Octavian O.briareus - new to octo keeping

o mann lol i hate to run the risk of killing another sea hare ( i have badddd luck with them) mabe ill buy another 1 and try it because this is the 1st 1 ive had thats staying alive.
 
Unfortunately, they are such great cleaners that even switching tanks, I lose them to lack of food (I think) over time. I find the larger ones from the West Coast (not cute like the Caribbean ones) do better but still only live about a year when I monitor the food supply. Ken (sealifeinc.net) occassionally has one that will eat lettuce (any kind) and might eat dried seaweed but I did not have success keeping the one I tried and have not tried another.
 
its not a maatter of food my 55 gallon tank was one of the worst tanks ive ever seen. it started when i was very new and using tap water and making all the mistakes a newbie could make lol. well now im starting to get it under control.3 have died 2 due to power heads and one unknown reason. this guys been alive for a pretty long time. there is still tons annd tons for it to eat i just dont want to ruin the situation and take him out. so mabe well buy another one. the better one is the ugly green ones im guessing? ive seen 3 kinds so far 1 black one with blue spots, one looked like a dalmatian except brown and white and one is mostly green with some brown/black on it this is the most available one and most likely the one we would try with octavian.
 
Do remember that seahares will ink if molested and briareus is likely to molest just in wandering about. I would recommend a cowrie except that a recent post suggest they may be even worse if they feel endangered. Your safest be will be pencil urchins (who sometimes get aggressive after they are older but tolerable. One of mine recently caught a starfish in its arms, now harm but it was difficult to release it) and grazing starfish.
 
When i interned at M.S.I.(marine science institute) they had sea hares in there tank and fed it kelp that was collected that week. They told me that they will ink and there ink is very poisonous. They had one ink in one of there main tank and lost a lot of animals. So i have never thought of keeping one after hearing that story.
 
ive never seen the green ones ink but i have seen other kids do it. the green ones i speak of dont have that flap on their back like the other 1s do. octavian does have a pencil urchin in his tank now i guess ill just have to wait it out.

ive had sea hares die in my reef tank with no ill affect ive also had the dalmation looking kind ink in my tank kinda purpley ink. ive been told by afew trusted ppl that their ink is very similar to octo ink. and that its bigest risk is of cover gills of fish so they cannot breathe.wich is likely the reason octo ink is so lethal in tanks.

But i am no professional ill try to ride it out with the urchin and see how it goes, he mainly sticks to the rocks wich is not where i need him to be lol. the back wall is starting to get fuzzy. im not to worried because he will be moving to a 40g in not to long where he will have a fresh start.
 
we are still in crab crises as our crab order is coming from fl and there cold weather is making the crab population scant. we tried frozen shrimp afew times so far and octavian does not want to have anything to do with it. so weve been feeding him emeralds and its getting pricey.

octavian has a damsel in there with him hes been in there for a week so far but we figured if he gets hungry enough he will be a back up food plan, there are also afew peppermint shrimp in there aswell.
 
well octavian isnt looking like hes gonna make it much longer :frown:. he wasnt eating for afew days.we fed him a red crab tonite and after prodding him with it he took hold of it ,reaching out of his dean. he didnt really have his normal grip on it.usually his crabs cant even move but this time the crab was wiggling around. his colors arre still deep wich is a good sign but his siphon seems kinda straight not curved. mabe hes just in a funk because of his water change but i dont know i have a bad feeling about it :frown:
 

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