Help! New TBS Rock. Do I keep the Octopus?

[Fountainhead]

I'm unloading my first TBS shipment right now. I removed a small octopus (alive) about the size of a child's fist. Is he safe for the tank? I've put him in a bucket of saltwater, but I don't know how long he'll keep like this. What do I do?

[nanocat]

Well, you could certainly keep the little guy but the big issue is that they are super escape artists. Even with a tank cover, if there is an uncovered area the size of a dime, they'll find a way to get through it. Also, as they get bigger, they can lift the cover :eek2:

I think they eat fish too :(

Maybe a LFS would buy him for some store credit.

[hdtran]

I got one. I had a spare 5g tank. The octopus is now hiding in a rock in the 5g.

They eat shellfish (crabs etc.), so your hermits, emeralds, porcelains, are at risk if you leave him in your main tank.

I believe the Florida rock hitchhikers are a dwarf or pygmy octopus, either O. mercatoris or O. joubini.

[Fountainhead]

Here's a photo of the little fella. He scared the heck out of me when he squirmed around in the rock I was holding.

[tanker]

Is that a picture of an Octopus or my sister-in-law?? :lol:

Octopus are short lived, great excape artist, eaters of small crabs and shrimps, and need a shell or rock to hide in. PS--You lucky guy!!

All I ever find is PODS and a mantist-shrimp.

[reefitup]

Uh... I spoke with a fella that sells them on the internet. The REALLY big problem with these fellas in a reef is that they will re-arrange your reef for you. They will pull on rocks, and rocks will fall on your fish/corals...

Best to have them in their own tank from what I have heard, with some LR, just not stacked up really high...

I can't find the link to that guy... someone got it handy? it was occupet.com or something along those lines... who's got the link handy? I need it too :D

[Mantis806]

that's pretty damn awesome.

[xeon]

The site is www.octopets.com From what little I know about Octopi, they definitely need an escape proof species tank.

I know of a local guy (third party) that has a fairly new 2500 gallon tank built in his home and decided to toss in some Octopi. As far as I know they will eat all kinds of living stuff but not corals. This guy placed them to get rid of his herd of Mantis shrimp especially. Since they live around 2 years, he tried to get 1 year old Octopi. He has all sorts of Mantis shells on his sand every morning. The tank is going to be amazing, the rock has all sorts of coral hitchhikers since this rock came custom picked from the Marshall Islands directly to his house... at the bargain price of like $100,0000. That is also why he has a ton of Mantis.

[Fountainhead]

I thought that he had died during the night, as this morning he was balled up in the corner of the little tank not moving. I picked up the tank to move it, shook it a bit, and the little guy sprang to life, giving me a bit of a scare...kinda like when they're looking at the dead guy on the bed in "Seven", and he suddenly springs awake. He doesn't seem very active, though. I don't know if he'll make it until I can get him to the LFS.

[aquaman67]

Here's another member who got a 'pus in some TBS rock.

The member named 'liverock' is Richard from TBS. You can send him a PM if you have more questions. I think that's so cool. I'd keep him...

TBS octopus (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=273689)

[Sloth]

That's so awesome! Make sure you take good care of him. Remember that they're smarter than dogs (or so I've heard, definitely cats at least :)) even though he may not look like it. Little guy is probably sceered.

[sfsuphysics]

Yah, remember the movie Finding Nemo? The little girl shaking up the fish bag to see if Nemo was still alive? I'd probably not shake up the tank/bucket to test if its alive, get a piece of shrimp or something and stick it in there, food is always a good way to test if things are alive :)

[DLeAnnM]

I have heard a story about teaching octupus. Some guy put a jar filled with saltwater from the tank and some type of food inside it. He in front of the octopus opened the screw on lid. He then put the jar with lid on in the tank. The octopus actually learned to unscrew the lid just by watching. Who knows if this is true but thought it might be interesting to post. Maybe you can teach it tricks!

[Omidon4]

Is there anything else in the tank with him? Things to hide in or around? They are very intelligent very much more so than dogs or cats (So I've heard) maybe not quite as smart as a dolphin ( not sure ). Anyways... stress kills fish (or leads to their demise) and other organisms so if you're keeping him even for a few days get him something... I don't know your budget etc.. but maybe some 4"+ PVC elbows might make him a little happier for the time being.. GL

[Fountainhead]

I spotted him swimming around, so I put a small hunk of the LR in there with him. I hate to see him go. I don't have a proper tank for him. Do you think one of those 10-12 gallon tanks with the bio-wheel would keep him around for awhile? I'm not really interested in spending a large amount of $$ to try to hang onto him, but if one of those cheap tank kits would suffice for a bit, I might give it a go. What do you think?

