Octo/tank advice

[Eclipse]

Ok so I bought my tank a about 3 weeks ago and it has been cycling for about 2 weeks now. It is a 75 gallon with a wet/dry system, standard T5 lighting, 25 lbs of LR, 4 inch deep LS bed, a 9 watt UV sterilizer (obviously not running yet), and I will get a protein skimmer shortly.

I have a couple ideas to secure the top and make it look pretty nice...but my concern is most likely the easiest part...the tank is drilled and it has little slits in the corner unit and about a 1/4 inch to a 1/2 inch gap between the top of the tank and the top of the drilled corner piece. Will both of those have to be cover? If so what do I use and how would I go about making sure it stays attached? lol


Also at first I was going to get a Bimac...the only problem is I live in Florida and i have a rough time keeping my reef and FOWLR tanks around 75-78 degrees during the summer (i have to leave all the tops open and a fan on my 150 gallon), clearly I can't do the same with an octo because he will escape.

My question is what would be some other options for a 75 gallon tank other than a dwarf octo? I really like the Bimac but realistically I don't want to spend the money for a chiller. Is is really REQUIRED that the temp be in the low 70s or will they be able to adjust (like fish) and live a healthy life?

 

[simple]

im not too sure if the bimac would adjust well, but i do know that in florida you could easily get octopus briareus, or maybe vulgaris.

 

[Animal Mother]

Bimacs really need lower temp. Preferably even high 60's, but 72 seems to be acceptable. Higher temperatures will reduce the octos lifespan, might kinda cook it actually... California waters are pretty chilly. Since your tank is drilled you should be able to run a fan on the wet/dry. I don't know that it would be as effective though since the wet/dry's surface area exposure is pretty limited, might work fine though. A Briareus might be a better option since they are warmer water species, and like Simple said, pretty common in Florida. A Vulgaris would be too big for a 75 in the long run.

Yes, you need to seal off your overflow too. Window-screen repair kits seem to be what a lot of folks use.

Add more live rock.

 

[DWhatley]

A duh, I did not think about when we built out our tank and the fans over the sump would not keep it cool enough is the use of screen for your tank cover (we used solid acrylic). It is still unlikely that you will be able to keep the tank cool enough for a bimac this way but you should be able to keep an Atlantic octo comfortable.

 

[Eclipse]

Man I really wanted a Bimac, a Vulgaris was my second option because from what I have seen from the Briareus I wasn't too impressed with them.

In conclusion my tank will be too warm for a Bimac and too small for a Vulgaris...lol depressing.

 

[Eclipse]

I was wondering, what factor is the reason a Vulgaris wouldn't work in a 75 gallon? Is it because it will get too big? Or is it because the bioload will be "too high" ? From what I have read when it comes to size a 75 should be fine...but i'm not the expert

 

[simple]

its a bit of both. If go really overboard on the filtration it should be able to manage the bio load, but a vulgaris grows to 3 feet, and at that size it wouldn't have much room to move around comfortably.

 

[Eclipse]

Ok so I bought about 75 lbs total of TBS (tampa bay saltwater) live rock and 50 lbs of sand. I'm worried about the sand though because I have a feeling it is pretty course...but we will see. I'll be sure to upload some photos under a different topic with the rocks and the tank in it. Cant wait to see all the goodies I get with this stuff, suppose to be the highest quality rock available...and lucky me the guy is a couple miles away.

The tank will look a little rough at first because right now its nothing special at all because i have yet to Octo-proof it and make the touchups i wanted to do, but hey whats the rush...i have 2 months to get all of that done :P