EEEEEEEKKK!!!!!!! URGENT!!!!!! OCTO LIFE AT STAKE!!!!

[Octomush]

I just caught a hawaiian day octopuss and I put it in my 75 gallon tank with a few rocks and now it is not moving HELP!!!!! It was moving but now it isnt but it is still breathing.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Hi Nick; if you think it is in trouble you should release it. Is it on its side or staying pretty upright, just quiet and probably stressed?

 

[Octomush]

Good news!

Thx Mr. O'Shea but hes ok now. He is hiding under a rock and ocasionally pokes his head out to look at me. Hes pretty funny. He settled in suprisingly fast. Ye was just sitting upright for like 5 mins and thats what all my other octos did for' they died but he seems to be ok now. Also I have some tank mates in their with him. These are them sould I take any out I think they might scare the octo...
Zebra Blenny, Clownfish, Sowerbys sea hare, hermit crabs, cowrie, snails, & anenome crab. Thank u!
(my first healthy ceph! yay!!!)

 

[Nancy]

Whew, glad your octo is OK. Steve is right, proabably just stressed for a little while.

How big is your octo - do you think it's an adult, or younger?

Take out everything but the snails and crabs (unless they are large). Take out the sea hare, too. (That's unusual here, have never seen one in an aquarium store, just read about them.) If the fish are smaller, he will eat them, if they are larger, they can bother the octo and stress him. This is different from the ocean - they can't really get away from each other. He will probably eat the crabs and maybe the snails. Do you have another tank to put them in?

Good luck with keeping your octo!

Nancy

 

[Octomush]

Thx

Thx Miss King I removed as much as I could the clown and the anenome crab but the rest were too quick actually the sea hare was really slow he he he ... But I coulnt part with em' hes way too cool! And I couldnt catch the blennys or this big goby in there. they were honestely too quick lol. Ill try again later... Thx

 

[Nancy]

Hi Nick,
What are your going to feed your octo when he gets hungry?

Nancy

 

[Octomush]

Ummm.....

Well there are sum hermit crabs and snails in there and I think there is 1 scallop might be dead though... Will that do for now?

 

[Nancy]

If the scallop is dead, you should remove it immediately - not good for your water.

Nick, please tell us how big your octo is. Just make an estimate of mantle length - that is, from the tip of the mantle (body) down to where the arms start. Also arm length, which is difficult, I know, because the arm length can change so much. Maybe you can't do that until he's out again.

Nancy

 

[Octomush]

Octo SiZe

Oh um..... I am gonna make a rough estimate and say that the mantle is about 4 1/2" And his arms are probally about 1 ft long. I got a pretty good look at him when he was swimming around to day. Also I cant find the scallop. Oh and do scallop shells mess up the water?

 

[Octomush]

Ooopss

I over estimated he is probally has 4" mantle and 10" Arms! :P

 

[Nancy]

Hi Nick,

I was just looking at the descripton of Octopus cyanea (Day Octopus).
Like its name, it's day active. In some color patterns it has black false-eye spot (no iridescent ring) and brown arm tips with regular rows ofwhite spots. Does your octo match this so far? If you have this species, you have a younger one because it's mantle can grow larger than 6 inches and its arms over 30 inches.

You need to remove any dead animals from your water. Clams, scallops, etc. seem to be especially bad at polluting water. The only exception is dead food for your octo, such as thawed frozen shrimp, but if he doesn't eat it within several hours, you should remove that, too.

Your octo likes crabs and other crustaceans for dinner, also some fish.

Nancy

 

[Octomush]

Cool

Totally cool it does match the description so does that mean it does stuff during the day and sleeps at night all the time? Im glad it is young cuz I want to try and keep it long enough for it to trust me. Or are wild octos hard to earn the trust of? Thx a munch a bunch a crunch of lunch!

 

[Jean]

Re: Cool

Or are wild octos hard to earn the trust of? Thx a munch a bunch a crunch of lunch!

I think it depends on the individual! All of ours a wild caught most will eventually come to trust us but the odd one or two never do. I guess the think to remember is to move at your octopus's speed. They'll let you know when they don't want to interact!!!

Good luck
J

 

[Octomush]

Oooo...

Thx I guess I will know soon enough.

 

[RandyB]

I kept a day octo for about 5 months. I caught mine off Hickam. Buy a crab trap, or make one and that will give you an easy source of crabs. Also buy a bag of frozen shrimp, for the times you don't want to mess with crabs. They'll eat clams too.

Mine tamed down a lot. He would come to the top of the tank to wrestle and really seemed to like playing around. Unfortunately he grew too fast and soon I felt he was too cramped to be in a 60 gallon tank, so I returned him to Hickam.

I had a few tankmates that he let survive. Try to catch a coral banded shrimp or some cleaner shrimps, if the survive they make for interesting company, if not they'll make tasty snacks.