Octopus tank

[Hannahhhh]

Hi everyone. I’m starting a new journal for my pygmy octopus tank. 

Fluval evo 13.5

Aqueon heater

 

Bumblebee snails

Nassarius snails

Margarita snails

Assorted hermits
Turbo snails

 

Assorted mushrooms

Zoas

Leather corals

Macroalgae

 

Octopus joubini

 

 

 

I didn’t need to do too many modifications to the tank to prevent escapes. I used filter floss with suction cups attached to block off the overflow. I cut a piece of styrofoam to fit in the large hole on top of the hood. Lastly I stuffed filter floss in the small hole that is in the back wall of the evo.
 

The octopus arrived Wednesday January 29th. I ordered him from salty bottom reef. His first hour in the tank he did a lot of exploring, but after that he has spent most of his daytime hours in one of two crevices in the rock. He seems to move around a bit more at night, although I still haven’t seen him do much moving, I just find him in new locations.
As far as I know, he hasn’t eaten yet. There are hermit crabs in the tank and it’s possible he has eaten one, but I don’t think any are missing. I forgot to count how many I was adding to the tank so I’m not positive that they are all there. 
 

I am a little worried that he may already be nearing the end of his natural life, hence the lack of appetite and activity. According to salty bottom reef company, this species is seasonally available from October-March. That makes me think that perhaps March is around the time the adults start dying off, and the offspring hatch. I’m guessing the new hatchlings are too small to be caught for the first half of their life, which is why they aren’t available for part of the year. Of course, it’s also possible that he’s simply still acclimating and adjusting to the tank. 

I don’t really have any good pictures of him yet, since he spends most of the daytime hiding. You can see him in the red light picture I posted, but the rest of the pictures are just of the tank so don’t spend any time trying to spot him. 
 

Lastly, to anyone who is considering starting up an octopus (or any cephalopod) tank, I highly suggest joining tonmo.com. The folks on that site have spent so much time answering my questions and helping me out. 
 

This is all the information I could think to add for the moment, but I’m sure I will add more later. If anyone has any suggestions or thoughts or questions about octopuses, feel free to post! 

[Ratvan]

I'm so looking forwards to seeing this. 

 

Tank looks great,so many nooks, crannies and arches to explore. 

 

How do you plan to feed it? 

[Hannahhhh]

1 minute ago, Ratvan said:

I'm so looking forwards to seeing this. 

 

Tank looks great,so many nooks, crannies and arches to explore. 

 

How do you plan to feed it? 

Well I’m somewhat struggling with feeding at the moment. The store I bought him from said he can eat hermit crabs so there are a few in there. I was planning on feeding him primarily ghost shrimp, but I don’t want to put one in the tank until I’m reasonably sure that he will eat it. If he doesn’t eat it and it dies in the tank, it will be a huge hassle to get it out (I made my life very difficult when designing my rock scape, it’s really hard to get underneath without lifting the whole scape out). Last night some of the experts on tonmo suggested feeding him tiny pieces of shrimp using a feeding stick, so I’m going to try that tonight. He’s so timid though, I’m worried he will be too scared of the stick to take the food. I’m going to try that method for five or so days and then reevaluate. 

[Hannahhhh]

One other thing I’m still trying to figure out is a lighting schedule. The tank is next to a window and gets a bit of sunlight in the morning and indirect sunlight the rest of the day. I think the octopus would prefer I just stuck with the natural sunlight, but I believe I need more for the zoas, leathers, and mushrooms. I’ve been putting the evo stock light on for a few hours each day, hopefully that in addition to the sunlight will be enough for the corals.  I also have a red bulb in the lamp next to the tank which I leave on all the time. Octopuses are much less sensitive to red light so with that light on I’m able to see him when he comes out at night.

[Ratvan]

So pretty much top off the CuC as and when they go missing and supplement with shrimp? That's pretty cool. 

 

I get what you mean about the scape, but it looks fantastic hopefully you won't need to lift the rocks up anytime soon. 

[Hannahhhh]

 

[Hannahhhh]

2 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

So pretty much top off the CuC as and when they go missing and supplement with shrimp? That's pretty cool. 

 

I get what you mean about the scape, but it looks fantastic hopefully you won't need to lift the rocks up anytime soon. 

That’s the plan for now! And thank you, I’m pretty happy with the way it looks. I used caribsea life rocks shapes, and honestly I wish I had just started with those in my reef tank. I love the way they look!

