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Small brown octopus


gulfsurfer101

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gulfsurfer101

I was checking out an lfs whilst I enjoy my stay in good ol San Antone and decided to pick up a small brown octo about the size of a quater (head size). I don't know the exact size but It looks like the size of an average human hand when stretched out. I know these guys are known escape artist so I'm thinking of filling a tank half way or at least leaving 8"-12" of the top of the tank empty. Are these guys capable of climbing up the glass and out of the tank. I'm not shure what species it is yet but was told he should get no bigger than golf ball to baseball sized and the owner has succusfully kept one in a 5g tank with closed lid. I don't want a closed lid aquarium and would much rather leave half the tank empty. He will not be going in a 5g but more of a 20-30g tank.

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They can go terrestrial for quite some time from what I recall.

 

So to sum it up, filling the tank 1/2 way probably won't work at all.

 

 

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gulfsurfer101
from what i read they dont live very long. even in nature

No problem, he was only 12 bucks and my wife will f$#king love me for getting one. She has always wanted one but I thought they needed a tank over 100g which I don't have time or space for. When he croaks I'll just get another one if I want whenever I'm up here again which is quite often.

 

So they do climb glass then. Looks like I'll have to cut some acrylic when I get home to fit atop my spare 20t. and see how he does.

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gulfsurfer101

Thanks for the quick replies, that's why I love my peeps on Nano-reef. AJ, I'm checking those vids now.

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ive always thought of getting one because our local forum does "LA runs" where they goto the retailers where all the fish and corals are brought in to the west coast. but they had these for the same price but they just called them common brown octopus.

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gulfsurfer101

OMG!!! those were sick, I'm going to have nightmares of my octopie coming for me in the middle of the night. That one in the fisrt vid was huge, the guy assured me that mine was almost full grown. I'll try to get a vid up when I get him situated at home. This is a good thing because I've been wanting to get rid of some LR outta my 30g display.

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gulfsurfer101

So I finished up in San Antone today by noon and my next job will be here locally thank god for the next month or so at least. I got home around 2pm today to set up the octotank. What I have set up is my 20t filled halfway with a few chunks of LR, no sand atm, and acrylic tight fiting lid. Should I drill small holes in the top for gas exchange. The only vent for the tank right now is a small half dime sized moonshaped cutaway to allow room for my K-1 power chord in the rear of the tank. There is no way he can get out of there as the power chord takes up all the space. I'm waiting on my RO unit to make up some more water to fill the rest of the tank

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gulfsurfer101
There's a fourm on reef2reef.com for them, try there under cephalopod

Remove this nonsense at once. Mods pleas ban this guy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jk, I'm not down to join other forums though, if you got a link I will comb it over from here. I've got the weekend off so I will hit the local jetti's tommorrow and rape them of about 100 small hermits and just keep them in my rear chamber of my finnex and toss in a silver side every now and again to keep them fed and use these guys to feed to my cephalopod mkay. This sound ok to you cephalopod experts out there.

 

Yes or no.

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gulfsurfer101

I took some pretty cool pic of him munching on a hermit earlier but photobucket is not letting me upload my octo##### pics. He has since banished to the rocks and I haven't seen it come out since.

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No problem, he was only 12 bucks and my wife will f$#king love me for getting one. She has always wanted one but I thought they needed a tank over 100g which I don't have time or space for. When he croaks I'll just get another one if I want whenever I'm up here again which is quite often.

 

Great attitude, you're quite the asset to the hobby.

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gulfsurfer101

Inorite! It's the american way. No but in all reality he should have a happy home and most of the problem with people keeping them from what I understand is the cost of feeding live foods which is not a problem at all. I got some pics of him and hoping for an ID. I also got pics of the tank as it is set up in it's infancy.

octopuspic007.jpg

octopuspic006.jpg

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RayWhisperer

Sorry, can't ID it. Heck, I couldn't even tell you if it's tropical or temperate.

