octopus?

[tommydh]

i am considering the purchase of a octopus.
i dont know the specific kind of octo.
it would be housed in a 29gallon tank that has been established for over 1 year.
water parameters: pH 8.2 Nitrates 10ppm Nitrites 0 Amonia 0
Occupants: 1 percula clown 3" , 1 3 Stripe Damsel 2" and a coral banded shrimp.

Will the octo harm any of these inhabitants and should i move any of these inhabitants to my 55 reef tank.
Any help would be appreciated.
Tommy

[SushiGirl]

The octo will eat the fish and possibly the shrimp too, depending on how large the octo is.

I highly recommend posting on the Cephalopod Forum http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=38 and maybe also join the forum at www.tonmo.com.

[sven]

It will also clean any other inverts off of your live rock.

Very few things can hide in an aquarium as well as an octopus. They also have a tendency to climb out.

[Fishotch]

yeah, do some good research before getting an octopus. I really want one, but can't set up the tank for it yet. but as the others said, it will eat all your current inhabitants. They really seem to require a species tank according to conventional wisdom on octopus keeping.

[baron_vonklyff]

Clown = Food
Damsel = Food
Shrimp = Food
Hermit Crabs = Food
Snails = Food

Octi are voracious carnivores that will eat pretty much anything that moves in an aquarium. As was stated, they should be in a SEALED tank that is a species tank also. They can and will escape through any crack that they can fit their beak through.

People with multiple tanks have found their octi to escape from thier tank to crawl over to the other tank in the room for a snack before crwaling back to their own tank. I personally have seen one climb a 6' wall to get the goldfish tank on the other side in a LFS.

[rededteck]

depending on its size, they can lift with the tentacles and escape..... You may even need to place some weight on the top. Working at an LFS in college almost 20 years ago, we had a species I do not remember which that escaped until we used cynder blocks on the tank to hold it down.

[The Hawk'ster]

Line the inside of the tank with astro turf wide enough so the octo can not reach the any glass or the top of the tank. I had on for about 1.5yrs. He died when I did a water change.