Can Rays Live Octos?

[Rockthis11]

Just like the subject says i was wondering if you can put a ray in with an octo.



Thankns in advanced

 

[Nancy]

Rockthis, I think you're going about this in the wrong way. Many people who are planning to get their first octopus want to put all sorts of fish and other animals in with the octopus, but it doesn't work.

An octopus belongs in what we call a "species tank" - just the octopus alone. There are a few small inhabitants that can live with him: a serpent star, a pencil urchin, a starfish, maybe some snails (if he doesn't eat them). This can be a beautiful and very interesting aquarium.

Once in a while it happens that an octopus accepts some other sort of other inhabitant as a tank mate - maybe even a shrimp - but this is iffy.

Many people end up having a number of tanks - In addition to my octo tank, I have a second smaller tank of invertebrates, which is colorful and entertaining. So eventually you may have more than one aquarium, too.

All the best,
Nancy

 

[Rockthis11]

Yeah i thought so. All i want is an octo but my family wants me to find out if there can be any other animals in it. They say that it isnt worth it if you can only put one animal in it, and i told them that it was but i guess they dont understand . Il show them waht u said and im sure they will come around. Thanks a bunch

 

[Colin]

Hi

Nancy is totally right on this, especially for a first tank you will need to concentrate all your attention to the octopus!

Also, you keep choosing really difficult fish.... rays are about as tricky as seahorses, especially the Blue Spotted Ribbontail rays that are commonly sold... they verge on impossible in captivity!

 

[Rockthis11]

Alright sounds good. Il stick to octos from now on thanks again

 

[rrtanton]

Just a note:

I agree with everyone that cephs alone are by far the best way to go. However, if you ARE willing to experiment, you might try. There are certainly reports of octos co-existing with some unlikely tankmates.

There are problems with this, of course. You'll end up mostly feeding your octo some very expensive meals. Some of the fish, conversely, might be threats to the octo. So you risk harming both inhabitants, especially the fish, and you may not be comfortable with that.

rusty

 

[spooky]

is there a danger of putting another tank close to the octopus tank? i was just curious because i saw how an octopus climbed out of his tank and into another to get food. i think i saw this on "the octopus show", but i'm not sure.

 

[joel_ang]

Well, it depends on what you put in the other tank, if it is food the octo will by all means try to get there. Just make sure you cover the tank tightly

 

[J.Scott]

I've kept Octopus and Rays, but never together. Healthy Rays are greedy feeders and I'm sure they would eat an Octopus, unless it was huge. Best keep the Octopus on it's own.
On the subject of Rays difficulty, if you can get a good one they are quite easy. The problem is they have soft bone (cartilidge) this provides poor protection for their internal organs. This means they are often damaged in transit. My first Blue Spot Ray lived for over a year, before an unfortunate accident. My subsequent attempts to keep them have been unsuccessful.

J.Scott

 

[Colin]

I think that old story about the octo climbing into one tank from another is one of those urban myths!

I have heard it a lot of times now from different people and it was always their friends octopus that ate the wife's fish... etc etc etc