[Ratvan]

6 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

 

😍

[ECLS Reefer]

An octopus will fit in a Fluval Evo 13.5? I keep seeing people sell these lately but they're bigger than what you've pictured. Seems like a very cool critter to have, but I'd be afraid it would pull a Finding Dory and I'd have to hunt for it in the sump or all over the house. 

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

I’ve always wanted an octopus tank, they are just too difficult for me and I wish they lived longer, bc I would get attached way too easily😂

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

40 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

 

so awesome hanna!! 

[ECLS Reefer]

I am jealous of the neat little dude though.

[Hannahhhh]

44 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

An octopus will fit in a Fluval Evo 13.5? I keep seeing people sell these lately but they're bigger than what you've pictured. Seems like a very cool critter to have, but I'd be afraid it would pull a Finding Dory and I'd have to hunt for it in the sump or all over the house. 

A pygmy octopus fits in one. I wouldn’t try a larger species though. This tank was pretty easy to modify in a way to prevent escape.

[Hannahhhh]

He took three small pieces of shrimp off the feeding stick this afternoon! I’m very relieved to have seen him eat. 

[Clown79]

Tanks look great.

 

My dream would be to have an octopus! They are so awesome, really looking forward to seeing more of your setup

[Hannahhhh]

[Ratvan]

4 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

Squeeeeee

 

That's so cool

[jservedio]

On 2/3/2020 at 1:52 PM, Hannahhhh said:

Last night some of the experts on tonmo suggested feeding him tiny pieces of shrimp using a feeding stick, so I’m going to try that tonight. He’s so timid though, I’m worried he will be too scared of the stick to take the food. I’m going to try that method for five or so days and then reevaluate. 

You can rig up a feeding stick so that you don't have to be near the tank and it'll sit still so your octopus can warm up to it. Something like an alligator clip on the end of a stick that you clamp to the tank. I'm sure you can easily cobble something together from stuff you can pick up from Home Depot or Michaels or something.

[Hannahhhh]

5 hours ago, jservedio said:

You can rig up a feeding stick so that you don't have to be near the tank and it'll sit still so your octopus can warm up to it. Something like an alligator clip on the end of a stick that you clamp to the tank. I'm sure you can easily cobble something together from stuff you can pick up from Home Depot or Michaels or something.

Ooh that’s a fantastic idea, thank you!! It’s my hope that eventually he will associate me with the feeding stick, but at the moment I think it would be great if I can set up something like that. 

[DISQUALIFIED-QQ]

I used to be friends with a female two-spot octopus at the California Science Center a few years ago. She was somewhat interested in the stainless steel ring on my middle finger so I made it a queue for feeding time. She got smart and just waited for the smell of thawed green mussel.

 

To feed her, I used a feeding stick. It was made from the stick part of an aquarium scraper and super glued the pointy tip of a zip tie. In fact, this silly contraption was used to feed anything we needed to target feed: baby sharks, rays, flatfishes.

 

I'm thinking a bamboo skewer can work pretty well...Just don't poke her.

 

Down the road, Not a bad idea to give her a toy for enrichment.

[jack1978]

On 2/3/2020 at 1:09 PM, Hannahhhh said:

He took three small pieces of shrimp off the feeding stick this afternoon! I’m very relieved to have seen him eat. 

 

This is awesome!!

I was just looking into these little guys over the past week.  So cool! 

[Pjanssen]

Really cool. I know nothing of octopi except how cool it is on the rare occasion that I see them when diving. What is the life expectancy? 

[DISQUALIFIED-QQ]

13 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

Really cool. I know nothing of octopi except how cool it is on the rare occasion that I see them when diving. What is the life expectancy? 

Octopuses live a hard and fast life. Based on Wikipedia it can be 6-12 months based on temperature. I'm assuming cooler temps can help make it live a little longer for the O. joubini species.

[Pjanssen]

Wow. that's not very long. Will you restock when this one passes?

[Hannahhhh]

9 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

Wow. that's not very long. Will you restock when this one passes?

I think so! It depends on how long he lives and also if there are more available once he does die. It also depends a bit on what his personality ends up being. So far he’s extremely shy. If I do get another octo in the future, I may set up a larger tank and go for a bimac octopus which are theoretically less shy and more interactive. I live with my parents at the moment though, and I don’t think they would be psyched about me setting up an even larger tank.