Fish Net Breeder...

[Maifun]

Hello, I'm new to this forum and aquatic animals in general, and just recently freaked out about getting a cephalopod of some sort. I thought owning one was basically an option only for those near the beach...of course being in the college-dorm environment in a land-locked state, space is a bit hard to come by, and with that being said, I'm thinking a 35-35 gal tank should be sufficient, but a sump out of the question. Though while pricing options on the PetCo website (among others), could a Fish Net Breeder be sufficient for keeping an octopus out of sensitive mechanics of filters and pumps and such?
here's the URL for the PetCo model...
http://www.petco.com/Shop/petco_Pro...219_cp_3_Nao_24_sku_737020_familyID_9217.aspx

thanks in advance. I just want to know if this could work. I'll wait on getting a something until I really have enough money and time to properly house it in a smaller environment than normal.

 

[cuttlegirl]

Well, net breeders work for baby fish and baby cuttlefish, but octopus can climb, so if it didn't want to be in the net breeder, it would leave. It is kind of the equivalent of a human baby and a playpen... eventually the baby will figure out how to get out of the playpen and then you need to baby-proof the entire house... you need to octo-proof the entire tank. Good luck and .

 

[Maifun]

I'm sorry, maybe I wasn't clear, but I meant that the actual Octopus would be in the tank space itself, while the sensetive components of tubing and aeration systems could go into the net. No living animal inside, just the machines. Like a space that wouldn't be as accessable as say just the open tubes/fans on the inside of the tank. I could make adjustments on the size of the net, too.

 

[Nancy]

Just as your octopus can climb out of a net breeder, it can climb into one, too!

Nancy

 

[cuttlegirl]

Could the octopus still crawl into the net breeder??? They are curious animals. If you have an intake to a skimmer, you can cover it with a foam block.

 

[Maifun]

or maybe i could make a net bag that could be fastened outside of the water to go aroung individual parts? only fastening something around one end of a tube, a cover can be pulled right off. I guess covering the whole thing wouldn't really be effective on a filter or skimmer...but on the pumps it could work.

 

[DHyslop]

I'm sure it could be done but it would involve a lot of creativity and trial & error.

For example, I'm considering using a large net-breeder to house a baby bimac. I was thinking about using hot-melt glue to secure the brackets to the trim in concert with a length of PVC inside the tank vertically to hold the breeder frame in compression with the glass aquarium top. A bead of silicone on top of the frame (allowed to dry before being installed in the tank) would act as a gasket to prevent the little guy from climbing out.

Dan

 

[cuttlegirl]

You might want to consider fiberglass window screen material. I cut a piece to fit and then sewed it around the intakes with fishing line. How many intakes do you have to cover? Could you use a sump and place all of the mechanical things in the sump?

 

[Maifun]

I don't really have anything yet, I'm just running ideas through for space issues and such. And maybe others can use this information or try it out, too.