I have questions

[octo joe]

I baught a dwarf octo from seasave.com about a month ago and i finally seen him last night for the first time I was told he was from GOM and thats it so i guess hes nocternal. I had read somewhere on the web that if you have a nocternal species of octopus they could be veiwed at night by using a red light but when I turned it on he acted scared and hid. Would any body know of a better way of veiwing nocternal species if so please reply.

 

[Animal Mother]

I have a dwarf octopus. He will react to the light, but if I place it where it's not directly beaming down on him but still luminating the tank, he will adjust to it.

 

[octo joe]

thanks for that brief input Animal Mother if you have any other advice as well as anyone else it would be greatly appreciated THIS IS MY FIRST OCTO I've read up on them for about a year now but theres always more to learn.Dont get me wrong Im an expierenced with all types of animals but I love to learn more all the time.

 

[Animal Mother]

thanks for that brief input Animal Mother if you have any other advice as well as anyone else it would be greatly appreciated THIS IS MY FIRST OCTO I've read up on them for about a year now but theres always more to learn.Dont get me wrong Im an expierenced with all types of animals but I love to learn more all the time.

That's the best attitude to have.

Things that will help everyone help you...

How big is your tank? How much live rock do you have in there? What kind of filtration are you using? How often do you feed it?

I have mine in a 10 gallon with a 50 gallon Aquaclear filter that has a large filter pad containing carbon blocking in a large wad of macro algae and a shallow sand bed. I use it this way because when I started in the saltwater hobby I found several people had used this method on small tanks with a lot of success. I like it, it provides a lot of flow, and has the room to be used as a refugium, and besides the carbon, the macroalgae helps filter junk out of the water and pods thrive in it. I haven't had any water quality issues yet, but I'm watching. I have an extra 60 gallon HOB skimmer sitting around just in case. The room he is in is dim, and always stays cool, and the tank temp stays between 70 and 72.
I have a shallow sand bed in the tank. The octopus itself is actually contained in a large critter keeper, barely small enough to fit inside the tank so as to maximize his space, but easy to make escape proof with filter sceen that allows plenty of flow. I only use this method because he is so tiny. He is about 3 inches long, from the tip of his mantle to the tips of his arms.

There is about 10 pounds of live rock in with him, plus several large shells for him to hide in. He seems to enjoy them more than the rock, and he is rarely in the same one for more than a day or two.
I've found that Einy (my dwarf) tends to eat Hermits every night if there are any in the tank with him, and Fiddler Crabs usually run around for a couple of days before he eats them.

You might not feed him one night, and then put a Fiddler in the next night, with the light on. I have to be really patient sometimes in order to even just catch a glimpse of him. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to catch the show though.

 

[octo joe]

Animal Mother I'm not sure how to use the quote option yet so please be patient with me also sorry if my spelling is bad its not a strong point niether is typing for that matter. When I spoke with the guy over the phone he told me that the oct. was about as big as his hand and I told him that I had a 46 gal. bow front tank and he said that would be fine and when I got the oct. he was about the size of a small marble now he about twice that size as far as feeding goes he said they where feeding their octs. on small chunks of frozen thawed shrimp I was putting that in every other night for the first few weeks and I didnt see him feed so I thought maybe he passed away because I've read alot about how most dwarfs are full grown when you get them and they usually die within a month of their purchase. so I stopped feeding the shrimp to see if any of the tiny blue legged hermits in my tank started to come up missing and sure enough they did so I started watching the tank at night hopeing to see him and finnally last night I saw him. Im currently using a magnum pro series 350 canister filter which can filter up to a 125gal aquarium once an hour with nylon meshing over the in/out take also a small air stone to ensure proper gas exchange. all my water parameters are great right now I do routine testing on the weekends. I use to use a very similar setup when I was breeding sea horses the room in wich the tank is located is usually dim lit and the tanks temp. stays between 70-72. which as far as I can tell seems to be working fine for him but then again last night was the first time I've seen him since I baught him a month ago.

 

[octo joe]

I dont know whats going on with this site one dot says I'm here the other says I'm not am I doing something wrong.

 

[octo joe]

I left out how much live rock I have abuot forty pouds so as you can see my tanks pretty big for him and he could hide virtually anywhere.

 

[Animal Mother]

I left out how much live rock I have abuot forty pouds so as you can see my tanks pretty big for him and he could hide virtually anywhere.

Hahahaha, dang! That's probably why you don't ever see him. He might be sitting right in front of your face half the time and you wouldn't know it because he's blending in. I imagine he should be pretty comfortable with that much cover to hide in.

Sounds like a really good set up for a dwarf though. Einy's mantle is MAYBE the size of a marble. Closer to a large peanut.

My suggestion is to rotate his food menu. Put a Fiddler Crab in every few days and have a seat, and prepare to be very patient. My girlfriend thinks I'm ridiculous sitting up in front of the tank around 11PM waiting for Einy to do something, and believe me, it is frustrating sometimes. But when he finally comes out it's a brand new experience every single time.

 

[octo joe]

yeh! Me and my friends was talking about that the other day how he could be right in front of us and we wouldn't even know it. but I know my tank pretty well and I watch it alot mainly at night because the hours I work so you would think that I would see him more often.

 

[Animal Mother]

yeh! Me and my friends was talking about that the other day how he could be right in front of us and we wouldn't even know it. but I know my tank pretty well and I watch it alot mainly at night because the hours I work so you would think that I would see him more often.

I was staring into the Giant Pacific Octopus display at the local aquarium, and I didn't see him. Then my girlfriend said "He's right there" and low and behold, he was basically right over my shoulder just on the other side of the glass. He was invisible to me and he is almost as big as me... so one about the size of a nickel... yeah.

These creatures camo talents cannot be underestimated.

 

[octo joe]

I do know what you mean Ive sat down and watched for many hours at a time and cant find him but I still enjoy looking thats half the fun and something about watching my tanks it gives me a since of peace if you know what i mean. Just out of curiosity what would you say is your octs. favorite place to hide in a shell or live rock because I still haven't figured out where hes calling home

 

[Animal Mother]

He likes shells. I have never seen him hide in a rock.

 

[octo joe]

well I was just wondering because when I released him into the tank he went straight under a rock and the other night when I saw him/and he saw me he went straight under a rock after about 45min.

 

[octo joe]

I think Ifigured out a way to watch him at night. yesterday I took a stran of chrstmas lights and put all red bulbs in it and laid it on top of his tank and within no time he came out and acted like it really didnt bother him to much I sat and watched him until 4am. IT WAS AWSOME!!