- Joined
- Jan 23, 2010
- Messages
- 27
I am an 80 year old retired photographer. Down through the years I have had several marine aquariums. I even cared for a pregnant octopus at one time, a story which I will recount in a moment.
Keeping 55 gallon marine aquariums became quite a chore as I became blessed with arthritis, so it's been some years since I've had my hands in salt water. Lately however, I have been thinking more and more about getting the salt water back on my hands. When I set up my first marine tank over fifty years ago we had to contend with metal aquarium construction and aquarium cement that became toxic when used with salt water. The consensus was, "Keeping salt water fish alive is impossible!" And, at that time, if you even suggested that some day you could keep live coral in your living room, you would have surely been commited.
Maybe I am just before my time. I have been shooting stereo slides with the same Stereo Realist camera since 1952. Three dimensional technology was inevitable. I knew that the first time I picked up a Stereo Realist camera in 1952. Unfortunately, digital technology wasn't there to make it a viable medium at that time. So I had to wait. The irony is, that I will probably be dead before it reaches the full potential I have waited all these years to see.
I like radio controlled electric helicopters, old movies on DVD and surfing the web. I also enjoy turning some of my several thousand stereo slides into anaglyphs by copying them into my computer using my Nikon Coolpix 5700. Currently, I am trying my hand at hydroponics using The AeroGarden and learning R/C quadrocopter flying.
Several years ago I cared for a pregnant octopus my son caught. Of course we didn't know she was pregnant at the time. However, she soon retired to a cave I had made for her and started stringing her eggs from the ceiling. She then began aerating them for what seemed like forever, but must have been several weeks. I can't rememeber how long. All that time she would not accept any kind of nourishment. I never peered into her cave and saw her when she wasn't aerating those eggs. I don't think she ever slept. I tried to find out what I should do when the eggs began to hatch, but in those days there was very little about the octopus in captivity. The smallest live food available were brine shrimp and I knew the babies would not eat those, at least that was my understanding. The female dies after the eggs hatch so there was nothing to be done for her, but I was hoping for some kind of a miracle for the progeny I guess. I don't know how many hatched, but I saw a few swimming around. Then, they just seemed to disappear and were gone. I really felt pretty rotten considering all the work she had put into giving them life and, through ignorance, I just let them die.
I would like to comment on statements I keep reading that maintain it is impossible keep an octopus unless you completely seal off the tank, for they will always try and escape. That is not strictly true. I have kept three octopusses on three separate occasions, not counting the pregnant female. None of these animals made any attempt at escaping although there was more than enough room to do so. Nor did any of them do any inking. I have reached the conclusion that as long as the animal feels safe and secure and is receiving enough food, it will, in most cases, stay put. And will ink only when it experiences real fear or terror.
I am now setting up a 20 gallon long tank for a baby octopus my son can capture at one of the spots where he goes fishing off his boat. I would like to communicate with people in a similiar situation so that we may compare notes.
Have a happy and productive new year.
Christopher R. Mohr Sr.
Keeping 55 gallon marine aquariums became quite a chore as I became blessed with arthritis, so it's been some years since I've had my hands in salt water. Lately however, I have been thinking more and more about getting the salt water back on my hands. When I set up my first marine tank over fifty years ago we had to contend with metal aquarium construction and aquarium cement that became toxic when used with salt water. The consensus was, "Keeping salt water fish alive is impossible!" And, at that time, if you even suggested that some day you could keep live coral in your living room, you would have surely been commited.
Maybe I am just before my time. I have been shooting stereo slides with the same Stereo Realist camera since 1952. Three dimensional technology was inevitable. I knew that the first time I picked up a Stereo Realist camera in 1952. Unfortunately, digital technology wasn't there to make it a viable medium at that time. So I had to wait. The irony is, that I will probably be dead before it reaches the full potential I have waited all these years to see.
I like radio controlled electric helicopters, old movies on DVD and surfing the web. I also enjoy turning some of my several thousand stereo slides into anaglyphs by copying them into my computer using my Nikon Coolpix 5700. Currently, I am trying my hand at hydroponics using The AeroGarden and learning R/C quadrocopter flying.
Several years ago I cared for a pregnant octopus my son caught. Of course we didn't know she was pregnant at the time. However, she soon retired to a cave I had made for her and started stringing her eggs from the ceiling. She then began aerating them for what seemed like forever, but must have been several weeks. I can't rememeber how long. All that time she would not accept any kind of nourishment. I never peered into her cave and saw her when she wasn't aerating those eggs. I don't think she ever slept. I tried to find out what I should do when the eggs began to hatch, but in those days there was very little about the octopus in captivity. The smallest live food available were brine shrimp and I knew the babies would not eat those, at least that was my understanding. The female dies after the eggs hatch so there was nothing to be done for her, but I was hoping for some kind of a miracle for the progeny I guess. I don't know how many hatched, but I saw a few swimming around. Then, they just seemed to disappear and were gone. I really felt pretty rotten considering all the work she had put into giving them life and, through ignorance, I just let them die.
I would like to comment on statements I keep reading that maintain it is impossible keep an octopus unless you completely seal off the tank, for they will always try and escape. That is not strictly true. I have kept three octopusses on three separate occasions, not counting the pregnant female. None of these animals made any attempt at escaping although there was more than enough room to do so. Nor did any of them do any inking. I have reached the conclusion that as long as the animal feels safe and secure and is receiving enough food, it will, in most cases, stay put. And will ink only when it experiences real fear or terror.
I am now setting up a 20 gallon long tank for a baby octopus my son can capture at one of the spots where he goes fishing off his boat. I would like to communicate with people in a similiar situation so that we may compare notes.
Have a happy and productive new year.
Christopher R. Mohr Sr.