Plants

[AprylWillis]

I was wondering what kind of plants you guys can recommend for my octi? I really want to provide the new octi with the best. I was wondering if fake plants would harm him?

I had live plants before, but the fish ate them lol

So, I'm gearing toward fake ones. Any suggestions?

Also, do you know if octi are commonly apprehensive to feeding for the first few days after their arrival in their new tank? The Octi I had before didn't eat anything we presented to him. Live, or thawed.

We took the bubble aeration machine out, since we know for certain that that was the cause of The Equalizers death.

"Apey"

 

[DHyslop]

We took the bubble aeration machine out, since we know for certain that that was the cause of The Equalizers death.

Just how certain are you? Aerator deaths do happen, but they're not that common. As far as I'm aware they pretty much only happen when the octo is out playing with the bubbles and gets one caught in his or her poor mantle.

I'm under the impression that your octo didn't do much after he arrived, much less show the playful curiosity that could make the bubbles an issue. To be completely honest, unless you saw him playing in the bubbles, I think a more likely scenario is you received an octo that was poorly cared for by the store that sent it to you. He was on his last legs before he was even put in the bag and the stress of shipping was just too much for him. He hung on for a few days in the new tank but was just too sick to eat or do much of anything.

This is a big problem for octo-keepers. Most distributors don't care much about the animals they have; and even the ones that do just don't have the resources to learn the right way to keep every specialty creature that passes through their hands. The best way to find a healthy octopus is to find an experienced, reputable dealer: that is, one that multiple TONMO'ers have ordered from before with good results. Many of us will try new resources when they're available, but its understood that doing so shoulders a little more risk.

Just some things to think about. I had a bimac that died after only a few days in my care, so I know what you're going through. And I'll be honest in saying that just as much of that feeling is "I paid $100+ for this?"

Dan

 

[Jean]

Octopus don't really need plants, But we occasionally collect bladder (giant) kelp for our tank. This is mainly for a) food for our urchins and b) it looks good!

As for the aerator thing, well Dan is probably right............BUT I advocate not having the aerator bubbling through the tank, after all we can't be watching 24/7 and the octo may spend some time in the bubbles when we're not there! An air lift which dispenses the bubbles at the surface is much better.

Condolences

Jean

 

[AprylWillis]

I guess why I'm so certain it was the aeration, is because we found his body bobbing IN THE bubbles. I'm still curious about the cause of death.

Saltwaterfish.com promises that it makes sure the animals are in prime condition and I know people who have ordered from them...but I'm still not certain that I'll be ordering from them again. I may just buy an octopus from Zyan if anything happens to my new one.

Jean,

You have helped me out alot before and you too Dan! I appreciate your help and concern. Can you show me an example of the airlift? I don't think that me and my fiance are completely ignorant on keeping an octopus. We did months and months of research to assure his safety and well-being. We like to keep very good care of our animals--no matter what species they are.

I will look into the kelp issue, although I was hoping on having some decorative fake plants around his den--he may just dig them up though.

Dan...can you suggest where I should buy the next octi if anything happens to my second octi?

-Apey

 

[DHyslop]

You might have found him in the bubbler because its a source of water movement, too. Its my understanding that when they get a bubble trapped in their mantle cavity it doesn't kill them instantly but affects their buoyancy and their ability to move and capture prey.

I think its a good idea to approach any dealer of cephs (really any livestock) with skepticism. I wouldn't believe anyone's animals are in prime condition just because it says so on their website . If you know people who've been pleased ordering cephs from them that means a lot more.

A good thing to do is spend some time sifting through the Octopus Care and Journal forums reading old threads because people generally mention where they got their octo and you can read the outcome. Definately go through the entire Octopus Availability thread.

As for specific places, there's a diver in Florida named Tom (www.divertom.com) who often has wild-caught O. briareus in stock. It seems experiences with him have been positive, and being the diver he personally sees the animal from ocean to FedEx.

Bimacs are a bit harder to find now. Marinebioguy has little ones, but they might be harder to feed and care for. Marinedepotlive.com sells wild-caught bimacs: they're "reputable" in that they're one of the nation's big fish-houses that moves a lot of livestock, but on the other hand they don't seem terribly knowledgeable about cephs (par for the course just about anywhere, though) and I don't know if anyone here has ordered from them.

So no matter which way you go there's a bit of risk involved. Each of us has to balance the risks and the rewards when we order.

Dan

 

[AprylWillis]

I just read a post of a guy who ordered from Saltwaterfish.com and Marinedepotlive. They both said that they had great service from both companies. I haven't received the best luck with Tom. I tried him before and he was mostly rude to me when I requested what was in stock. He continued to argue with me that he didn't have any in stock, when in fact, he had some.

I recently discovered that someone ordered a bimac the same week that I had attempted to. I was very disappointed. I was going to choose Tom, because he seemed very knowledgable and responsible about his livestock. I will have to try again in the future.

I know that you take great risk in caring for any sort of octopus. They require the utmost care from their owners and patience. We are preparing now for the new one and I was curious how I could create some sort of airlift for him as Jean described in her post.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

"Apey"

 

[Jean]

Hi Apey,

Steve O has put a pic of an airlift on the site somewhere....can't find it right now (I'm waiting on my tour group to show up ) But essentially an airlift is a pipe attached to the under gravel filter that runs from the filter to the surface. There is a hole just at water level and it is open at the very top. The airline and air stone go in at the top and hang down inside the pipe. The water is sucked in at the bottom and expelled at water level along with the bubbles. It also keeps circulation of water going very nicely!

Cheers

Jean