- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 2,386
edit added by Monty: AM said below:
Long story short, I'm in charge of the display tank at the vet clinic I work at. My boss wanted to order some stuff, as he said "whatever will make the tank more interesting." I had let the availability decide for me, but just as I thought it wasn't meant to happen, Ta-dah! Another "Indo-Pacific" octopus was available.
So, considering Domboski's journal with his 2 aculeatus, and a number of other threads on other forums about mixed octo/fish tanks I took the plunge. I know it's not ideal in the eyes of some folks, but oh well, what can you do?
After a 24-hour delay in "priority overnight shipping"... making it a 48 hour trip, I received a beautiful, fully intact A. aculeatus from LiveAquaria. So far it doesn't seem that the long trip was too hard on the octopus.
The other occupants of the display tank at work are; 2 red firefish, 1 tiny percula clown, 1 gold-stripe maroon clown (considering banishing it), 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 six-line wrasse, various serpent/brittle stars, hermits, snails, and an unfortunate emerald crab.
In the way of corals, there are palythoas, a huge sinularia, a bubble coral, a field of green star polyps, kenya tree, finger leather, xenia, and (dun dunt duhhhh) a long-tentacle anemone.
Now, before you crap your pants, the anemone is on the far left side of the tank, and the bubble coral is on the far right side of the tank. They are both pretty small, about the size of a baseball. I will be observing them closely to make sure our new octopus is bright enough to avoid them, and if not, they will become store credit at the LFS. Considering they are things the creature would encounter in the wild, I am thinking it will most likely avoid them. There is a LOT of open space in between them, and lots of other areas for the octopus to hide and roam without contact with these two potential threats.
I have a 30 gallon sump/refugium that includes a skimmer underneath. I octo-proofed the overflow drain by attaching an 8-inch piece of pvc drilled with dozens...many many dozens of 1/8th inch holes, and an end cap. The return pump is a mag 7, and I have a Maxi-Jet 1200 to supliment the circulation in the tank. I'm not happy with the amount of circulation as is, so I'm going to invest in some Hydor flo-deflectors and another Maxi-Jet.
The tank is a bowfront 72 gallon, 102 gallons total water volume. The fish, if you're not familiar with them, are all relatively small being under 4 inches long, and are peaceful, minus the GSM clown but she only mistreats the poor "Nemo" if he comes too close to her home. There is a deep sand bed, 3-6 inches varying from area to area, as the goby's a digger, and the GSM clown is showing nesting behavior fanning sand everywhere with her tail. 100lbs sand total, crushed limestone. 60lbs live rock in the display, 10lbs in the refugium, probably add some more to the display to create more nooks and cranny's for the 'pus to play in.
Long story short, I'm in charge of the display tank at the vet clinic I work at. My boss wanted to order some stuff, as he said "whatever will make the tank more interesting." I had let the availability decide for me, but just as I thought it wasn't meant to happen, Ta-dah! Another "Indo-Pacific" octopus was available.
So, considering Domboski's journal with his 2 aculeatus, and a number of other threads on other forums about mixed octo/fish tanks I took the plunge. I know it's not ideal in the eyes of some folks, but oh well, what can you do?
After a 24-hour delay in "priority overnight shipping"... making it a 48 hour trip, I received a beautiful, fully intact A. aculeatus from LiveAquaria. So far it doesn't seem that the long trip was too hard on the octopus.
The other occupants of the display tank at work are; 2 red firefish, 1 tiny percula clown, 1 gold-stripe maroon clown (considering banishing it), 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 six-line wrasse, various serpent/brittle stars, hermits, snails, and an unfortunate emerald crab.
In the way of corals, there are palythoas, a huge sinularia, a bubble coral, a field of green star polyps, kenya tree, finger leather, xenia, and (dun dunt duhhhh) a long-tentacle anemone.
Now, before you crap your pants, the anemone is on the far left side of the tank, and the bubble coral is on the far right side of the tank. They are both pretty small, about the size of a baseball. I will be observing them closely to make sure our new octopus is bright enough to avoid them, and if not, they will become store credit at the LFS. Considering they are things the creature would encounter in the wild, I am thinking it will most likely avoid them. There is a LOT of open space in between them, and lots of other areas for the octopus to hide and roam without contact with these two potential threats.
I have a 30 gallon sump/refugium that includes a skimmer underneath. I octo-proofed the overflow drain by attaching an 8-inch piece of pvc drilled with dozens...many many dozens of 1/8th inch holes, and an end cap. The return pump is a mag 7, and I have a Maxi-Jet 1200 to supliment the circulation in the tank. I'm not happy with the amount of circulation as is, so I'm going to invest in some Hydor flo-deflectors and another Maxi-Jet.
The tank is a bowfront 72 gallon, 102 gallons total water volume. The fish, if you're not familiar with them, are all relatively small being under 4 inches long, and are peaceful, minus the GSM clown but she only mistreats the poor "Nemo" if he comes too close to her home. There is a deep sand bed, 3-6 inches varying from area to area, as the goby's a digger, and the GSM clown is showing nesting behavior fanning sand everywhere with her tail. 100lbs sand total, crushed limestone. 60lbs live rock in the display, 10lbs in the refugium, probably add some more to the display to create more nooks and cranny's for the 'pus to play in.
