looking to get octo- need the basic advice

[cruehead]

in addition to my two reefs i have a 29 gal thats set up and running empty as im trying to decide what to put in it. theres some LR and a sand bottom, small powerhead and heater being filtered with a canister filter. its a very basic setup compared to the reefs and i thouhgt an octo would work. my questions are- whats the best type of species to get? where to get it? and what changes should be made to the setup described? i do know that they are master escape artists so sealing the tank up is already planned. im looking for an octo that is more on the bold side and has the longest life span as i understand they can be pretty short. what temp and food is appropriate? pretty much all the basic newbie questions. thanx guys

[cephalopoder]

A small Bimaculoides will be your octo of choice.
www.fishsupply.com Call and ask for Jack, tell him chris sent you. Ask him for a small bimaculoides. Read my care sheet there. Try and keep them low 70s, use RO/DDI water, no copper, salinity at 1.025 Read some back posts a lot of info in there.
chris

[cruehead]

thanks chris. ill give jack a call. do the intakes of powerheads need to be covered with sponges to prevent octo parts spread all over the tank or are they pretty good about staying out of them?

[cephalopoder]

Your Welcome.
I have heard people talk about their octos getting the tips of their arms niped off in power heads. I have never seen this happen with any of mine. If you can cover up the intake ,its probably not a bad idea.