What if i were to give up on cuttlefish and get an octopus again?

[schmunkel98]

I'm not saying that I'm giving up completely on getting cuttlefish, but it is looking very unlikely that I will be able to get a hold of some unless I can snag a batch from Richard Stride. With that in mind, I have thought about keeping an octopus again. I got my two originals from www.marinedepotlive.com, and they were supposed to be Octopus Bimaculatus. They were both rather small(about 6" from arm to arm) and I made several mistakes along the way. If I were to go for another octopus, I would need to get all the little critters out of my tank except the two starfish and the two sea cucumbers. I have 8 damsels in the tank which I have been trying to catch for about a week now without tearing apart the whole tank with no success. Any tips on getting these guys in my net? I also have about 50 snails and crabs throughout the tank. These guys won't be as hard to gather up as the damsels will be. The snails are also mating from what I can tell, which means I'm going to have tons of them soon. I already have what seems like hundreds of miniature snails around my tank on the walls feeding on the algae. Anyway, now we come to the octopus part. I obviously should only get one this time, but should I order form the same company again? Can I specify a size to insure that my octopus is a little larger than the last ones? Has anyone else ordered an octopus from Marinedepot before so I can verify that it is an Octopus Bimaculatus that I'm getting? These get much larger than a Bimacloides, which makes them much more interesting to me. Anyway, I'm going to keep up the search for the elusive cuttlefish, but I can only take so many months of false promises and disappointments.

Mike

www.schmunkel.0catch.com

[OctoMonkey]

I asume you got let down again Mike? DOA or no show?

I think your gonna have to strip that tank!

i recently read an article over here about a fish trap. The guy made a box net with a trap door and a mirror, he says fish swim in to attack their reflection and he drops the door. I dont think a mirror would be safe in a tank though but he may be onto something.....


Colin

[schmunkel98]

Hey Colin,

Yeah, the local fish places keep letting me down week after week. Richard Stride may be able to help me out in a few months though. I was hoping to have something fun in my tank by now. The sea cucumbers and starfish are fun, but not as much fun as the cuttles would be!

Mike

www.schmunkel.0catch.com

[schmunkel98]

Just got a reply from Richard Stride about the cuttle situation. He won't have any ready for shipping until sometime in June. I think I'm going to give the local guys one more week to get the cuttles in for me, then tell them to forget it. I want to try again with another octopus in the meantime. I want to make sure and get one that is a little larger than the last guys I had though. Also, I'm trying to figure out the best way to strip down the tank of all it's inhabitants without having to do a huge water drain. I still can't catch the damsels, and I've tried just about everything. The snails and crabs will be much easier to deal with. Any suggestions? I like the trap idea by the way Colin!

Mike

www.schmunkel.0catch.com

[schmunkel98]

Okay guys, I'm getting the idea that the local fish stores aren't going to come through for me. So, I'm going to go ahead and get an octopus from fishsupply.com. First, I am going to have to do some changes to my tank like get rid of all the inhabitants, except the cucumbers and starfish. Does anyone know if I can specify to get a Bimaculatus or a Bimacloides? Which would be more acitve? I'm also going to stick with just one octopus so there won't be any fighting or cannabalism. How soon after introducing the octopus to the tank should I feed it? Do those of you who are out there feed your octopus every day or every other day? I figured on about 2 or 3 ghost shrimp(about 1" long) every day. Should I start off by just releasing them or try the food grabbed by some tongs method? My last octos never came out for food because snails were all over the tank for them to eat. Anyway, let me know.

Thanks,

Mike

www.schmunkel.0catch.com

[cephalopoder]

Mike
There is no way for Jack to tell a bimaculoides from a bimaculatus. He can tell bimacs from other octos because of the ocelli. I do know Jack has had bimaculatus from a picture he sent me along time ago. From looking at the pic, I think it is bimaculatus. The other pics he has sent me has been bimaculoides. And what I have been sent have been bimaculoides. Bimaculatus has longer arms, gets bigger and a more defined pattern on its skin. Bimaculoides has no real pattern. Bimaculoides has a un broken chain in the ocelli. Bimaculatus has a broken chain. Bimaculatus is also a small egg laying species Bimaculoides is a large egger. The differences would all be hard for Jack to isolate. Bimaculatus is also a species that lives in deeper water and perhaps a litte harder to collect than bimaculoides.
Either way Mike, You won't be dissapointed no matter what bimac you get.

As far a feeding goes. I feed as much as they will eat at one sitting. Don't leave un eaten food in the tank though if you feeding something like frozen shrimp.
3 ghost shrimp will be ok for a tiny octopus but won't be much more than a appetizer for larger octo. If you can feed crayfish and fiddlers, they are great octo food and loved by them all. Some times they can be picky depending on their mood so you might want to try different foods as well.
chris

[Rudiger]

hey, have you caught those damsels yet? Have you tried using two nets? One in each hand. Also you can try going to the fish store and buying a bigger net.

[schmunkel98]

No, I haven't caught them yet. I have tried the two net deal, and the big net thing. They are just too fast and can hide too easily. I would have to take out all of my live rock and pumps to get them out of there. I'm going to try and rig up some kind of food trap as a last resort.

Mike

www.schmunkel.0catch.com

[Rudiger]

doh! thats a pain. Why dont you just drop some cyanide in there? That will get them out, heheh.