- Joined
- Nov 27, 2002
- Messages
- 286
Hello again everyone!
Well, my experience with Gollum (my first octopus, as some of you may remember) has been going quite smoothly, despite him being QUITE the recluse. I rarely see the tiny fellow (1-2 inches) more than a few times a week, and then only because I look for him. I have not once caught him outside of his den, let alone moving. Colin suggested (at least I think he did?) that this is typical for my species, which is most likely c.f. bocki, and that it shouldn’t worry me. Indeed, he’s fed just fine off of small blue-leg hermits (he stashes the shells in a dozen hidey-holes in my live rock
) and off of little gammarids and such.
But...now I’m mildly concerned. :? I haven’t seen him in quite some time, over 20 days at least. Usually, I can find him with at most a good 10-minute scan, holed up somewhere in the rock. He relocates enough, probably at least twice a week, that he can always eventually be found in the visible front of the rock, indeed I think he generally avoids the rear. Now, hours of scanning spread over not quite 3 weeks have failed to turn him up.
It’s difficult for me to gage his feeding since he never accepted hand-feeding, and free-feeds tiny crustaceans and blue-legs (HARD to count.) So I can’t use “lack of feeding” as a sign of his health. He’s so tiny, and my tank is 55 gal, that I can’t get an impression from my skimmer, either...I figure with normal octos, feeding cessation would cause the skimmer to work far less, and though my skimmer HAS slowed way down over the past month, I have a hard time thinking a 1.5-inch octo and his feeding habits would really have such an impact. Short of moving some of my equipment to be totally sure, I have seen no signs of escape, either.
I could believe Gollum simply is hiding very well lately...he’s a master at that, and never was very social. Still, this constitutes a fairly significant change of behavior. Should I be concerned? If he is unhealthy or senescent, is it wise that I be watching him in order to remove him if he dies? Can a passed-away 1.5-inch octo really even harm a 55gal tank? If so, when do I start turning rocks over?
rusty
Well, my experience with Gollum (my first octopus, as some of you may remember) has been going quite smoothly, despite him being QUITE the recluse. I rarely see the tiny fellow (1-2 inches) more than a few times a week, and then only because I look for him. I have not once caught him outside of his den, let alone moving. Colin suggested (at least I think he did?) that this is typical for my species, which is most likely c.f. bocki, and that it shouldn’t worry me. Indeed, he’s fed just fine off of small blue-leg hermits (he stashes the shells in a dozen hidey-holes in my live rock
) and off of little gammarids and such.But...now I’m mildly concerned. :? I haven’t seen him in quite some time, over 20 days at least. Usually, I can find him with at most a good 10-minute scan, holed up somewhere in the rock. He relocates enough, probably at least twice a week, that he can always eventually be found in the visible front of the rock, indeed I think he generally avoids the rear. Now, hours of scanning spread over not quite 3 weeks have failed to turn him up.
It’s difficult for me to gage his feeding since he never accepted hand-feeding, and free-feeds tiny crustaceans and blue-legs (HARD to count.) So I can’t use “lack of feeding” as a sign of his health. He’s so tiny, and my tank is 55 gal, that I can’t get an impression from my skimmer, either...I figure with normal octos, feeding cessation would cause the skimmer to work far less, and though my skimmer HAS slowed way down over the past month, I have a hard time thinking a 1.5-inch octo and his feeding habits would really have such an impact. Short of moving some of my equipment to be totally sure, I have seen no signs of escape, either.
I could believe Gollum simply is hiding very well lately...he’s a master at that, and never was very social. Still, this constitutes a fairly significant change of behavior. Should I be concerned? If he is unhealthy or senescent, is it wise that I be watching him in order to remove him if he dies? Can a passed-away 1.5-inch octo really even harm a 55gal tank? If so, when do I start turning rocks over?
rusty
No I'm not trying to be funny its the truth but I'm probably going to go down there today and end up with another octo hopefully this one is not nucturnal 
) he might be able to help out a bit on care because his original female mercatoris was the mother of Chris's.
