I think I am ready to order my octo, let me know what you think.

[poisonfrog420]

I have had the tank cycleing for the last two months. It is a 75 gal tank with 60lbs of fiji live rock and about half an inch of fine sand. I am using a Marine land Tidepool II sump and their S.O.S. overflow. The tank also has two power heads for circulation. After the nitrite had gone down from the live rock I put two yellow tail blue damsels in the tank to cycle it. They have been in their for the last two months. I plan to get a sea clone 150 protien skimmer next weekend and then order the octo after spring brake (ends the 28th). Do you think the tank is ready?

On another note I was thinking of ordering the octo from Dr. Fosters because I could also order some corals, inverts and fish for my reef tanks and that would spread the shipping charge out a little bit. Are their bimacs pretty good? Also what do people think of the rest of thier animals? If you do not think that is a good place to get an octo pleace suggest another. Also what kind of live food do I need right off the bat? I want to switch it to a frozen diet as soon as possible. Thanks for the help, Jake.

 

[cthulhu77]

Well, the tank might be ready, or it might not...what are your water parameters at ? As far as Dr.Foster goes, I have no experience...in regards to initial feeding, I would ask whoever you buy it from what it has been eating, and wean it onto the frozen diet that you prefer.

Post up your water readings, and you can tell if it is ready for an octo or not...I'm sure someone who has dealt with Dr. F will post a response !
Be sure to enter your tank into the database, too...

greg

 

[DHyslop]

I've heard decent things about Dr. Fosters, but last I saw they didn't have any aquacultured bimacs in stock. Octopets doesn't either, but they will in three weeks.

The nice thing about Octopets is you can get the baby clams for feed. If you're interested in piggy-backing shipping, fishsupply.com has other non-ceph related livestock in addition to bimacs and baby clams. Their bimacs come from Octopets.

Also, some people on the internet recommend modifications to optimize Seaclones. Google around and you'll find a lot of different opinions.

Dan

 

[poisonfrog420]

Thanks for the info. The only specs I test are salinty which is 1.026, pH which is 8.2, amonia (sp) 0 and nitrite also 0. What else should I test for? Does any one know much about fishsupply.com? Are they a pretty good company?

 

[Nancy]

You should also test for nitrates, which should be 0 or near 0 as well.

Fish Supply is a fine company and they also sell inverts, fish and other things. I think I'd choose them over Drs F&S, but I've really had little experience with Drs. Foster and Smith except for small pieces of equipment like bubblers.

And also, I hope you're planning to take out the fish from your octo aquarium and put them somewhere else.

Make sure your powerheads are well protected so that little octo arms can't get into it or take it apart. And your water intakes as well.

Good luck,

Nancy

 

[cthulhu77]

Since you don't have test kits yet, be sure to take a fresh sample of your tank water down to a marine fish store and have them test it...then, I would recommend buying the necessary kits (they should have them packaged all in one box) and start keeping a chart of your tank's water conditions, that way you can track how your tank is evolving ! Make sure everything is perfect prior to ordering your octo...or you end up with a dead new pet, and having to start over again ...
greg