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Octopus food

Jimbo is right about the expense of octo food, if you try to give them some live food and some variety in their diet. And it gets worse if you don't live near the ocean.

I have to have my live shrimp and fiddler crabs shipped to me, because I live so far inland. These shrimp are also small, but worth it since Ollie enjoys catching them so much.

Nancy
 
My weekly food expenses for my cuttlefish is about S$4-6. I spent about S$2 weekly on food for my late octo(crawled out of tank after 13 days).he was about 3 inches fr armtip to armtip.
 
Well that is not bad at all.
Has anyone tried feeding there octo cut up pieces of fresh fish?

On another note, all of my equipment came in today to find that the stand does not fit the tank. The store had to send it back and I am going to have to wait another week or two for a new stand.

I considered trying to set up the tank without the stand but decided against it because I think a 50 gallon tank filled with water would be very difficult to move.

Anyway, anyone else want to give their input?
 
Yes, my octo will sometimes eat small pieces of fresh fish. I've tried sole and halibut.

One of the best ways to reduce costs is to tell the people at the seafood market that you're buying the seafood to feed your octopus. Bringing along a photo helps, too. You'll probably get a reduced price, or even get your octopus food without charge.

Nancy
 
i was wondering

I was reading the post's here and someone said they live close to a lake with crawfish in it, i live with'n 10 mins of 2 different lakes and have a fairly large creek running through some of my land. All of witch have tons of crawfish, but is it safe to take them and feed them to an octopus?

If so this would make an extreamly cheap and easy way for me to feed a larger octopus (that i plan to get small and grow big). If anyone knows if it is or is not safe i would like to know, because ill set up a 30 gal. for crawfish if it will work!
 
Yes, you can use crawfish for part of your octo food, at least after your octopus has grown a bit.

I don't think we have any research results on this subject, but an octopus is an ocean dweller and normally eats things from the ocean, not freshwater creatures. Your octopus could have deficiencies if you fed it wholly on crawfish. Add some shrimp or other seafood to balance his diet.

Also, crawfish would be better food after your octo gets a little larger. You can also start with smaller crawfish. Some I've fed to Ollie have been an inch or an inch and a half long. But if you catch them yourself, you'll have access to all sizes.

Hope this helps,

Nancy
 
Thank you, ill make sure to feed it other than just crawfish, not to mention lakes freeze over durring the winter here. It just sounds fun to go get them and feed one out here and there, watching octos hunt is the best part. The either seem to think it out, or just use brute force.

just a question, do i have to worrie about pinchers or anything?(not pinching me, but the octo).
 
This is based on my experience with Ollie -

I don't think crawfish are very good for small octopuses. We've already had a report of one killed by a crawfish. Also, octopuses have to learn to hunt each type of prey. Even as a larger octo, Ollie did not know how to deal with a crawfish at first, and once pounced on it backwards.

I would make sure the crawfish is considerably smaller than the octo. There seem to be different species of crawfish - some have small pincers that are little problem, and some are very sturdy with big pincers (they look like small lobsters) that could do some damage.

I give Ollie the crawfish in this way - I hold it in tongs with its tail to Ollie. I make sure Ollie sees it. Then I release it above the sand. Ollie will swoop over and envelop the crawfish. I use this this method to prevent the crawfish from running into a hole and trying to defend itself. It works really well.

Although Ollie likes crawfish, he seems to like hunting and eating small shrimp even more.

Nancy
 
The tongs sound like a good idea, i wont be feeding and crawfish till i know the octo is of size and power to take them with little effort. I have been pinched by the things more than enough, includeing them large ones with the pinchers the size of my thumb. I wont bother getting them, just the little females with small pinchers.
 
Can we have a list of feeder fish that wont hurt anything in the tank? Wouldn't want to give it something that will hurt the octo. Are the gold fish at the LFS ok to use?
 
Well 1st off i certainly wouldn't use goldfish... they are prone to problems and normally get treated with copper based medications so that's a big problem!

Probably the best feeder would be mollies as they can be cheap and will even adapt to the marine water if done over an hour or two.

Importantly though, fish is not an ideal diet for an octopus and you should always have a good reliable source for crabs and shrimps before you get an octopus as this mimics their diet in the wild.

C
 
Thank you Colin :notworth: I ordered a 50 pack of hermits I am keeping in my Fish only tank. They are small, so I feed once a day. I had a question about toys, I posted this in another forum, but i dont think anyone will come across it any time soon... Deep in the darkest corners of TONMO... anyway,
Some octos like legos, and some like live fiddlers and other live animals/food that they chase around the aquarium but dont actually kill/eat. I was thinking of useing thoes little plastic fish that have tails that flap, so they can actually swim, they just do it mindlessly. Would this mess with the octos heads (if they attack and dont kill, then try again and again, and fail over and over) or make a good toy? Would they realize it isn't alive, even tho its tail flaps?
Thanks to anyone who responds!
 
My octopus is very good at recognizing what is edible and what is plastic. Once he touched it, I doubt it he'd be interested, but octos have different personalities and like different things.

Also, a younger octo might be frightened by something that moved like the fish.

My octo, Ollie, doesn't like toys but does like to play tug of war with the feeding stick and likes possessions that he hides in his den. The latest possession is a small bottle with some sand and a shell in it, closed off with a cork.

Nancy
 
Yeah an octo will play with a mag float.... :smile:

As a rule, before putting anything in an octo tank you should make sure that it is safe for use with human foods or human cooking... as some of the cheaper plastics can leach out chemicals, I'm sure the fish you are talking about would do that... at least lego is made to be safe for kids as many kids chew/swallow lego blocks accidently. :cry:
 

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