• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

Inking causing death/illness to other tank occupants

paddy

Pygmy Octopus
Registered
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
11
I am doing some ink research and wanted to get some feedback from the broader ceph tank owners community about inking events in tanks and its impacts on other animals in the tank. Does inking in the tank kill all other animals?
Cheers
Paddy
Aust
 
Paddy,
I cannot recall a post where anyone reported any problems with other tank inhabitants because of ink or even from a missing, never to be found again dead octopus. That being said, most keepers limit what is put into the tank for the safety of the octopus as well as for the concerns of other creatures. Recommended animals that are usually kept are low stinging polyps, serpent and brittle stars and gorgonians. Most gilled animals are avoided (some fish companions have been tried but ink has not been a problem). Additionally, most (but not all) keepers run a protein skimmer full time which is a major aid in removing the ink, minimizing any possible damage from suffocation (gills and corals). The ink is not known to be toxic. The only known toxin is delivered through the mouth and is fatal to crabs and other small animals but, with the exception of the two species, delivers a minimum irritation to humans (considered equivalent to a bee sting).
 
Thanks for the correction Roy, I ammended my post slightly.

My knee jerk reaction comes from a statement about ink killing everything in an aquarium made by my LRF (the one that built out a customer's reef in a weekend and then blamed a feather star for eating and killing the corals).
 

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