wanted: Octopus

[kjmst29]

Hello. I'm starting up an 85 gallon non-reef tank. Right now I have about 6 damsels starting my cycle. In time, I'd like to get an octopus. I'd love a blue ring, but since I have a young child, I'll pass

My questions are: Can I even own and care for one in a non-reef system? How much do they go for? What's the life expectancy? What do they eat? What kind of fish should I pair with it? What kind should I avoid? Where can I get one? I live in southern NJ, near Philly. Go Eagles! If I were to buy a male and female, would they breed? I know how they are escape artists. How do I keep it from leaving my tank? How big will they grow?

As you can see, I plan to do plenty of research. Any help would be appreciated.

[shealygg]

[welcome]

Check here and do LOTS of research before making this purchase....

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=38

[kjmst29]

Thanks. They need a "forum map" for this web site. :)

[shealygg]

They do have a listing of all forums here...

Click on the FORUMS button at the top right of every page...or simply click on the RC logo in the top left of every page....then just scroll down and look at all of the forums....

[Fenix]

Octos are very smart. I have heard a story from a big aquarium in Denver that had an octo. It climbed out of its tank, and went into another tank, ate some fish, and crawled back into his tank. It was going on for about a month, till they set up a camera and watched him do it. He had about a five minute walk while he was out of the water, and going into the other tank.

They are also very strong, try to put a padlock on the top so he cant get out.

[jcgso]

There is a very good article about octos in the April '05 issue of Aquarium Fish Magazine, which most Petsmart/Petcos carry. I was considering an Octo tank untill I read the article. Besides being very difficult to care for, IMO, they don't live long enough to justify getting one.

[phil519]

I found this site on cephalopods to be very helpful:

cephalapods (http://is.dal.ca/~ceph/TCP/sources.html)

Some text I read that might be interesting in the article above:

For the most part, octopuses need a tank to themselves. They will view most fish, crustaceans, and mollusks (possibly including smaller octopi) as food. Echinoderms such as sea stars, brittle stars, and sea urchins seem to be safe tankmates (Haywood). Those of you with reef tanks shouldn't have to worry about corals, sponges, tunicates, etc unless you don't approve of your octopuses interior design tastes (the larger heavy rocks should be safest).

Also - as the prior poster mentioned - the short lifespan is mentioned in the article:

One major drawback to keeping these fascinating creatures is that they are short lived. This does not have to be caused by our lack of proper care for them - octopuses do not live very long in the wild either, perhaps two years for O. vulgaris, one year for O. maya and O. briareus, and even less for O. joubini (Boyle 1983). These life spans are from hatching - in other words they are unfortunately not from the time of purchase or capture. Enjoy them while you can! It seems strange to us that in most cases a female octopus will not accept food even after her eggs have hatched. Almost always she will waste away and die. The males (of at least some species) seem to have more or less genetically programmed life spans also as they do not live any longer than the females. At least in some species, a female that has not been impregnated will still lay (infertile) eggs, brood them, and starve - this happened to Houdina. On the positive side, it is possible for the advanced aquarist to hatch the eggs and raise the young of certain species of 'large egged' octopuses