Octopus Availability

[Thales]

I spoke to mike and he said that teh prices are high because simply they aren't available this time of season and when they come in on a regular basis our prices drop to around $25 each so you can pay higher now or lower if you can wait if that's the animal for you.

How are you connected with the company?

A couple other examples during prime season is Mimics sell as low as $75 each and Australlian Blue Rings as low as $19!

To the best of our knowledge the site has never had a mimic. Several people here have discussed this with them (look a page or two back). Whichever 'zebra' octopus they have is worrisome as we have no idea how collection impacts the wild population, and selling them cheap could result in over collection. Selling deadly blue rings is also questionable.

Also someone else was saying something about the bimacs coming from "eastern pacific". I don't know what he is talking about but the one mike has are bred right at his location or farms and they are also wild all along the Southern California to Baja Coast line (mostly along the San Diego, CA area for wild ones) but we breed them.

What is you connection to the company?

That addresses another question a few were talking about. It sounded as if they were blasting someone on ebay that nobody could have a "mated pair". Although octos aren't really mated pairs but rather opertunistic breeders, you can have a pair that will breed successfully for you in the tank. Mike do it on a regular basis and he also has videos on it if you want me to forward them to you which include closeups of the baby octo's swimming all around in a frenzy!

Is that the vid from the 90's? The one he said was cuttles originally?

I don't see anything more recent on their youtube channel

 

[MDL1113]

I am not connected at all I have called him over the last few years looking for both octopus and cuttlefish. I have been talking to Mike over the last few days because i am trying to get some more rare octo's so i can bred them myself. I am not sure about the video but he said he would send it to me. I think it is a newer one since the 90's.

 

[CaptFish]

Also someone else was saying something about the bimacs coming from "eastern pacific". I don't know what he is talking about but the one mike has are bred right at his location or farms and they are also wild all along the Southern California to Baja Coast line (mostly along the San Diego, CA area for wild ones) but we breed them. That addresses another question a few were talking about. It sounded as if they were blasting someone on ebay that nobody could have a "mated pair". Although octos aren't really mated pairs but rather opertunistic breeders, you can have a pair that will breed successfully for you in the tank. Mike do it on a regular basis and he also has videos on it if you want me to forward them to you which include closeups of the baby octo's swimming all around in a frenzy!

It is his website that claims they are wild caught from the "eastern Pacific" which is correct but what concerned me is that he suggests keeping these animals in water that is 72-78 degrees, these are cold water species!

His site says nothing about farming them. it mention is one section that they have been tank bred but that all his are wild caught.

I was the one that was amused by the "Mated-pair" for two reasons one octopuses dont technically pair up, like mated pairs of clown fish for example. Two it can be extremely hard o accurately sex octopuses especially on those tiny Mercs. It happens on this site all the time we get octos swear they are one sex and they turn out to be the opposite. I am well aware that octopuses have been tank bred in the past.

 

[MDL1113]

I think that Mike just has not Updated his site in a long time including the pictures and info about everything.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

I keep wild caught bimacs, and I agree that some of the information about them given on the sellers web site is inaccurate, but I think our primary reaction should be joy and gratitude that bimacs are available at all, and not distrust. I think the mistakes are probably honest ones, because one of them actually makes the octopus less attractive to buyers: "nocturnal feeder". I'm willing to assume that the seller just doesn't know that much about keeping bimacs. Maybe he'll update his website if he gets a few polite emails from people like us correcting the errors. lets be careful not to make this guy sorry he's selling bimacs. In the meantime - woo hoo, bimacs are available again.

 

[CaptFish]

I'm not going to be happy just because someone is selling Bimacs. I will be happy when I know that he is doing it responsibly. I dont want to sound negative but I have to be skeptical. I would love it if an octopus farm were to exist or be started but I think it needs to be done right, not by hobbyists in there basement, but rather by scientist in a laboratory. A Hobbyist aimless breeding octopuses and selling them off is not going to help toward the greater good of the species, It is cool I'm sure, but in no way is it an "Octopus Farm".

If this guy is in fact Farming them then and doing it successfully then its an even bigger shame that no one knew about it until now. There are so many important questions that could be answered: What is he feeding them? How is he introducing the mates to each other? How many generations has he had? What kind of setup is he using for hatchlings? And many more.

 

[rryyddeerr]

would somebody fork over some cheese to see if this operation is legit, please? i would love to, but i dont have a functioning tank suitable for a bimac. if this pans out, i will.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

I just sent an email to OceanPro Aquatics, with a version of the text from their Bimac page that I edited for accuracy. I thanked them for offering bimacs, offered my corrections and additions, and asked them to consider updating the information on their web site. I hope they do, but even if they don't, they are still the only source of bimacs (if they in fact have any) that we've seen in years. I catch my own bimacs, so I don't benefit from this, but I'm happy for the people who've been wishing for years that there was a source.

