How to move an octopus?

[Akyu]

It'll be a little while yet but I wanted to be prepared. How do you move an octopus safely from one tank to another? Especially one that stays in the den constantly? Just move the rock gently? Start siphoning out water from the old tank and putting new tank water in, then transfer?

Thanks.

 

[Armstrong]

I don't recall ever seeing or hearing any technique for that...but since octopuses are curious, I would let it go into a cup or some type of container it will attract to. Once it stays inside, just take it out filled with saltwater, and place it in the other tank.

But you might have to acclimate it into the new tank, im not sure.

 

[joefish84]

also try to make the new tank den look as close as possible to the old and the octo wont freak out on you when it cant find its home

 

[clownfish]

Be careful with the cup idea because when I was moving mine I put him in a pitcher with a cloth on top of it, went away and found my octopus on the floor thank god he turned out ok...

 

[Jean]

you WILL need to aclimatise it! I would transfer it in a cup or bucket with a VERY secure lid, as clownfish mentions they will go exploring! And then a standard aclimatisation!

J

 

[Nancy]

You can help make things easier by having the temperature, sg, pH, etc. as close as possible.

The idea of setting up the same aquascape in the new tank is a good one - of course, the tank is bigger so you'll have more, but maybe a corner could be the same.

We've had a number of people move their octos to new tanks, so it can be done.

If you use a cup or container, make sure you've rinsed it well in distilled water or salt water so there's no soap or detergent residue.

You may have to remove some of the water to be able to catch your little octo - is her den in a rock so it could be picked up with her in it?

Nancy

 

[Akyu]

Yes, Nancy, it is a rock, so I was hoping to move the entire rock over. It's about a rock that's 5 inches high and 4 inches at the base. So, basically, I could move her rock with her inside to a bucket and acclimate her to the other tank and then transfer the rock to the new tank? Oh good! Ossie is so shy still that there was no way I could entice her out.

It's still going to be another 4 more weeks at least but I'm starting to go through my head of how I want to do this.

Thanks folks! Will make sure that the water parameters are close, having a similar setup albeit 8x larger, and cover the container that I'm using to acclimate her. Any more suggestions?

Sharon

 

[DHyslop]

Don't forget to acclimate! Even if the move is just across the room I'd use the drip-acclimation procedure.

Dan