are octos really that difficult to care for

[H. lunulata]

i want an octo but am afraid that they might be to hard to keep for me. are they reasonably hardy animals

 

[Nancy]

Why do you think an octo would be hard to keep for you? Have you had difficulty keeping other marine animals? Or perhaps you are worried that you don't have enough time or money to keep up the care that it needs?

Nancy

 

[H. lunulata]

no i have plenty of money, so i have no boundries(financially) at all and i have been very successful with my other marine life(dragon morey, green morey and some urchins) but what i was trying to get at was that i keep on hearing that they are reall really hard and 9 times out of 10 dont survive is this true. i am trying to find out as much info as i can so i dont mess up. i have read the ceph care forum and i need more info on there hardiness because it doesnt tell you.

 

[cthulhu77]

If you can keep a stony coral alive, you should be ok with a ceph...they are very intolerant of water extremes in ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates...so your water parameters have to be spot on !
Most of us over-filter our water to be safe...make sure you invest in a good skimmer and filter system.
As far as longetivity goes, octos are at the bottom of the barrel...most live in captivity for months, some for a year or so...very few for longer than that. They really are "a candle in the wind" so to speak...super neat animals that flare and burn out fast.
greg

 

[H. lunulata]

eh he what species of stony coral as they all range greatly in hadieness the easiest is candy coral and the hardest acroporas so what coral would it compare to in hardiness

 

[manny]

I lost alot more corals than I have octopus and easy to keep corals like bubblecoral, they are not hard to keep
I kept a bimac when I first started in a 20 gallon tank with a emperor hang on filter and a seaclone skimmer I dont recomend you do the same cause all that equipment is bottom of the line and the tank was too small
I now have a 46 gallon bow tank with a remora skimmer and a fluval 304 filter my bimac is beatiful and seams to love the tank

 

[H. lunulata]

well i need to know if they are they hardy animals and will they or could they survive in a 24gal nano aquarium whith a 290gph filter flow i mean i really want to keep one but will one survive in this aquarium

 

[Nancy]

No, that tank is too small and the filtration is not good enough. You really do need a protein skiimmer.

Nancy