Southern California Octopus Biotope

[AquaticEngineer]

I'm beginning to think your tank doesn't exist anymore, there is a severe lack of photographic evidence

[C-Rad]

wow do you have any pics of the 2gal and the tiny octopus?

would love to see it:)

It looks like hell, but I'll get pics. It isn't really a tank, it's a clear acrylic wastebasket I got at the thrift store for $2.00 and was planning to use to build a skimmer. I drilled it for two bulkheads, put a little pump at the bottom of my overflow box, put the "tank" on top of my main tank, and laid a too large sheet of acrylic on top for a lid. It's literally cobbled together out of stuff I had lying around.

 

Just to add to the stylish high tech look () I drilled holes in a plastic peanut butter jar, put about 25 recently caught hermit crabs in it, and dropped it into the little "tank". I take a couple hermit crabs out each day to feed to the baby octopus. It all works, but it's about as impressive looking as a first grader's macaroni art.

 

I'm beginning to think your tank doesn't exist anymore, there is a severe lack of photographic evidence

Okay, I'll take some new pictures (of at least find some on the internet like I did before )

I'm a little embarrassed to post new pictures because I don't think the tank looks as good as it used to. I foolishly got rid of my gorgonians when I let a malicious eco-zealot intimidate me on a forum with threats of sending the Dept of Fish and Game to my house. After more research I confirmed that everything I had, including my gorgonians, was legal, but it was too late, and I haven't gotten around to getting more yet. I did just get a bat star "of David" (six arms instead of five), and my current octopus is much bigger than the old one, so maybe it's time for an update.

[Professor]

Absolutely stunning! Kudos on your planning and dedication!

 

 

-Prof

[Fishfreak218]

WE NEED PICTURES! I love octopus, I wish I could get my hands on a bimac! We dont see them in florida :/

Have you ever kept any other species? I used to have a briareus as well as one bimac

[Alkomist]

POST SOME PICHURS lol

would like to see how you feed your baby octo!

[C-Rad]

WE NEED PICTURES! I love octopus, I wish I could get my hands on a bimac! We dont see them in florida :/

Have you ever kept any other species? I used to have a briareus as well as one bimac

I'll try to post some pictures soon (but they won't look as good as the one in your signature )

I've never kept any other species of octopus, but if I were to, it would be one that is native to Florida, O. hummelincki. From what I've read, they have as great a personality as a bimac, and are diurnal (active during the day). They are a little smaller than a bimac, and don't require a chiller, so they are much easier to keep (50 gallons would be enough, maybe 40). They are available during crab season (as bycatch) and often called "Caribbean Two-Spot octopus" (also sometimes "sea weed octopus" or "bumble bee octopus")

 

Here's a link to lots of info about them. If you really want to you should study up, prepare, and buy one come next spring (or whenever crab season is). Or if you live new the coast, you can learn where when and how to catch your own (like I did) and not be limited by commercial availability.

[sango]

I'll add my voice to the chorus. FTS!

[C-Rad]

Okay, here are some pictures:

 

 

 

 

Here's the little "tank" (acrylic waste basket) I set up for the tiny baby bimac I got recently.

 

[sango]

Very cool! Are those Tegula snail snacks in that peanut butter jar?

[C-Rad]

Very cool! Are those Tegula snail snacks in that peanut butter jar?

Those are hermit crabs that I remove from their shells and drop in for the baby bimac to eat. I normally keep the jar immersed in the little tank, but I took it out for maintenance and photos.

[animalmaster6]

What a nice tank! That is one large colony of Strawberries lol. Looks awesome.

 

Could you get a pic of your tiny baby bimac?

[C-Rad]

What a nice tank! That is one large colony of Strawberries lol. Looks awesome.

 

The strawberry nems were thicker when I got the scallop shells you see on the back wall. The shells used to be simply placed in the tank (as shown in the older pictures in this thread) but when I was on a two week vacation two years ago my octopus decided to build a den and lay eggs, and used the scallop shells to built it - relentlessly banging them around. Many of the nems were smothered in the sand. After that I used nylon bolts to fasten the scallop shells to a couple of black slate floor tiles that line the back wall of the tank. There's no way to move them around now, and many of the nems have multiplied and moved off of the shells. I'm starting to really like the way they look again.

 

Could you get a pic of your tiny baby bimac?

The baby bimac is very hard to photograph. He never comes out except in the dark, even to chase live food. Adult bimacs aren't shy at all, but a baby is easy prey for just about everything, so they have evolved to be very antisocial. At some point he'll start feeling safe, and I'll get a picture up. I put three deshelled hermit crabs and a 3/4" long (opened) muscle in his tank before I left for four days over thanksgiving. I hadn't gotten a good look at him for a week or so before that, but I did today. He's grown a lot, and had eaten everything I put in his tank. His mantle (head bag) is about 1.75" long now ,and I would guess that his legs are about 3" long (I didn't get that good a look).

[quickfinger]

My wife told me, reluctantly, that I could get an octopus, but that the first time she found a dead octopus behind the couch my hobby would be over.

 

Super nice tank...

[mantisshrimp1234]

You should breed them for a generation, so anyway, where can you collect tidepool creatures(only a few specimens)? I plan to have a 10 gallon coldwater fish tank based off of Catalina island.

[Dr.Brain Coral]

I love your octopus!! Would my room stay cold enough at 65 at the max? Where we live its on a hill so most of the first floor is in the side of the hill and my room is there and it stays really cold!!