Octopus Availability

[simple]

yea i know some lfs around here that can get me an octopus but they never know what type they will get so i haven't risked it so far..

 

[Stevie]

MarineSolutions... copy and paste.... they have gotten 4 to 6 in the past month or so, and it seems that no one else in this town is brave enough to purchase them! Also the price of mine was $40....

 

[reefermadness]

tank bred bimac's

I just ordered a tank bred bimac from /www.marinedepotlive.com/ they have wild born ones in stock but can get tank bred ones within a few days if you order them.

 

[Vonsamhain]

I just ordered a tank bred bimac from /www.marinedepotlive.com/ they have wild born ones in stock but can get tank bred ones within a few days if you order them.

Let us know what they come up with. I noticed them to, but have not yet contacted them. I believe that they had they add that said "octopi may be missing tenticles" or something like that.

 

[Bigpapa]

I called them today and they said they are tank raised and are about the size of a quarter.

 

[DHyslop]

Keep in mind tank-raised is NOT equal to tank-bred. I consider Marine Depot to be a dubious seller of octopus. First off, it is against California state law to sell a tank-raised bimac: basically, bimacs can only be collected for personal use and not for re-sale. Thus it is legal to capture a bimac and breed it (as forum members like Zyan Silver and MarineBioGuy have done), which is not what Marine Depot is doing. Second, Marine Depot isn't an experienced handler of octopus: they've said right on their website at times that you can expect your new little friend to be missing arms! At one point a forum member was told by Marine Depot that the octopuses they had in stock looked sickly.

Frankly, I doubt they even know what a bimac is or how to identify it. My guess is they have the same "Indonesia octopus," "brown octopus," or "Bali octopus" that every LFS in the country can get on their distributors' lists, and they call it a bimac because they know there's demand for them.

Caveat emptor.

Dan

 

[Bigpapa]

Thank you for the info, I will be sure to stay away then-- I have already had enough bad luck with trying to start.

 

[reefermadness]

I'm getting mine in the mail tomarow, but on the phone was told that they had a breeder that they got the tank bred ones from. I will let you know what I get

 

[monty]

I'm getting mine in the mail tomarow, but on the phone was told that they had a breeder that they got the tank bred ones from. I will let you know what I get

I wonder if marinebio_guy sold his remaining stock when he had to move...

edit: I mean sold them in bulk to a distributor or something like that.

 

[marinebio_guy]

Nope, I've not sold any to any suppliers. Although, in the future if I start raising them again that is the goal but I would let people know what places I sold to.

 

[monty]

Nope, I've not sold any to any suppliers. Although, in the future if I start raising them again that is the goal but I would let people know what places I sold to.

Hmmm. I wonder if that means Zyan or his dad are selling to them, or if there's another breeder we don't know about... (or if, as is often the case, some web sites say "tank raised bimac" when they mean "random octopus that our supplier sent us")

 

[DHyslop]

My guess is the latter. I think they're full of it--but that's just my not-so-humble opinion.

 

[monty]

My guess is the latter. I think they're full of it--but that's just my not-so-humble opinion.

Yeah, but you're really cynical... oh, wait, I guess I am, too

 

[shipposhack]

We have to remember that although this site has a large number of octo keepers and breeders that are out there, we don't have them all. LFSes and online stores that receive captive bred/raised ones are likely to actually have received one that was captive raised. At the very least, eggs were stolen from the wild and hatched in a tank. We got a TR bimac at work once that was marked as "Octopus: Tank Raised". It was indeed a bimac, and was a cute size (not a quarter). I would also venture to say that any octopus that is a quarter in size would not be easily caught from the wild, if you somehow spotted one at all.

While Marine Depot saying their octopuses looked sickly doesn't make me want to buy one from there, I think it's good that they told the person that they didn't look good instead of selling an ill animal that would likely die in shipping or shortly after and leave the customer disappointed. Honesty is a good trait in this hobby.

 

[Vonsamhain]

Just FYI, I got this email today. As you could imagine, I wrote them back saying I thought it was irresponsible on their part, but honesty is good.

"Dear Shawn,

Thank you for choosing Drs. Foster & Smith Live Aquaria for your live aquatic
needs. We currently have 2 assorted octopi available. They are approximately 2
1/2" - 3 ", and they are eating vitamin enriched Mysis and crab pieces.
We apologize, however we are unable to provide exact species of what we have
available as they are sold as assorted only.

If we can be of any additional assistance, please feel free to contact our Live
Aquaria Department at 1-800-334-3699 or via email at
[email protected] and we will be happy to answer any question(s)
you may have.

Sincerely,

Live Aquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith"