- Joined
- Mar 19, 2005
- Messages
- 164
So what else can I tell you?
First, try to get a black hood, because black duct tape doesn't show up as much since it's the same color, and you may need to duct tape your aquarium hood to keep the octopus from climbing out and exploring your living room
Second, give the octopus lots of hiding places. Go to Home Depot and pickup some ABS/PVC tubing joints (3-ways, 90-degree angles, 4-ways, etc). Make sure you get the kind that says "for potable water use", this is the kind used to transport drinking water (i.e. it won't leach anything into your aquarium). He/She will love to hang out in those and explore them all at night. This is also smoother than live rock (which you should also have because it's helpful for biological reasons as well and looks nicer), and it won't hurt his/her delicate suckers.
Third, try as often as possible to feed it live food - shrimp, crab, crayfish, baby clams, etc.
Fourth, give it different items to play with (that are saltwater safe...i.e. no metal items!) on different days to keep him/her from getting bored. You'll soon learn what his/her favorite toy is.
Lastly, if you're getting a Bimac or similiar temperate (i.e. cold) water species, make sure you keep the temps at room temperature (70 degrees) or lower, if possible. Remember, the lower the temp, the more oxygen the water will hold, the less metabolism the Octo will have, and ultimately the longer it will live.
All these are very important to keeping an Octopus, ESPECIALLY if you're going for a smaller than recommended tank.
Sure, you could spend big bucks on a snazzy setup for yourself, however there are many people that have done this and failed (multiple times) at keeping an Octopus, because they don't understand the nature of the animal and what water conditions really matter.
Hope this helps...
First, try to get a black hood, because black duct tape doesn't show up as much since it's the same color, and you may need to duct tape your aquarium hood to keep the octopus from climbing out and exploring your living room
Second, give the octopus lots of hiding places. Go to Home Depot and pickup some ABS/PVC tubing joints (3-ways, 90-degree angles, 4-ways, etc). Make sure you get the kind that says "for potable water use", this is the kind used to transport drinking water (i.e. it won't leach anything into your aquarium). He/She will love to hang out in those and explore them all at night. This is also smoother than live rock (which you should also have because it's helpful for biological reasons as well and looks nicer), and it won't hurt his/her delicate suckers.
Third, try as often as possible to feed it live food - shrimp, crab, crayfish, baby clams, etc.
Fourth, give it different items to play with (that are saltwater safe...i.e. no metal items!) on different days to keep him/her from getting bored. You'll soon learn what his/her favorite toy is.
Lastly, if you're getting a Bimac or similiar temperate (i.e. cold) water species, make sure you keep the temps at room temperature (70 degrees) or lower, if possible. Remember, the lower the temp, the more oxygen the water will hold, the less metabolism the Octo will have, and ultimately the longer it will live.
All these are very important to keeping an Octopus, ESPECIALLY if you're going for a smaller than recommended tank.
Sure, you could spend big bucks on a snazzy setup for yourself, however there are many people that have done this and failed (multiple times) at keeping an Octopus, because they don't understand the nature of the animal and what water conditions really matter.
Hope this helps...