Buying an octopus. Which source is better?

[Drsandhu]

I'm guessing mantle 1 inch indonisean abdophus aculeatus

 

[DWhatley]

Basic coloration and location would suggest something in the Abdopus family but that is about as much as can be gleaned from the picture.

 

[Drsandhu]

What is the typical size of acuteleatus young to full adult I said the mantle is n 1' inch

 

[DWhatley]

I've not kept many in the Abdopus group and they come in a variety of animals and sizes (as well as diurnal and nocturnal). I know of no good way to guess so I can't be of any help with this one I'm afraid.

 

[gpx1200]

Yeah thanks for the quick reply D, yep, just hope I get one soon, that is some what in good shape...I have some hope for it coming, soon...tank is ready and waiting, and now has only RO water cycling, great refugium, and interesting rock structures...so definitely this diver is good n trust worthy so, as hard as its gonna be to be patient I will continue t be patient

when you say only ro water cycling do you mean that you don't have any salt in the water yet? if so you need to add salt before you can start cycling the tank, the bectreia in freshwater is different than salt water so any time with only fresh water is useless to benifical bacteria growth
my aculeatus spider is fully grown with about 3-4inch mantle and his longest arms are about 11-12inches, ive had him almost 7 months and fed him very well since he was very small(about the size of a silver dollar with his arms curled around him like a spider)
his brother cleatus was older when i got them and only lived about 6 months with me but never got as big as spider is, i think this might be related to the fact that spider was well fed from a younger size while cleatus had to do more of his growing in the wild with less available food and had to work harder to catch it.
i'm thawing out a peice of shrimp for spider, ill try and get a current pic of him when i feed him

 

[Drsandhu]

No there is salt in the tank has been running for 6 months with limited just inverts n some local minnows, however I have a reef tank as well we have corals n they were doing ok, but we learned that the look of the corals were not vibrant so I changed out over a period of time to full ro water after I installed ro system in the basement currently levels are optimal ref is working great tank is octo sealed n ready n I believe that I might be getting n octo Tuesday will upload pics etc, n yes the inverts who r in now will be removed etc....

 

[Drsandhu]

Also mysaltwaterfishstore, is run by a great guy, very knowledge diligent sends photos and has good variety...for carribean types, I highly suggest opening dialogue n business with him

 

[DWhatley]

Drsandhu,
If your LFS has a website, feel free to post a link and location. We don't limit website references as long as they are on topic and are not solicitations or for personal gain.

I try to remember to suggest new member edit their profile (there is no automatic display) and put something identifiable (city and state/province suggested and country if not in US). This helps a lot with references, food suggestions and the occasional mini-TONMOcon as members travel.

 

[Drsandhu]

Can you keep 2 octopi in the same tank?

 

[Drsandhu]

Ok just read more I see that only 1 per tank

 

[DWhatley]

It is an absolute that only one of a species can be kept in a tank. Even with dividers, multiple species do not do well together and show aggression.

There is one known exception among the commonly kept species if the animals were found together or are siblings. The dwarf, Octopus mercatoris has been successfully raised in small groups. It is unclear if two strangers are placed together in a small tank if both will survive but hatchlings and octopuses found in the same live rock have proven to work well. They will inbreed (and likely do in the wild) and produce viable young. The number of successful inbred generations is unknown but we have journals on a few WC female ->tank raised (wild fertilized)->tank bred families.

In VERY large tanks, O. vulgaris have been successful (not home volumes) to a point with a few casualties when size differences were present. Mating has occurred but vulgaris is a small egg species and the hatchlings never mature.

A newly described species, current common name Larger Pacific Striped Octopus lives together in situ and seems well suited for the aquarium. Sadly, they are not plentiful and should not be harvested for pet keeping (but I will dream about a captive breeding program. Sadly, this is a small egg species so the chances are slim and none).

A third (cousin to the Larger Pacific Striped) potential is the O. chierchiae. There is no published evidence that these would survive together as the current experimenters have avoided (last I asked) attempting it because the animal is rare. We do know they will mate in captivity (introducing the male only for a mating attempt under supervision and removing him after mating or sensed rejection) and produce large eggs so there is hope in this species for something we can eventually tank raise. In addition to being a nice size and attractive, this is one of only two known (the other being its cousin) species that can produce multiple clutches. Exciting in the area of keeping but a long way from tank raising for the home aquarist.

So, in a practical sense, the current answer is no with the exception of O. mercatoris siblings.

 

[DWhatley]

Drsandhu's new octopus acquisition posts have been moved to their own thread in the Octopus Journals and Photos sub-forum.