Hello all. I am strongly considering the purchase of an octopus.
I've read the equipment list on this site, and other things besides.
I'm wondering if there might be any benefit or detriment to using actual seawater, as I happen to live a hundred yards or so from the Gulf of Mexico. Of course I understand that it would need to be attended to and perhaps modified as any other source of water would. But I'm curious, does the closed environment of an aquarium differ enough from the open sea that you need to simulate the quality of seawater artificially? For instance, is it necessary to keep certain microorganisms found in natural seawater out of an enclosed environment for an octopus, or might they do something like help cycle the tank more quickly?
I've read the equipment list on this site, and other things besides.
I'm wondering if there might be any benefit or detriment to using actual seawater, as I happen to live a hundred yards or so from the Gulf of Mexico. Of course I understand that it would need to be attended to and perhaps modified as any other source of water would. But I'm curious, does the closed environment of an aquarium differ enough from the open sea that you need to simulate the quality of seawater artificially? For instance, is it necessary to keep certain microorganisms found in natural seawater out of an enclosed environment for an octopus, or might they do something like help cycle the tank more quickly?