Ocho's 6 Month Update

[Phuntoon]

I haven't posted in a few months although I still visit and read very regularly. Just wanted to give a little update. The beautiful, long legged Ocho is doing very well and is actually living longer than I expected. When I got her at the end of July, she was pretty much full grown. I was gonna consider myself lucky if she lasted til Christmas. Well, the holidays came and went although I think there might be a few signs of age (a few spots of skin pigment staying white) but she's still kickin....I mean suckin. Still very content living underneath my undergravel filter which is fine and makes for a giant den to roam around in. It is still very awesome to watch her squeeze her 5 inch mantle and near 2 foot legspan down a crack just a little bit thicker than a coin or 2. I think this will be my last octopus with an UGF though. Ocho lifted up a corner just enough for a small crab to get underneath which worries me because I wouldn't be able to get to the remains which would compromise water quality. I'm gonna go with the live rock route from here on out. So Ocho has been getting a lot more thawed frozen shrimp lately which she seems perfectly ok with. Ocho has remained nocturnal coming out in late evening. I feed her about 4:50AM as I'm getting ready for work. Ocho has always had a tankmate which is a damsel. She is a very non aggressive little fish and has never caused a problem. I keep the tank at about 74 degrees, salinity 1.026 and a 20% water change every 2 weeks. I run filter floss and carbon 24/7 in a HOB filter and of course, a skimmer. I thinks that's pretty much it unless anyone has some questions. Now, a few pictures.....

 

[Phuntoon]

and a few more pics.........

 

[monty]

wow! Ocho's a really beautiful octopus! thanks for the report and pictures...

 

[suzie9mm]

I just want to say your tank looks amazing. Your water is so clear! And Ocho is beautiful!!

 

[corw314]

She is absolutely beautiful! Love the pics!

Carol

 

[tonmo]

Great update Phuntoon, thanks! Stuck this thread temporarily for front page promotion...

 

[Fini]

Ocho's a stunner!

 

[Scuba Kid]

She's beautiful! What species?

 

[Phuntoon]

Wow, I check back into the TONMO site and what do I see....Ocho front page!? Thanks Tony, that really means a lot to me! I appreciate everyones kind words on Ocho as well. She is definately an insteresting creature which always keeps me amazed. Never predictable yet seems very comfortable in her surroundings and is easy on the eyes. I'll snap some more pics and get them up soon...

She's beautiful! What species?

Thanks! I posted Ocho in the ID forum a few weeks after I got her and most came to the conclusion of a Macropus. She seems to have most of the physical characteristics of Macropus but its hard to be 100% sure because of a few differences I've noticed.

 

[griffen7777]

Ocho's 6 Month Update

I'm considering using an UGF as a way to simply keep the water moving,
I'll place my live rock on top of the plates and use dual power heads to move the water.
For the front and sides I would like to use smooth beach stones to cover the UGF plates.
I'm new to this octo business so does this sound reasonable?
I hope so because I collected the beach stones myself which will make the whole thing alot more worthwhile.
I plan to employ a wet/dry so the UGF will only be for water movement and whatever incidental filtration takes place.
Thanks to all and have a great day!
DR

 

[griffen7777]

This may not be the correct forum for my question....apologies if it is'nt

 

[Phuntoon]

I'm considering using an UGF as a way to simply keep the water moving,
I'll place my live rock on top of the plates and use dual power heads to move the water.
For the front and sides I would like to use smooth beach stones to cover the UGF plates.
I'm new to this octo business so does this sound reasonable?
I hope so because I collected the beach stones myself which will make the whole thing alot more worthwhile.
I plan to employ a wet/dry so the UGF will only be for water movement and whatever incidental filtration takes place.
Thanks to all and have a great day!
DR

No apologies. We're here to help with any and all questions. As for your plan, it should work out great especially since you just want it for water movement. Since a UGF supposedly relies on at least a few inches of substrate to trap the beneficial bacteria underneath, the addition of live rock and the wet/dry will help greatly and be your primary source of filtration. Ocho uncovers huge portions of the grate and there is no disturbance of good bacteria and the water stays very clear so for some people who say a UGF is sensitive and you shouldn't disturb the substrate.....I guess Ocho has proven that wrong. I also have the HOB filter to assist though. The best thing is there will definately be no shortage of oxygen in the water with the kind of surface disturbance a UGF makes. Ocho is only the 2nd out of quite a number of octopuses I've had which has found the giant lair of space beneath the undergravel filter though. Make sure the rocks you put on the grate are heavy enough that your octopus will not be able to lift it. You could also glue the grate to the bottom of the tank unless you actually want your octopus to make a den under there. In my case, I'll have to redo the tank once Ocho passes on cause she's brought a lot of gravel under there shaping her den which has slightly raised one side of the grate. Hope this info helps.

 

[griffen7777]

Yes it does!
Thanks.....what you told me confirms what I was thinking.
Ya I suppose that beneath the UGF would be an ideal lair.
Must be fun to watch her emerge.

 

[Fishy1]

Hi!

She IS beautiful!
Is she the same one as in your name file photo that shows on the left of each post? That one looks so much like mine and I've been trying to ID her. Do you know what species that one is? I looked up Macropus and got a wallaby list.

Sounds like you're taking very good care of her; keep it up!

 

[DWhatley]

Griffen777,
For trappers tank (and several others) we made a modified UG to move water without sucking from the main water column. On the underneath side, we attached a network of joined PVC pipes with drilled holes so that the down tubes were connected to the PVC network. On Trapper's tank we put a filter bag around the PVC because we are using sand and to keep him out of the tubing. We made a custom platform out of plastic peg board but a standard UGF could be modified similarly.