[Octopus]: New Bimac

[tkong]

I was lucky enough to order one of @Tomh 's bimacs on 7/19/22. I ordered a "small" individual, but was pretty shocked how big he was when I received him (this is coming from only previously owning 2 dwarf octopi haha). He came in very healthy and acclimated quickly. He took freshly thawed shrimp off of my feeding stick within the first 24 hours. The gf and I have not come up with a name yet so will update you guys when we do.

The temperature of the tank is usually around 64-68F. After a couple of days, the bimac dug his little cave under one of the larger live rock pieces and this is where he spends most of his day before coming out later in the evening. I was gone for a few days, so I threw in a handful of local bay area grass shrimp from a local bait shop while I was gone ($8 for a 1/4 lb, so a great supplemental live feeding source. I keep the rest in a rubbermaid tub with a sponge filter). He was able eat most of them except for like 3 of the quicker ones. Should i be gutloading the shrimp before feeding them or is that unnecessary?

I have a wyze camera with pet detection set up in front of the tank, so I am able to see what hours at night he is active. He seems to be mostly nocturnal right now. He comes out at 9pm consistently and is active throughout the night up until around 6am. I could spend hours in front of the tank just watching the bimac explore. After watching how much he explores throughout the night, I am glad that I decided to go with a 75 gallon tank instead of only a 55 gallon.

I look forward to the bimac further adjusting to his tank and journaling his progression!

 

[Hadla]

Congrats! I can’t wait until I can afford a bigger tank, chiller, and the bimac itself in a year or so!

 

[tkong]

Yes! Totally worth it. I am lucky that my basement stays below 70F all year round, perks of living in foggy and cold SF I guess

 

[tkong]

I fed the bimac for the second time using my acrylic feeding stick. And she must've remembered / recognized it from my first feeding because she came dashing out for the thawed shrimp before I got anywhere close to her den haha.

 

[Hadla]

Just making sure nothing can steal it first

 

[tonmo]

awesome, congrats @tkong and thanks for starting a journal!

 

[sedna]

Congratulations on your new friend, can’t wait to hear more!

 

[tkong]

Quick update: Bimac has been doing really well still ( I swear I will come up with a name by the end of the week).

I have been gradually increasing the portion of shrimp that I am feeding (Just want to avoid any leftover sitting in the tank that I can’t see).

There continues to be two grass shrimp that have evaded predation. Not sure if they’re not big enough to be viewed as food or are just too darn quick.

I had to clean the tank glass this morning and the Bimac thought the scrubber was the feeder stick for a hot second and came rushing out of her cave, but then quickly realized it wasn’t food and retreated back .

Family (who aren’t very big fans of my regular fish) absolutely love the big Bimac , sending me videos while I am at work and not home. Thank you again Tom for this opportunity! Still very active at night but seems to be coming out more during the day slowly.

And thank you everyone for the kind replies

 

[octo-gone]

Just name her BiMac?

 

[pkilian]

Should i be gutloading the shrimp before feeding them or is that unnecessary?

I would recommend gut loading the shrimp before feeding. Shrimp (because they are so fast) can be energetically expensive to capture for the octopus, so the more nutritious the shrimp are, the better!

I gut load mine with powdered krill feed but pellets would probably work as well.

If you find the shrimp are repeatedly escaping your octopus, you could crush the tail of the shrimp to prevent them from jetting away and making them easier targets, but that may not be necessary.

 

[sedna]

I love that your family is getting into your octopus! Luckily everyone in my house love all of the many types of fish in the house, they’ve actually gotten a bit jaded about living with an octopus!

 

[Tomh]

Hi you should be able to get him to eat thawed shrimp, silversides, clams on half shell. Small pieces. I use a feeding stick when feeding! Thanks

 

[tkong]

I would recommend gut loading the shrimp before feeding. Shrimp (because they are so fast) can be energetically expensive to capture for the octopus, so the more nutritious the shrimp are, the better!

I gut load mine with powdered krill feed but pellets would probably work as well.

If you find the shrimp are repeatedly escaping your octopus, you could crush the tail of the shrimp to prevent them from jetting away and making them easier targets, but that may not be necessary.

Is gutloading beneficial if they are not eating whole?

 

[tkong]

Update:

My apologies for not updating in a while. I caught covid towards the end of August and then work got super busy since a coworker got let go.

So my girlfriend ended up going with the name "Hank" after the octopus in finding dory haha. Hank has grown about 15-20%. His mantle hasn't gotten much bigger that I can tell, but his arms are definitely longer.

I've been consistently feeding frozen shrimp on a stick. At first, he would attack the stick even after grabbing the shrimp and wouldn't let go to the point where I had to let him have the stick and then take it out later after he was done playing with it. But has now learned that the stick is not the actual food .

I fed him a clam and he ate it the first time. But didn't eat the clam the second time I tried. Here is a video of Hank eating the clam the first time. Clam Feeding . He was jetting water over the shell. Not sure if this is normal or abnormal behavior.

Overall, Hank has finally become much more diurnal and when he is hungry sometimes, he will come out of his hiding whole to meet me at the front of the glass, so great to see that he is starting to associate me with food.

Will continue to add updates as Hank grows.

 

[tkong]

A few things I forgot to include:

1. Does hunting prowess vary across individuals? I find that my wonderpus Marty is a much more patient and determined hunter than Hank. He is very deliberate and will slowly stalk 1-2” ghost shrimp and reattempts multiple times if he fails.

Hank, on the other hand, doesn’t really hunt the larger 3 inch ghost shrimp (a decent size meal I believe). He kinda half pounces or lazily throws an arm every once in a while when they come near him. Is the prey the issue? Haven’t had a chance to feed him any sort of live shore crab etc.

Just curious, because I don’t mind since he readily takes frozen foods with gusto so it’s honestly better for me cost wise.

2. Also, are larger octopuses more prone to inking? Has only happened twice and I have a big skimmer on the tank so it was no worries. But just something I have noticed. The tank is on the bottom of a rack system so I guess that could be attributing. I have been more mindful of making an effort to get low before approaching the tank so I don’t come over the top.

I’ve had a carribean dwarf species and my current wonderpus and both have never inked. My wonderpus doesn’t even get scared of me.