New octo arrived safely

[OctoMonkey]

.......And its a bimaculoides. Well i think so anyway. Its very small.

The mantle is about 2cm and the arms about 6 or so.
I have been able to see the ocelus and can sort of make out the blue iridesence. So that's why I decided on it being a bimac and the pic on page 268 of Normans book, looks very like mine, bimaculoides.

This one cost £17 think that will be about $12. Well there was delivery on top of that too.

I have put this one in a 36x18x18" tank with lots of 3/4inch pipe and tufa rock. I would say about 1/4 of the tank is full of rocks and caulerpa algae and pipes etc. i expected it to dive into a cave straight away but it seems to be checking out the lay of the land.

So far so good.....

Colin

[cephalopoder]

Congradulations Colin!

I have noticed bimacs are very bold. they will inspect a tank as soon as you drop them in, spreading their webbing over rocks seeing if there is food in that tank. They are very cool as you will see. I know you will love this species. Keep us updated!
chris

[OctoMonkey]

Chris,
Do bimacs have obviously pinkish/peachy coloured suckers???? That is a real obvious characteristic of this new one i have???

I watched it catching shrimps last night so it is eating okay, kinda cool when it finished because it holds up the empty shrimp exoskeleton and blows it away with its syphon, just like scrunching up and chucking away an empty beer can or something??? I suppose this is the attitude you were talking about???

Colin

[cephalopoder]

Yes Colin, the suckers on the one on tonmo were a little peachy in color.
Bimacs will pick op the discarded shells and carry them across the tank to the furthest corner or hold up the remains and blow them away from their den. I did a experiment one time where I watch my bimac carry the empty shell of a crayfish across the tank and tuck it in a far away corner. The octo was little at this time and didn't eat the main body of the crayfish completely. I decided to take the crayfish remains and drop them back in front of the octo to see if it would eat any more.
The disgruntled octo took the remains, grabbed them and carried them back to where she originally put them. On her way back turned to look at me almost with a look of "now leave it there" in her eyes. No exaggeration.
Another time I tried feeding her a piece of shrimp soaked in selco. She refused to take it from the probe (because she didn't like the smell I guess) So I just dropped in on top of her forcing her to take it. She quickly grabbed the chunk of shrimp and turned to look at me, she then held it up to her funnel and blew the shrimp right at my head. If the glass was not there it would have hit me between the eyes.
Got to love the bimacs!
Chris

[OctoMonkey]

hehe love it! Thats what ive been looking for!
As i mentioned i was a bit dissapointed that the big briareus had laid eggs so soon because i was looking forward to some interaction. Still, should get some from the babies. In fact I think that i only seen her once or twice out in the open, now all i have seen for 2 months is one beady eye and a tentacle or two.

Wee bimac has been sitting on top of a rock all day. Just watching i suppose. It is so small but guess thats good cause it'll live longer. I''ll give it a few more days before i switch on any lights above the tank.


Colin

[cephalopoder]

Lights are fine with them Colin, they are shallow water day active. Bimacs collected this time of your seem to be on a january to september life cycle.

[OctoMonkey]

Due to me having to juggle some tanks about i will need to put a heater into the bimacs tank for a few days. I havnt done this before, i normally put them in the sump. Is the octo likely to burn itself? What type of guard do you use? I have it set at 72 degF just now.........

[cephalopoder]

You can just stick the heater right in if you need to have one. I have never had a problem with a octo getting burned.
Bimacs will do fine in water as low as 55F . They come from cold water. 65f is said to be the best but I have kept mine around 70-75F no problem.
chris

[OctoMonkey]

Ah good,
room temp here is about 65 so i'll let it settle in a feed a few times then just turn it down to room temp, should live longer then too, thanks again