[Sloth]

Heck, I say keep the octo in your main tank until it croaks. They don't live long, so just commit yourself to keeping an octo tank instead of a reef for a few months. Could be great fun. If you sell it you might be kicking yourself down the road for not keeping it around.
Or maybe you could plumb an el-cheapo ten gallon into your 100 gallon system. Fit a nice lid on and you're good to go.

[psiico]

I'd keep it. I like the idea of plumbing a small tank to your large system for it, easier to keep the water quality up. How about a 10g drilled and set on a shelf next to the main tank draining in there? After the octopus dies you'll have a perfect refugium setup.

[CheeseyPoof]

Just get some PVC pipe, a hacksaw, a Dremel, and some marine glue. In no time at all I'm sure you'll have the second tank set up all plumped to the first one.

In fact, maybe you should plumb TWO small tanks to the main one -- one for the Octo and one for the three-inch mantis you've now got, too.

[sfsuphysics]

I'd be careful about directly plumbing tanks to each other. I have heard stories of this happening in fish stores where they have an octopus tank with the lid on very tight so it can't escape then notice mysterious missing fish/inverts. What was found was that the octopus was actually able to climb through the piping to the other tanks eat the food then return "home". So even though the octopus might be the size of a child's fist, with no bone structure to speak of the octopus could probably fit through an inch diameter pipe without too much trouble.

So if you must do it, make sure to be some sort of grating or something over the pipe in the octopus tank, while it might reduce your flow, you wont mysteriously have an octopus scrambling through your pipes.

[ClownKeeper1551]

That is so cool....The only thing I got with my live rock was flatworms. I dont know anything about keeping an octo, but dont they squirt out ink as a defense. Might fowl up the tank if you accidentally startle him.

[Fountainhead]

Yeah, he's not in the main tank. I've set up a little 10 gallon tank with some stuff he can hide in. He's still alive, but I'm not sure what to do with him. My one "real" LFS doesn't want him. I'm not sure how long he'll make it where he is. I've been told that they like to eat hermit crabs, but I can't find a local source. (I had another hitchhiker in the tank with him...a gorilla crab. I haven't seen that guy in awhile so maybe the octopus ate him.) Does anyone know what else he might eat? I put a piece of frozen krill in there, but he's ignoring it.

[hystrix]

Cool hitch hiker. A 20gal wouldn't be bad for him. Water quality/ filtration would be the same as any other fish tank. bio wheel sounds fine. You can feed it cut up fish or shrimp from the groc. store. They are nocturnal but can be active by day. low lighting. Give him lots of hiding places. They can open up container if you entice them with food inside of it. (screw lid or other).
Like everyone said they don't live long if it is a Octopus vulgaris it lives for about 12 to 18 months. vulgaris are common around Florida. I found one in a conch shell in Boca Raton inlet once.
Do a search and I am sure you will find some info on him.
Just a not I use to care for giant pacific octopus before I moved, just so you know I am not throwing you a bunch of b.s.

[Fountainhead]

Er...I just noticed your reply, CheeseyPoof. How did you know that I had a three inch mantis? And your prose seems awfully familiar...have our paths crossed before? What an odd combination...hacksaw, PVC pipe...and a dremel? Unfortunately, I loaned mine to a brother-in-law and, well...forget it. Multiple plumbed tanks? Yeah, that's me. Don't you have a blood ritual to attend to?

[Meloco14]

If you decide to keep it, do a lot of research. There are websites with lots of information on keeping octopi. You will need very good filtration, if they ink it can suffocate them if the water isn't cleared quickly. As mentioned, they will find a way to escape from anywhere, so be careful. I would be leary of keeping him in a 10 gallon, unless it is plumbed to a larger water source. If it is plumbed to another tank or sump, he will find a way to get into the tubes, so be careful. They need a lot of hiding spots, as they tend to get depressed from being in captivity (yes, im serious, shows how intelligent they are). Too much light will stress them, so keep it low. I would substitute live food in every once in a while, but you can use store bought seafood. If you see any big chunks that he isn't eating, take them out to reduce ammonia, since you won't have a ton of bio filtration. I think there is a thread on reefs.org about a guy keeping one for a while, you may want to do a search. Good luck

[Dazz]

if there is a hole big enough for his beak, the octopus can go through it.

[Fountainhead]

Just a note to let you all know that the Octopus didn't make it. The LFS wasn't interested, and I placed him in a 10 gallon tank and hoped for the best, but I just wasn't equipped to care for him I guess. Too bad...he was a pretty cool little fella.

[tanker]

Sorry to hear. The shipping stress probably got to it.:(