 

I will tell you this. I'd advise you put a skimmer on that tank. While I'm sure many will disagree with me. A skimmer is a must, IMO. Not only do they require excellent water quality. They also require higher dissolved oxygen levels.

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Common brown octopus means they have no idea. Does it have false eye spots? Do you notice a green shimmer. Did they know where it was collected? These can be extremely difficult to identify. More photos will be extremely helpful.

Octopuses average lifespan is about 1 year. GPO will live 3-5 yrs.

If you have a cover, there is no reason lower your water level. What are you doing to keep the top on the tank? They are much stronger than they look.

Do you have a skimmer on the tank? You could try feeding thawed frozen shrimp.(a staple) Small octopuses will go after hermits, my larger ones never bothered with them. The most irresistible food (of choice) are fiddler crabs. Large claw on male disabled.

Sending you a PM :)

 

 

Sorry, can't ID it. Heck, I couldn't even tell you if it's tropical or temperate.

 

I will tell you this. I'd advise you put a skimmer on that tank. While I'm sure many will disagree with me. A skimmer is a must, IMO. Not only do they require excellent water quality. They also require higher dissolved oxygen levels.

 

You are reading my mind. A skimmer is a must for removing undissolved waste along with the oxygen it adds. I am thinking it could be one of several species we are seeing right now. More photos will really help. Unless it is a dwarf, that tank is going to be too small.

So many questions....

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gulfsurfer101

Gross guys, I tried octopus once and it fuctme up for life. All the asians I worked with as a sushi bar as a teen would get me to try different things and then one day I tried a tentacle. It was still alive and sucked my throat as it went down, then right back up. They all laughed at me and called me funny man. Not a good expeirence. He may be a dwarf, the lfs owner told me he doesn't get much bigger than this and he had one for over a year in a 5.5 for the entire duration of the time. I thought he was crazy but so did a lot of people who said SW tanks under 5g couldn't be done. We all know that is a crock of $#!t. Pics are extremely difficult since he hides all day and hunts in the dark like a vampire. I have not been able to really get a good look at him other than the pic I took of him when I overturned the rock he was hiding under. I don't really want to disturb him to much, I would hate for it to ink his tank since it takes so long to make pure water. The lid I fashioned out of 3/8" acrylic cut to fit super tight with room to get a finger in on the corner when I need to remove it. The black trim of the tank prevents any opening so he can't escape. I'll try to get more pics as he starts to wonder about the tank a little more.

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Likely nocturnal. You can put a red light on the tank 24/7. It will accept this as darkness as they cannot see the red spectrum of light. It is not a good idea to disturb it. The more comfortable and secure it feels, the more it will emerge. When it emerges you can try feeding a small chunk of raw shrimp or scallop. You can use a wood skewer as a inexpensive feeding stick.

 

I admit, years ago I also tried octopus. It was deep fried not raw. It was like chewing a rubber-band. I however could no longer consider it.

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gulfsurfer101

I joined on tonmo, thanks lmecher for sending me that info and it has proven helpful. So what I got is a carribean pygmy and is pretty much full grown. I got a few sequence shots of him destroying a hermit I picked off the jettie's today along with about a dozen small turbo's. I also decided that he would look alot better in a smaller pico with fewer chunks of LR to hide behind. It's a 5.5 with ac30 running carbon to keep any dead crabs from fouling the tank along with a K-1 for better surface agitation. I will be doing 2.5g weekly wc's and changing out the carbon with every water change. Here's the pics of the feast, enjoy!

 

death from above

octopic2015.jpg

gotcha!

octopic2014.jpg

resistance is futile!

octopic2012.jpg

Oh yeah baby, now I got you for shure

octopic2016-1.jpg

ready or not here I come!

octopic2017-1.jpg

I'm out of here!

octopic2018.jpg

and pics of the newer set up

octopic2019-1.jpg

octopic2022.jpg

And a few hermits and about a dozen snails for about 3 dollars of gas

octopic2007.jpg

Hope you cephalapod lovers enjoyed that, I know I'm enjoying it.

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