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Bimac in 24 Gallon Nano???

Inception7

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Hello All,

Just to give you a little background on myself, I am an experienced Reef/Marine Tank Keeper having succesfully kept Sps/Lps, Fish.. Etc.

Besides the normal response of "don't ever do it" how long and how big can a Bimac be kept in a 24gallon with an oversized Remora Skimmer. Aside from water quality conditions, which will be maintained at pristine levels. Thanks again.
 
:welcome: to TONMO

there's not really an answer to that... it's "until it gets too big or overwhelms the filtration." And the recommendation for 55gal for a bimac is really the tank size where preventable octopus deaths seems to drop off. I'm guessing you have a cycled 24gal and you're wondering if you can keep a baby bimac in that while a bigger tank is cycling? If so, perhaps some of the bimac keepers can report how fast their octos grew... I think Marinebio_guy kept his babies in pretty small tanks, but he also was living where he could get fresh water for water changes in a few minutes, and had access to a marine biology lab's facilities.

It's worth noting that there doesn't seem to be a source for young tank-bred bimacs at the moment, although we haven't heard from Obi_One (Zyan's dad) for a while... but unless he has them, ordering a bimac from somewhere will probably get you a full-sized adult (or some random species that's not a bimac at all) which probably would be too big for the 24gal to be safe.
 
Yeah, the LFS store that I go to has an octopus with tenticles about 6" long a piece. It claims that this is a BIMAC but I cannot locate the circles around it's mantle. It's tan and black in color so I can't be sure. I do have a 200 gallon FOWLR but to buy a chiller and seal off the tank would be a great expense. Thinking...
 
Your question seems to be more of a ethics related one if you remove water quality out of the equation. If the water conditions are kept perfectly, then the octupus would probably live to the end of its life cycle. However, 6" armspan = 1 foot fully stretched out specimen which is pretty cramped in a 24 gallon nano.

You mention having success with reef and marine fish. There are many guidelines offered with keeping fish that are similar. Many preach against tangs or other fish to be in a minim of 50 or even 75 gallon tank. It is not the inability to keep water conditions optimal for these fish that these guidelines are created. Its the ethical factor in regards to that it would be 'cruel'. That being said, the ceph community's collective knowledge and experience would recommend against an octopus this large to be kept in a 24 gallon nano.

Water conditions even though you were not asking about it would be difficult to keep pristine. Many factors attribute to this. We have a large messy eating animal that will not only poo alot, but can ink. Bio filtration requirements will be high. Even if you have enough of this to convert your ammonia to nitrate, your nitrates in the future can get high quickly. High nitrates will mean nuisance algae and you will have a very small choice on clean up crews because they will be lunch for your octo. You will need to implement a good size refugium or deep sand bed or even denitrifier. But once you add all these other devices, you might as well get a larger tank.
 
I would give 3:1 odds that it's not a bimac anyway, which would maybe mean that you wouldn't need a chiller. Sealing the tank would still be necessary, though. Can you take pictures of the octo and post in "ID Requests"?
 
I once held an inkling bimac in a 14 gal for about 5 days before moving it out and it did fine in concern to it's appetite and liveliness. But Paradox has it right. Keeping an octopus in something that small is a matter of ethics concerning the octopus. I suggest something much bigger.
 
Ok,

I will try to take a picture of this octopus. How hard is it to find a Vulgaris or something that will work with 80 degree waters? Maybe that would be a better route.
 
Vulgaris are pretty rare, but briareus, hummelincki, and aculeatus are fairly common, and they're all tropical (but check on their temp range rather than taking my word for it)
 
Paradox;114586 said:
Plus vulgaris will get huge =)

I didn't check if 200gal was OK for vulgaris, but that's also huge...
 
I was also considering connecting a 60 gallon cube tank to the filtration of the 200 gallon. The tank has a 100 gallon sump, a skimmer rated for a 800 gallon tank and 300 lbs of live rock. This way I could keep all the fish in the 200 gallon. This sounds like fun also...
 
Sounds like a great plan! Im sure youve thought about it already, but make sure the plumbing between the main tank and the ceph tank are octo proof or youll have one fat octo!

I missed your post about your 200 gallon. Monty is correct, a vulgaris can be kept in a 200, but with not much else.
 
Yeah, I am thinking just two bulkheads drilled in back with a screen on the drain. I don't think the Octo would last long if he got into the other tank. It houses a 12" Puffer, A Queen Trigger, Lionfish and so on...:smile:
 
Paradox;114592 said:
Sounds like a great plan! Im sure youve thought about it already, but make sure the plumbing between the main tank and the ceph tank are octo proof or youll have one fat octo!

I missed your post about your 200 gallon. Monty is correct, a vulgaris can be kept in a 200, but with not much else.

Yeah, I just want to make sure whatever Octo I get will be ok in a 50-60 gallon. The last thing I want is to get a Vulgaris and have him outgrow the tank. Also I have to make sure it's a tropical species because my tank gets to about 80-81F
 

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