Live aquaria octopus

[simple]

Hi, im not sure if this is the right section to post this, but i was just wondering, has anyone here ever bought an octopus from liveaquaria.com? They state that they are from indo pacific area, has anyone had these or does anyone know what type they are, and any special requirements for care?
Thanks

 

[Animal Mother]

I'm thinking there is going to be a range of variety in species considered "Indo-Pacific". Might turn out to be Abdopus Aculeatus, might not. Either way, LiveAquaria.com is pretty reputable. You might email or call them and ask if they can give you more details.

 

[simple]

ok thanks. ill try that. Has anyone on here gotten one from them, so maybe i can ask them about their experience with live aquaria. Ive ordered from Dr. F&S before and theyre great.

 

[Animal Mother]

I've ordered fish and starfish from Liveaquaria.com and I was very happy with what I got, packaging, etc.

 

[simple]

ok i just got off the phone with them, and they didnt tell me anything that wasnt already on their website, they said that they dont really know what type because they sell, according to him, "several subspecies" that are grouped into a big category (assorted octopus).. I dont really want to risk ending up with a vulgaris, so any info on these guys would help

 

[Animal Mother]

That's the answer I kinda assumed you would get. Really that's about as specific as most website dealers are going to be. Unless they can give you the exact species name, it's always going to be a bit of a gamble. If it's Indo-Pacific it's most likely not going to be a Vulgaris.... but could be.... possibly. My problem with their Caribbean species is it might be a Vulgaris, it might be a Filosus/Hummelincki, it might be a Briareus, or it might be a Mercatoris. If it turned out to be a Mercatoris (which the picture indicates) I would be pretty freakin upset. Or even still, it might be another species I'm not familiar with at all.

One thing you can be sure of, at that price, it's not going to be a Mimic or Wonderpus, and that is a big relief to me. I believe they actually removed Mimics after some responses they got from members here... or maybe Tony?

 

[simple]

ok but if its from indo pacific i wont have to worry too much about it being a vulgaris or a mercatoris right? I might actually buy a 110 gallon tank soon so vulgaris wouldnt be so bad, its just that im new to this and i dont know if such a big species would be a good idea as my first octo..

 

[Animal Mother]

I wouldn't worry about it being a Vulgaris or a Mercatoris. It COULD be a Vulgaris, but highly doubtful. Could be an Indo-Pacific dwarf, but definitely not Mercatoris.

I don't think a Vulgaris would be any more of a challenge than the other frequently kept octos, with exception to tank size. If you get that bigger tank it shouldn't be that much of an issue.

 

[monty]

the two "list of our octopuses" threads in the "Journals and Photos" threads list the sources, when we know them, of pet octos, along with other details. It doesn't look like any came from liveaquaria, but it's a good resource to look at for knowing what octos suppliers are known and have a good record.