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A New Octopus- Already

Joined
Dec 4, 2002
Messages
70
Well, less than 24 hours after my beloved Tako died, I have a baby in the house already. It seems that when I called the pet store last week just to ASK about MAYBE getting another octopus, they ent and ordered one anyway! Well I couldn't just let the little thing go homeless...It's a dwarf, tank-raised octopus from a supplier named Steven Birch in California. I'm still ordering a baby bimac for my 75 gallon. I used the sunstrate (live sand) from the 75 gallon to fill the 12 gallon, along with about 60% of the water from the 75 gallon and the rest fresh salt water. Is this okay to jump start this 12 gallon with? I hope so....
She's VERY, very cute. She inked at first but she's been sitting on the glass for the last couple of hours, calming down. She explored in a panicked way at first, but it didn't seem like she knew what sand or liverock was. Quite possible they raise them in glass containers with little else. I put two ghost shrimp in thee. I hope she eats.
 
Congratulations! That was fast!
It seems like, since you have the name of the breeder and your local pet store ordered the octopus, you could find out the species it is. Also, you should be able to find out what kind of food your little octo was used to, if there's any problem with it eating.

So have you thought of a name for it?

Nancy
 
I had a small "Pygmy" or "dwarf" octo. You might want to consider some amphipods...mine didn't really like ghost shrimp, but apparently lived off amphipods that hitchhiked in on my live rock. I ordered some extra just in case (they breed pretty well in the tank.) His initial behavior was very similar to what you describe, so I wouldn't worry yet.

rusty
 
A New Octopus- Already

Wow, what a show! She finally explored the tank but she freaked out at everything she touched. She definitely is not used to live sand and live rock. It was funny- she jumped away at everything she touched. She (He?-I will know later on:smile: tried to go after a little hermit crab, but missed. She's got a lot to learn about being an octopus. Outstretched, she's not even 2 inches in diameter- intensely cute. And very awkward, not yet the smooth calculated predator....but soon....very soon....I will hear the crunching of crabs one by one.... :smile:
Oh- I called the aquarium store and they said they could shake some amphipods out of some coral for me, (maybe a dozen or so) but it was clearly an unusual request for them. I bet I won't be able to get them anytime after that. She's going to have to learn to eat hermit crabs and ghost shrimp.
 
Colin was the one who turned me onto the amphipods...I can't remember who actually sent me the link, but I thank them anyway...the company I used is Florida Aqua Farms:

Florida Aqua Farms – Aquaculture Products : Aquatic Animals : Live Foods: Aquatic Supplies

They seem to be a very decent operation, a great place to go for equipment to culture small critters, such as brine shrimp (as well as the critters themselves!) The site isn't the fanciest and takes a little navigating, but they're very quick and responsive over the phone...I might just recommend calling them. The amphipods are listed as "Live Amphipods (gammarus.)" They charge $5 for twenty (these guys are tiny, grain or rice size or a bit smaller) and considering shipping costs (roughly $15-20, I think? They don't need overnight, but just second-day, I think) it's worth ordering a hundred or so. A large starting number like that is probably better so they can breed despite losses to octo or possibly filtration systems. Mine bred like rabbits and I had plenty right up until the tank crash.

I remember covering these lil' guys in invert. zoology...they're kind of unusual. There's no mistaking their looks, very distinctive, and they come in both fresh and saltwater varieties, with wide distributions. They were ideal for my Gollum because I didn't have to worry about his feeding. He refused to take food from me, and tiny blue-legged hermit crabs are still relatively expensive to just dump in the tank for him. These guys solved both problems nicely.

rusty
 
A New Octopus- Already

Thanks for info about the amphipods! I had wondered if they were the tiny critters I saw in my filters when I cleaned them. That's what they look like. My little octo survived the night, and I'm proud to say that a dead hermit crab lay in front of the tank, legs strewn about. She's being shy this morning. As long as she eats, that's what's important.
Oh- is it okay to put so many amphipods in at once? Is it okay to have so much food readily available? I always had crabs in there with Tako, and now I wonder if I shouldn't have had so much food in there all the time.
 
A New Octopus- Already

I ordered 100 amphipods-thank you!!
I'll need them because I'm going to order my baby bimac from Jack at Fish Supply today to live in my 75 gallon tank, so I will soon have two babies to take care of.
 
No problem, you're welcome! You'll wonder when you get them just how there's really 100 in that bag, but they ARE tiny and they hide well in the leafy plant bits they include. Usually there are prohibitions against adding foreign tank water, ESPECIALLY shipping water, to your tank (risk of infection/contamination.) Because it might be so easy to lose them, I've acclimated them in a small bucket and keep carefully scooping water out of the bucket and adding more tankwater, until I've turned over so much of the water that only a tiny percent of it is probably original shipping water.

They also hide well in the tank, but if you look carefully you'll see them skittering about, especially when the lights first come on.

rusty
 

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