Fecha's Journal

Simple,
As long as you don't add anything foreign and are sure to remove anything dead (as AM mentioned, you need to know where the crabs are and that they are alive so only one - two fiddlers - at a time), innovate away and then report on your success or failure. There is a forum marked, "What do you feed your octopus" that might offer some ideas. My little guys don't eat much variety (in spite of my efforts) so I recommend trying new stuff slowly (don't fill your freezer with everything under the sun, like I have done it just sits there if refused). The freezer idea sounds promising. My baby Mercs would eat shore shrimp very well when they were in their breeder nets but now in the larger tanks (one is only 15 gallons) they rarely eat them. Sometimes they swat them away so I know they can catch them but don't. I have been able (only in the last two weeks) to get them to take freshly killed tails and my brooding female will gladly take a male fiddler claw, none of them would eat frozen clam, thawed scallops, the mixed frozen "variety" pack marine food, snails, hermits or live fish fry but the larger octos seem to take to many of these and Fetcha may want different things as she grows. Another thought would be to dream up a container that the octo can explore (not an opening the jar challenge) but the food has a hard time trying to escape. The idea would be to create a feeding area that has a denser population than the tank, possibly her critter keeper or something turned upside down.

You might try leaving your red lights on 24/7 if you can sleep with the lighting (or cover the tank with the light on). Miserable for pictures (no flash for a long time yet) but it might let you see her a bit more. This is going to take more time than you want and you will think it is taking longer than it is. I keep a calander on the wall and mark beginnings (and also have my TONMO journal) so I have a better feel time and am still often surprised at the actual time (or lack of it) involved (like waiting to see if I am going to have baby octos this month!). Keep doing the homework, reading etc where she can see you but keep yourself entertained and not fretting.
 
Ok well today i found a dead shrimp in the tank, it didn't look eaten, but maybe she did nibble on it or something. I pulled it out and put a new shrimp in the critter keeper, but without the top so Fecha could go in and get the shrimp. The crab is still alive, still no sing of Fecha though.
 
dwhatley;104211 said:
Another thought would be to dream up a container that the octo can explore (not an opening the jar challenge) but the food has a hard time trying to escape. The idea would be to create a feeding area that has a denser population than the tank, possibly her critter keeper or something turned upside down.

What about a container similar to a minnow trap-- oval with small holes on the two ends-- crabs cant find there way out but I am sure the octo could.??
 
yea the shrimp got out of the critter keeper....if crabs could eat sand fleas then id be set because they're like 5 bucks for a dozen over here. I didnt see Fecha at all today, not even in the morning.
 
Ok i placed an order for fiddler crabs from aquaculture. Hopefully this will give me clear signs of Fecha eating, as well as get her to come out a little more.
 
I knew a guy at Caltech in the 80s who fed sand fleas or something similar to an octo, and it at least seemed to work out in the short term, but I haven't seen anyone recommend that around TONMO. They do meet the "marine crustacean" requirement.

I'm not sure if there is a reason why the more experienced octo-keepers don't recommend them, though.
 
I was going to try them but my shipment didn't make it (they are likely very difficult to ship and may not survive in an aquarium very long) and were way too large for the Mercs so I did not try a second batch. They looked like they would be a great food if you can find them locally but be aware that they smell like the devil when they die.
 
they also bury themselves in the sand so i might not find them if they do die. Once i get my octopus eating well i will try them, hoepfully shell grab it before it buries in the sand, or could try the critter cage idea since i dont think they can swim out like the shrimp did.
 
Shrimp seem to get into and out of most anything. I have a tiny sump separated from the larger section of one of my 10 gallon shrimp tank and there are usually more shrimp in the LR area then in the open. I have the section reasonably well screened off but they easily cross between the two.

The critter keeper sound like a great idea for the fleas though. You may want to put a small amount of sand in the bottom if it becomes a viable food source. Does anyone know if they can live fully submerged for any length of time?
 
yea i think ill try it. Anyways, I just sat in the dark for 30 min without any sign of my octo. this morning i didn't see her like i usually do (its the only time i see her) and all of today i didn't see her, and i was home most of the day. So far every food I've put in there is still alive except for one shrimp that i found dead but was intact. I highly doubt shes eating because i haven't seen any hitch hikers on the rocks at all. and the only things in there are a sea urchin, shrimp and crabs. and they're all alive and well. Should i not be worried? I've had her since tuesday without any sign of her eating... I ordered fiddler crabs but those wont get here until at least tuesday since they cant ship on weekends. That would be a week without eating..
 
Yes! i finally saw Fecha. I decided that i would check at night on her to see if i see her, so i watched in the dark at around 1:30 am, but no Fecha, then i went to sleep and set my alarm, checked at 3 am, no Fecha, re-set alarm, checked at 4 30, no Fecha, reset alarm, checked at 6 28 (to be exact) and she was out on the glass! she was moving up and down the glass and tried to catch a shrimp a few times but they were too fast. So i sat in the dark and watched her from 6 28 until 7 08 when i decided to let her know i am watching her. I sat up in my bed, and we stared at each other for about a minute, then she went down to her rocks and hid. At that time i went to sleep because i was very tired, but i was satisfied that i have seen her.:biggrin2:
I'm thinking of trying the freezer idea to make the shrimp slower, but they will probably warm up again by the time Fecha comes out. Would it hurt the shrimp if i make cuts on their tail? because i noticed that they are fairly slow when they move around using their legs, but whenever scared they can go from one side of the tank to the other in a second using a quick whip of their tail.
 
Congrats!! I woke up at like 4am this morning--no particular reason but sure enough Kenny was on the glass too--by the time I woke up he hid again.
 
Not yet, I have only seen him at night or last night just after lights out. Today I put the second layer of red film on the lights to give it more red inside there so I will see if that has any affect.
 

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