First time father

[AW2EOD]

Well, it's been months and months since I've visited this site. It's good to be back, reading up on all the missed posts.

I finally got my octo...well, ordered it, I should say. He'll be here Sat. and he's aquacultered Bimac. He should be 3/4" - 1.5", so they say, so his first new home is going to be my empty, 12 gal. JBJ Nano Cube. It's been home to a reef, before that was transfered to a 25gal. It's been running, with hermits and live rock for a few months, with regular maintenance being done.

I was worried about the false wall, and him climbing over it, so I made a small mod, to keep that from happening. I used poly filters and folded it in half. Then, I drilled the false wall and secured the filter pad, to the top of the wall, with zipties.

When he outgrows the Nano, he'll be moved to a 40gal. cube and then onto a 75gal.

Here's a few pics, of his set up. I still have a few things to do, before his arrival...another water change, hook up a small chiller and devise a way that I can lock the top, without having to use tape...

 

[cthulhu77]

Looks to be efficient...plenty of hiding spaces, etc. Can hardly wait to see some pics of the little guy !

greg

 

[Nancy]

Welcome back!

Be sure to let us know when the little bimac arrives - as soon as you have a name for him, I'll add him to the List of Our Octopuses at the top of the Journals and Photos forum.

And yes, we're looking forward to pics!

Nancy

 

[AW2EOD]

Oh, trust me...you guys will get LOTS of pics. hahah

Between the other 5 tanks, that I have...I have aprox. 2000 pics, on my computer of all my fish. I'm already trying to think of a name for him. He's arriving tomorrow.

And, thanks for the warm welcome back.

 

[erich orser]

Looking forward to seeing the newest member of your family!

 

[clownfish]

I love it!! I always love to see tanks expecaly arcylic. best of luck with the octopus

 

[AW2EOD]

Well, he arrived today.

He's acclimating now...figured I'll give him about an hour or so, before he goes in the tank. He came in beautifully, didnt ink in the bag or anything. He was shipped to my buddy, James, house cause that's where the order was going to.

I couldnt resist taking a few shots, already...

 

[Jean]

vey cute octo! love the beer bottle cap for scale!!

J

 

[AW2EOD]

vey cute octo! love the beer bottle cap for scale!!

J

hahaha...thank you. I tried to find a quarter, but the beer cap was laying right there. You cant work on your tanks without a beer in hand. haha

Here's the only good shot of him, after I put him in the tank. He explored the tank, for a while (he was very active), wrestled around with a hermit crab, gave up and then he then shot off, directly for the PVC pipe and he's been hiding ever since. I've checked on him, a few times, with a flashlight, to make sure he's ok. Every time I shine the light on him, he turns from yellow to black and get's very defensive. How long do you guys think he'll hide before he comes out?

 

[erich orser]

Wow, he's just great. I especially love the first one where his eyes appear to be above water, gator-style. Dr. Gilly's cuttlefish was doing that in Monterey last month. I love that.

 

[corw314]

Give him at least a week. But sometimes these babies are so used to people they are out the next day. Try to leave him be till he emerges on his own so he doesn't get frightened. These babies go through alot on their journey to us. I remember when Inklet arrived, the delivery man was tossing the box from hand to hand as he approached the house! Best of luck with your new baby and nice pics!!!

Carol

 

[Nancy]

More nice pics!

Here's a tip - cover your flashlight with red plastic wrap or use a red lens - then your octo won't react because he won't see the light.

Nancy

 

[AW2EOD]

I went and checked him on, today, when I woke up. He's pushed the sand out of his PVC burrow, into the opening, so that the opening is almost closed off...just enough room for him to squeeze out. I guess he's doing some redecorating. lol I did make sure to put in lots of little live rock rubble pieces, so he could use those for his den, as well.

I did see that he'd grabbed the one hermit that's in the tank. He was firmly holding onto it, in his den. He was flashing colors faster than I could count...he's serious about getting that hermit out. lol

With him being so tiny, I cant find any live crabs that are small enough. What's a good, staple diet, that I should be feeding?

 

[Nancy]

Look for small blue-legged crabs. If one LFS doesn't have them, perhaps another will. Also amphipods and the baby clams. Small snails, pieces of fresh mussel or scallop, maybe even a piece of thawed frozen shrimp.

Nancy

 

[AW2EOD]

Ok, thank you, Nancy. That's exactly what I was thinking...just wanted to make sure.

I tossed in one of the little hermits, from my reef tank. I really didnt expect him to eat, after only one day, but I checked back later and he had dragged into his PVC home and was hard at work, getting the hermit out of the shell. He's quite the little housekeeper. haha. As soon as he was done eating, he crawled out of the PVC, over to the side of the tank and deposited the left overs, from the crab. Then, he went back into his burrow and cleaned the sand. He started picking up loads of sand and bringing it to the front of the burrow and pushing it out...very cute!!

Here are some pics...