumping one tank, moving across the floor, hopping into another tank, hunting, and then going home. That's not real house pet material for me, but, damn, it sounds neat Link to comment
JPF Posted May 31, 2003 Author Share Posted May 31, 2003 I like the enrichment idea. I wish it was back in the ocean but here it be. Thanks for the info. Link to comment
reefan Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 For more definate identification I would refer you to Tonmo.com They have a lot of good advice there and if you dont want the octo I am sure there are people there that would take him off your hands. I would offer but sadly I still dont have that octo tank ready. JJ BTW Does this octo have blue dots on either side of its mantle, just two one on each side. IF it is not what JOJOPUS said I would venture a guess to say Bimac. O and your octo will live longer if he is kept in a cooler tank around 68 Link to comment
technoshaman Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 If it was florida live rock very very doubtful its a Bimaculateus. They are a temperate Pacific species also known as the 'Califronia Mud Flat Octopus'. Probably a pygmy or vulgaris like previous poster mentioned. Tomno.com is probably the best resource but reefcentral also has a forum for cephalopods. Also debelius published a good book on cephalopods you can get from Amazon.com. Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 too cool we want pictures!wee want pictures! wee want pictures!! Link to comment
jojopus Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 i think warm water octupus' have a lifespan of around a year or so. Link to comment
Reefy Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 An octupus hitchhiker? Never heard that before. Neat! Link to comment
skeletor Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 you should rent it out to reefers who need to rid their tanks of hitchiker crabs, sort of like a crab removal service... I sure wish I didn't have to pull half my rocks out the other week to kill some stupid crab. -skeletor- Link to comment
chufa Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 I have seen an octupus tank before in a lab. They sealed the tank with a product called "Parafilm". Anybody who has worked in a lab knows this, otherwise, you can search yahoo or google for it. It is really cheap and convenient, as you can easily seal/unseal. Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 That's got to be one of the coolest hitchhikers stories I've ever heard of. Like Sumbel said, they definitely need challenges. I saw one just yesterday at a public aquarium in MN, and they certainly make him work for his food. They cap it in a plastic peanut butter jar. He has to come up to get it, then take it down with him and open it. It's pretty amazing to watch. Very very smart animals. I've seen documentaries on tv where they try and test the intelligence by putting dinner in one jar and then putting that jar in another jar, and timing the octo to see how long it took, studying the learning curve over a period of a few days. It didn't take long and the octo learned exactly how to get what he wanted, and in a tearin' hurry, I might add. Sweet little animals, if you ask me. I'd love to keep one, but I'd be a little concerned about their Houdini-like nature. Can't imagine what the wife would do if she were up in the middle of the night and stepped in an octo that figured out that the fridge was where we kept the beer. Link to comment
kennerd Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 Sprung and Delbeek also mention the use of octopi for removal of hithchiker mantis shrimp, etc while curing live rock. Link to comment
JPF Posted June 3, 2003 Author Share Posted June 3, 2003 What an epic battle that would be. Cool! Link to comment
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