my new octo

[rc]

i finally got an octo for my tank, i was going to wait and order a baby from fishsupply.com but yesterday i saw a very neat looking one at lfs
i hope someone will be able to help me identify it.
it has pretty large eyes, long thin tentacles, most of the time it is a rosy red, kinda pink color and it seems to try to burrow, it will hide in a hollow ship then for little whiles it will come out and explore the sand
in the pictures he is displaying a red pattern (darker than his normal pink)

 

[Colin]

nice octo, looks a lot like briareus with the large eyes... see if the LFS can tell you which part of teh world it came from.. that helps

 

[rc]

the store owner was not in but the lady i spoke to over the phone said she beleives it was local (Florida) judging by that and the pictures i have found, i think your right.
im pretty excited, this is the first octo i have evr had that displays red colors, all my previous ones displayed golds, blacks and browns

what can you tell me about this species? i read its noctornal, is there any chance of altering that? (through feeding schedule?)

what do they like/dislike?

what is there size at maturity?

do they burrow?

im attached a picture of his new home what do you think? (suggestions?)
he spends most of his time inside the shipwreck, it is completely hollow with ins and outs all over, he does not seem very interested in the rock at all, instead he likes exploring the open side of the tank which is full of different types of caulerpa, shaving brushes and a red tree sponge (sort of an in-tank refugium)
he sometimes acts as if he is trying to dig under the sand

as tank mates at the moment he has:
one large green brittle star
2 small serpent stars
2 different species of feather stars

 

[CristalShandaLear]

Poor Little Guy

he looks terrified. He's holding up one arm as if to say, No pictures please. I von to be let alone. You have the Greta Garbo of octo's.

 

[Colin]

Hi RC

Florida sounds right for briareus too! And yes they do display a lot of red. I had an adult female who laid eggs about two years ago and that wasn’t long after I got her so I was a bit disappointed with my briareus keeping, hopefully yours will be longer lived!

What sort of size is it? Mine had a total stretch of about 2 feet and a mantle of about plumb size… there are pics of her on the site.

Briareus is a bugger for climbing out. She tried it a few times with me and on one occasion landed in my hands when the lid was open, so keep the thing closed, maybe even weigh it down, they are very strong!

Yes you could get them to be more diurnal and feeding time is the way to do it. Try to feed the same time everyday and they soon figure it out.

I never seen her try to burrow.

I think that the tank looks very bright for a nocturnal species, you could maybe use a dimmer external light in the room at feeding time until it gets used to it, the feeding stick is the way to go.

Also I think you could add much more to the tank, get some sections of good quality plastic pipes and make lots of hiding places, that’s why it’ll be trying to burrow under rocks, the more the better!

Well done on a cool octo! Keep us informed!

C

 

[rc]

i actually went out last night and bought different bulbs, the old bulbs were bright daylight bulbs i changed them out for 50/50 bulbs nicer color and not as bright

its mantle is about 2 1/2" and its about 12" from tip to tip with its arms streched out

the funny part is the octo doesnt really burrow under the rocks it likes to go to the open side of the tank and burry itself about halfway in the sand, im not sure if its checking the depth for a den or looking for something?