inking

[macfl]

i went in the tank to give him some little shrimp and he got scared and inked a tiny but, what should i do? if tits only a little does it really matter? im doin a water change just in case

 

[Nancy]

If the ink is in blobs and sticks together (rather than forming a screen), maybe the pantyhose net would work. Take a small aquarium net and line it with a piece cut from panyhose. This makes a fine net that you can use to remove the ink.

Otherwise, your protein skimmer and other filtration should take care of a small amount of ink.

Nancy

 

[macfl]

thanx a lot nancy , you have helped me a lot, i thought a tiny bit of ink for some reason poisoned him, but after reading some other posts i figured out it needed to be alot and it actually suffocated them instead, hes doin goood now. do dwarf octos change color? and what do the different colors mean?

 

[Nancy]

There are many different species of octopus and some change color and pattern more than others. You can find a lot of interesting pics under Journals and Photos - have a look at Carol's G2 (corw314) to see lots of colors and patters. Not many people keep dwarfs so we haven't had many pics of them. Eventually maybe you can photograph your octopus.

As far as I've been able to find out, most color changes are for making the ocotpus invisible, either while on a rock or while hunting. Bright red (a brownish red) can mean anger or being upset. This I've seen in two different O. briareus. White can also mean fear - it just depends on the species.

So maybe you can stop the frequent water changes due to inking for a while. Remember that Gus will be skittish for a while, so move slowly when you're around him.
He's had a lot of excitement already, so he needs a quiet life for a while.

Keep us posted,

Nancy

 

[corw314]

Rummler was a dwarf also. Deffinately different attitude. How is Gus today?

Carol

 

[macfl]

good, not sure what kind, looks like the one flknifemaker had, any info on those kind? he doenst come out much

 

[corw314]

If you look back on Rummler's short stay with me, she wasn't very friendly either, but I'm not sure if that's a dwarf trait or because she had eggs. Yours is still new yet so give him time!!!

Carol