[Octopus]: Arthur - Aculeatus, my first octopus

For many years it was thought that they did not hear at all as scientists could not discover a biological mechanism and they appeared deaf with testing. A couple of years ago, scientists discovered a hair like structure in shrimp that was later found in octopuses (reexamined because it appeared they could "hear" certain ground rumblings). It turns out that they can hear certain frequencies that our out of our hearing range. Here is a thread on the topic with several article references.
 
Okay, thanks for the answer. So day update: I removed the fish yesterday and he has actually barely been out since then. I think he got a bit firghtened when I tried to catch them as I thiiiink he inked, but I'm not sure, could've been sand or something. Still, he ate a piece of scampi that little time i saw him. Found him again earlier today, but havent seen him for a couple hours now. Tried to lure him out with some food, but he doesn't respond. Should I be worried?

Edit: Found him, but he is still hiding behind a rock
 
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Octopuses are naturally shy creatures. It will take about a month before he fully acclimates to tank life and to begin to learn his/her personality. As long as he is eating and active, I would not worry about current behaviors
 
So not much changed except that I realized the shrimps are super jelous of his food so they'll try to take it from him, which they succeed to do. Therefore I've been trying to scare them off while he eats just now in the beginning till he gets comfortable and confident to scare them off on his own. So I was wondering three things:
1. What are signs of stress or him being uncomfortable?
2. I saw this color you can see in the pictures attached and he seems so... struggled. Could it be anything bad or is it just one of his camouflages? I also think he is missing one arm while a couple others seem hurt. Difficult to get a good picture.
3. How do I determine sex and age?
 

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Not sure if I would say corkscrew, but they sure are tucked in more than I would think is natural. I'm trying to remove the shrimp as we speak. Also I don't have any testers here at the moment, but I'll try to get some after I removed the shrimp. The salinity had dropped to 1.23 so I'm also going to fix that immediately.
 
It's been up 3 months. I got the following:
  • pH: 8,5 - 9
  • Nitrit: 0 mg/l
  • Nitrat: 50 mg/l
  • Phosphat: 1 mg/l
  • Ammonium: 0 mg/l
  • Copper: 0 mg/l
I'm changing the water right now.
Also, have anyone tried having sea slugs along with octopuses? Do they go well together?
 
Hi there Reggie, I've been cycling a tank to prep for my first octopus, and it's been really intriguing to read about your experience.

A few days have passed since your last post. How is Arthur doing? Has his color normalized?
 
Hi Rhodi! I'm happy you liked it. Good luck and keep us updated! So I went away for a couple days (yeah, I know, baaaad timing), but my brother took care of him while I was away. So I took out 75L water and since I only have one 25L can and it takes 24 hours to make new saltwater, I'm pouring the last can of 25L in today. This obviously means that the water was way too low and everything stopped. My circulation pump was broken and the filter, the heater, the skimmer and the overflow needed higher water so basically the entire tank was standing still. So when I came back home last night two of my shrimp died (quite possibly because I put three of them in a quarantine-thing, like a transparent box that floats on top of the tank. Also some weird algae started growing on top of the sand, like bubbles that are about to float up and then was stopped. So basically the entire bottom looks crystalized. Pretty cool, but I don't think it's a good thing.

Anyways, I know have just enough water for everything to run while I'm waiting for the last 25L, two shrimp left (one in the tank and one in the box) and Arthur seems to be a bit more active (whether that's because I'm killing him or because he is getting better, I'm not sure) and his color is pretty much the same, maybe slightly better. This weekend was one hell of a ride, but I think we can make it through.

Edit: Actually he still has that bad looking color. Well, sometimes. As he changes color every now and then, I mean.
 
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I don't have a test kit available at the moment, but the salinity is better at least.

Earlier I said that I thought he was missing one arm. He is missing three :frown: He also has wounds one the leftover five. I think he was already missing one when he came here, but I checked some photos I took the first days and he had at least seven back then. I've put stockings over every propellor or anything that could hurt him, except tiny shafts into the filter which he seems very curious about. I would do something about these as well, but I have no idea how to (as they are very tiny) and it should be a long way from these shafts in to the propellor in the filter. Yet he has lost those arms? Any suggestions?

Also he eats IF I put the food next to his arms, so he almost has to taste it before he grabs it. I certainly can't put it in the front and wait for him to come out. I feed him scampi the size of a thumb nail, but (I think) he barely eats any. Some days I see him leave it and some days I can't find the food by the end of the day. He is also switching between to hiding spots where he spends most of his day.

I'm really getting worried now. Shouldn't he be more active and eat normally by now? It's been two weeks.
 
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I'm very sorry to say this, but it doesn't sound good. Maybe someone with experience will chime in. But from what I've read on the boards and in books over the past year or two, I'm afraid that what you described does indeed sound like a dying octopus. I hope I'm wrong. Their systems are apparently very sensitive and they are so short-lived. If he was already missing one arm to begin with, it's possible he was already in or near senescence.

That said, I've also read anecdotes about octopus hitch-hikers on live rock--accidental survival where conditions are far from ideal. It may be possible that Arthur could pull through. It does sound encouraging that he'll eat when you hand feed him.
 

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