I would love it if an octopus farm were to exist or be started but I think it needs to be done right, not by hobbyists in there basement, but rather by scientist in a laboratory. A Hobbyist aimless breeding octopuses and selling them off is not going to help toward the greater good of the species

IMO A hobbyist, trying to hatch bimacs in their garage is nothing but good, and couln't possibley help or hurt the species. I wouldn't want anybody breeding Giant Pandas in their garage, but this is more like growing tomatoes. I can't imagine what the downside could be, or why you think a PHD is required to raise bimacs. IMO, the worst thing that could happen is that the eggs fail to hatch, or that the parents die. So what? Either way somebody is enjoying themselves, educating themselves, and if things go well, some people will have access to baby bimacs.

I think the only possible irresponsible action would be to release a captive bimac back into the wild, and risk infecting the wild population with an exotic disease or parisite, but that's the responsibility of anyone who keeps any animal that can live locally.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I think you're advocating an unnecessarily high standard for bimac breeders.

 

[CaptFish]

I advocate I high standard for anyone breeding anything. I'm not saying its bad for a hobbyist to breed Octopus, as long as they do it properly and responsibly it's good, it's great. And by responsible I mean not inbreeding, looking after the health and well being of the animals in there care. and making sure that when selling there product they give accurate information about the species they are selling and accurate advice to their clients on how to keep that species properly.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

captain Fish,
I can't argue with any of that. I do hope that the people at OceanPro Aquatics update the info 0n their website, and really do have bimacs for sale.

 

[SabrinaR]

I spoke with the owner for over an hour today. He said that normally they sell only to retailers however they have had to change that because of the economy. He is selling a few things that we here will be interested in for sure. He said that in 4 or 5 months they will be releasing a ceph set up tank designed for cephs specifically. He also is a part of the BBB and has been in business for over 10 years... maybe longer I cant remember what it said. He told me he went into this as a retirement venture and its turned into a full blown industry for him. He welcomes corrections to his information and knows about this site so I believe he will start coming around to see whats what. All in all I think from what I have heard and seen so far that it sounds good. I will be ordering from him later today. If that goes well I will let everyone know.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

You tease! Details!
What size are the bimacs?
Are they wild caught or tank raised?
Is he just taking orders, or does he really have some now? If not, how long is the expected wait?
Does he have a steady supply?

 

[SabrinaR]

I forgot to ask about the sizes lol. They are farm raised. Last he checked there were 6 in stock. They could have sold by now though. From the way he talked he is a normal distributor to the retail stores so I am guessing that yeah he has them often enough. After looking at the videos I think Capts concerns of a basement breeder is really not a concern at all. I really think this has promise. I hope so. Bimacs would be a wonderful addition here at TONMO. I also think that considering this are farm raised octos that the high price is COMPLETELY justified as well as welcomed. Maybe it will keep the fly by night octo keeper from going into half cocked and they will take it more seriously. I often feel that the low price really does hurt the octos at times thought I really appreciate the low cost too lol. One down side I do see other than the miss information on the temp for a Bimac is that the site doesnt tell you if its out of stock or not. So it will let you order a Mimic if you want one but I know for a fact the only ones he said he had in stock right now were the bimacs and the blue rings. I was told the other day from a retailer in my area that they are getting the bimacs in and I thought he was just mistaken... maybe they really are coming back.

He sent me this email.

Really nice speaking with you today. I thought i'd send you this video of our farm and maybe you could share it with the others on the forum. Whom ever mentioned us in the forum, tell them I said thank you and to let me know if he wants anything. I always like to give discounts, give away freebies or just be nice to others who talk about us on sites as honestly it's the best advertising we can ask for. Here's a video of one of my farms in So.California right on the boarder of Mexico and I own another very small one in Suva, Fiji, a wholesale outlet in Los Angeles and have 8 franchisees in the USA (just a bit of info about us). I'll double check on the bimac question and be sure to confirm they are in fact bimacs for you as well before we process your card.

Here's the video and again, nice speaking with you.

(our San Diego farm)

(Los Angeles Imports and Acclimation - raw unedited video )

I'll send you some video on the cephlopod babies when I can. I know I have some floating around here I can post up to youtube for you guys. Thanks!

--
Oceanpro Aquatics, Inc.
Michael D. Baker
3142 Sunset Vista Court
Chino Hills, CA 91709

Office (909)233-6976 Mon-Fri 10-5pm PST
Wholesale to the Public Aquarium & Pond Products
www.OceanproAquatics.com

24/7 Live Customer Support

 

[CaptFish]

Wow, I have to say I am very impressed. My original conce4rns were not really with OceanPro aquatics as they were obviously a company and not an individual, I was concerned about MDL that said he was farming. Oceanpro definitely needs to update there website though with accurate information. Also they are selling both Blue ring octopuses and "The very rare Mimic Zebra Octopus imported from Bali!"

 

[SabrinaR]

I believe that his company is the main co that distributes the octos to live aquaria (they told me their distributor was out of LA) and many of our local retail stores so it would make sense that he would also be the one who carries mimics and blue rings.