Jake - Wunderpus photogenicus

[MimicryJP]

So I'm running into a problem. I decided to hook up a large protein skimmer to ursella's aquarium, only problem is the other half of my lid doesn't fit on my tank when it's on and leaves the back half the tank uncovered. I'm going to try and get a custom glass or fiberglass piece cut to fit but if I cannot is it possible to leave it open? I know most, if not all octo's are escape artist but for some reason I think this species is different.
She has never once (that I have seen) even stick a cm of her tentacles above the water surface... I have read this else were about others of this same species as well. Is it possible because of their long and slender tentacles they are not able to? If so, am I safe to leave the back open? Or is too big of a risk? For now I decided not to hook it up.. Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Jake

 

[DWhatley]

Jake,
I've not kept this species but generally speaking they octos become more adventurous as they mature and an open top is never a good idea. TONMO has journals of lost animals of several species and I lost one with a forgotten top left open for only a short time. Travels to sumps through overflows are not uncommon either. Can you put something rough like a course sponge in the opening? It would not stop an animal that was determined but would go a long way toward dissuading exploration.

 

[MimicryJP]

Yea I'm gonna have to try something... Im gonna try and get some custom made glass lid that will cover most of it and maybe shove a rough sponge in the other openings like you said. Another thing this protein skimmer I have sends out a lot of tiny air bubbles into the aquarium, how big of a problem is this? I also leave for Ohio for a week on Thursday.. I'm gonna loose my mind haha

 

[DWhatley]

The BEST skimmer anti-bubble contraption I have come up with is to put a regular 4" filter sock at the outlet. I like to use the smallest micron you can find - either 100 or 50 - but be prepared to swap it out at least once between regular maintenance, 200 works but you get extra benefit from the smaller openings.

If you have to leave before you have covered the opening, use duct tape and anything you have to secure it while you are gone. I'll send you to my favorite all time thread to understand better why

 

[mucktopus]

She has never once (that I have seen) even stick a cm of her tentacles above the water surface... I have read this else were about others of this same species as well. Is it possible because of their long and slender tentacles they are not able to?

This is possible, but it's still better to be on the safe side. When I've kept octos in the field without a solid lid, I've put a sarong or some other cloth over the opening, and then taped it tightly around the sides, very close to the top. The octos I've kept this way (does not include Wunderpus) don't appear to like the feeling of the dry cloth, and when they touched it they went back down into the tank. It's a bit of a pain to take this on and off for each feeding, but it's better than nothing. Duct tape has the advantage that you can re-use it, so don't need new tape with each feeding.

 

[MimicryJP]

The BEST skimmer anti-bubble contraption I have come up with is to put a regular 4" filter sock at the outlet. I like to use the smallest micron you can find - either 100 or 50 - but be prepared to swap it out at least once between regular maintenance, 200 works but you get extra benefit from the smaller openings.

If you have to leave before you have covered the opening, use duct tape and anything you have to secure it while you are gone. I'll send you to my favorite all time thread to understand better why

Very nice, we're do I find a filter sock, LFS? That's a crazy story! Wish it happend to me haha.

 

[MimicryJP]

This is possible, but it's still better to be on the safe side. When I've kept octos in the field without a solid lid, I've put a sarong or some other cloth over the opening, and then taped it tightly around the sides, very close to the top. The octos I've kept this way (does not include Wunderpus) don't appear to like the feeling of the dry cloth, and when they touched it they went back down into the tank. It's a bit of a pain to take this on and off for each feeding, but it's better than nothing. Duct tape has the advantage that you can re-use it, so don't need new tape with each feeding.

That's a good way to do it, I might have to Do that with the openings, I'm gonna get somewhat of a piece of cut plexiglass for most of it, any worries on some of the cloth touching the water? As far as chemicals from the cloth leaking into the aquarium?
I appreciate the recommendations guys!

Jake

 

[DWhatley]

You can get them in most on-line aquarium suppliers and on eBay but I am not sure about an LFS. The hangers are a bit pricey but if you get the kind with the plastic collar (my preference over a drawstring) you can fabricate something easily to hold it in place. In one tank I just wedge it between the skimmer and sump wall but something more substantial is needed for a tank with critters.

Are you SURE you read far enough in the thread? I don't think you want this to ... Happen to YOU (vague reference to folk song MTA)

 

[MimicryJP]

Are you SURE you read far enough in the thread? I don't think you want this to ... Happen to YOU (vague reference to folk song MTA)

Lol damn You are definitely right... That would be horrible thing to happen I feel really bad for the guy. Unfortunately I can say I've had a similar thing happen. One day the thermostat in a heater went out in one of my reef tanks, and cooked everything.. I had two snowflake percula clown fish ($150 a pop) and allllll of my corals including a beautiful Rose bubble tip anemone and some nice torch corals... That sucked.

On the bright side I got everything sealed up and i managed to find a filter sock! Thanks a lot for all the help... I pray nothing happens like it did to that guys tank, my dad is gonna go check on it for me every couple days. I also tossed a few fiddler crabs in there, I'm hopping my nitrates don't sky rocket.

Thanks again,
Jake

 

[MimicryJP]

Hello from Ohio!

As far as I know everything is going smooth, I called my dad and he said he went over there yesterday and everything looks good... He said when he got there she was just hanging out on the front of the aquarium and everything was still running. I will be home by thursday, hopefully all will be good. I'll keep TONMO posted!

Thanks,
Jake

 

[MimicryJP]

Hey guys just thought I would keep everybody informed. Ursella's is still doing great, I got home yesterday and she was moving around the tank, looked happy to see me . Other than that all of the crabs were eatin except for one, I found that one underneath the aquarium by the canister filter... Fiddler crabs always seem to get out somehow, kinda Weird since the tank was sealed with duct tape.

I ended up taking out the power heads, I figured she would be fine with the just the filter and skimmer running. (please correct me if I'm wrong)

Thanks!
Jake

 

[MimicryJP]

This is hard to type... Something went wrong... Two days ago she was fine and yesterday she was missing a tentacle and looked like her tentacle was getting sucked into the filter intake... Now I come home today and she only has 5 tentacles left... The only possible thing I can think of is she is eating them. I have 0 nitrates.. The only thing I have changed is adding the protein skimmer last week and taking out the power heads... Any ideas?

Thanks
Jake

 

[DWhatley]

What do the tips of the remaining arms look like? Does it look like a clean cut or a ragged end. Where is the arm severed? At the base or starting from the tip?

I have only had one case of autophagy and that was after an escape and skin over exposure to air. There appear to be two causes for an animal to eat/chew its arms. One is a bacterial infection that is believed to be contageous, the other seems to be stress and or other skin conditions (check all your parameters, especially PH and salt). There is a third possibility as well and is why I asked about where the arm is severed and the condition of the remaining tip. Some species can throw an arm if frightened or trapped. I don't know if photogenicus is among the species that can do this but was recently surprised to learn that O. briareus may have that option when trapped.

 

[CaptFish]

O. briareus may have that option when trapped.

They do. I forgot to post about it, but I was recently playing with one that got caught in our lobster traps. He dropped his arm to get away from me while i was trying to release him. Big guy too. Close to Leggs size when she was full grown. good 3 to 3/12 foot spread.

 

[MimicryJP]

I have to get a PH tester but my nitrates are zero and my salinity .024.. I put in the other power head just to see if that would make a difference because that was the only thing I changed, but I walked into the room and she was stuck to it were the fish lining is, so I quickly shut it off and she remains to stay at the top of the tank... Everything was perfect up until a couple days ago, something drastic must have happened... She doesn't seem stressed, shes still moving around the aquarium just easily gets sucked into the powerhead and filter (may be very weak?) I did notice a few days ago her tentacle was a little out of the water and staying towards the top of the tank again... All tentacles were severed from the base (clean cut) which is why I think she's eating them.

Thanks guys,
jake