Er...help?
Poor little Oliver has survived the first few weeks of our inept care. We still don't know what species the little bugger is, but he seems to be healthy and growing and relatively happy. Even when the cats jump on top of the tank and peer down at him.
Today, he inked for the first two times. I had run out of the little red crabs I had been feeding him and bought him a brace of fiddlers of around the right size. I popped one into the tank, he went his usual 'hunting' dark brown/black coloration, pounced on it with all eight legs - then inked, ran away and hid. WTF?
The second time, he was kinda brachiating his way around the tank, which is on our dining table, while we ate dinner- then inked. For no real reason I could tell. He's not a shy octo, and often wanders around with the lights on (and more than once when we're eating, with full chorus of cats)
Okay, so I changed 25% of the water, tested it, and it all seems pretty normal - couple of questions:
Has he simply not inked up to now because he was too immature? Should I expect more inking, or did he just get a bit stressed by the fiddler?
Does inking pollute the tank in some subtle way I can't test for with my primitive pH, NH3/NH4, NO2, NO3 tests? Should I be more aggressive with my water changes?
Poor little Oliver has survived the first few weeks of our inept care. We still don't know what species the little bugger is, but he seems to be healthy and growing and relatively happy. Even when the cats jump on top of the tank and peer down at him.
Today, he inked for the first two times. I had run out of the little red crabs I had been feeding him and bought him a brace of fiddlers of around the right size. I popped one into the tank, he went his usual 'hunting' dark brown/black coloration, pounced on it with all eight legs - then inked, ran away and hid. WTF?
The second time, he was kinda brachiating his way around the tank, which is on our dining table, while we ate dinner- then inked. For no real reason I could tell. He's not a shy octo, and often wanders around with the lights on (and more than once when we're eating, with full chorus of cats)
Okay, so I changed 25% of the water, tested it, and it all seems pretty normal - couple of questions:
Has he simply not inked up to now because he was too immature? Should I expect more inking, or did he just get a bit stressed by the fiddler?
Does inking pollute the tank in some subtle way I can't test for with my primitive pH, NH3/NH4, NO2, NO3 tests? Should I be more aggressive with my water changes?