School seeking octopus

[lemon2]

hey this is rivercity Leadership Academy (highschool)and We were interested to have a class pet octopus. I do realize that this is not another hamster that is going to die. We are trying to get a pet that needs hard work to keep and maintain. We are trying to put this to educational uses and a fun activity too. Do any of you guy have any suggestions before I look into this. Just one quick question about how much would and octopus that is small enough to live in a 50-100gl tank(sorry for the noob question im not here for you guys to tell me everything about how to keep an octopus I'll try to learn as much as I can by my self) cost?

 

[sorseress]

lemon 2 and your school mates. The best place to get started is to read the various articles in the articles forum. Check it out by looking right under the logo on the home page. A lot of your questions, if not all of them, will be answered there. First place to start is by getting your tank and equipment. It will take several months to get it set up and cycled enough keep an octopus. To be able to learn and enjoy in class you will probably want to get a bimac, and that's also a good size for your 55 gal and up tank. They are more accessible than some others and they are diurnal, which you definitely want. There are some other interesting diurnal species, but vulgaris, which are fun to watch, need a much bigger tank, as they get quite large.You will need to research cost, since presumably the school will be paying for the equipment, the octopus, and the live food, which can be a pretty expensive proposition. One thing you will want to think about is the care of the octopus during vacations. Good luck. I hope it works out for you.

 

[monty]

The best place to start reading is the articles button at the top, that'll give you a lot of information on tank sizes, care requirements, and so forth.

As far as cost and availability are concerned, the "octopus availability" thread is usually the most current info, and you can look through that a bit to see what the costs usually are. Be aware, though, that almost always the biggest cost of keeping an octopus is providing the food for it... although many will take frozen food, some will refuse all food that isn't live, so you'll need to budget for providing one live saltwater crab or shrimp a day, or so, sized appropriately as the octo grows...

As a school, you may be able to order from sellers that only sell to research and education institutions, like the NRCC, although they may only be allowed to sell to universities...

 

[cuttlegirl]

Does your teacher have experience with salt water aquariums? Maybe you should focus on the experience of setting up and maintaining a salt water aquarium. Does your teacher have a budget for this project? That may determine if you are able to house and octopus (of course you may be able to convince your parents to help out...).

In any case, enjoy reading and researching about octopus.

 

[lemon2]

Thank you! We do have a pretty good budget, and most of the teachers want to do this as a class. Thank you again, I will look into this and try to learn as much as possible.

 

[lemon2]

quick question for keeping a bimac in a 50-55gl how much would the mid quality aquipment cost about? And i read that they like crayfish well i have tons of crayfish in our area small to large. Would a bimac like crayfish? What size do you think I should buy? Should I add any other room mate (other octopus, fish, crabs) or would that stress it out? I raise freshwater shrimp about 1/2 an inch long would it like those? tell me if im asking too many questions. You know every year i go to the Meditrainian ocean and go octopus hunting.its really fun but most of the time i like to feed them small crabs because they seem to be very curious and sometimes they approach me and thats what I like about them. Thanks for the help!


Thank you all!

 

[Animal Mother]

Tankmates are very limited. Maybe urchins or serpent stars. No chocolate chip stars or any similar carnivorous stars. Snails and Hermits, but they will become food eventually most likely.
As for the crayfish and freshwater shrimp, freshwater food items are not going to be healthy for any saltwater fish long-term. Only as an occasional snack. Fiddler crabs are good.

 

[Jean]

remember too, that octopus are very short lived 1-2 years is the norm.

J

 

[gmcbride]

does this site have images of tank set ups? I would like to see images of tanks with their secure tops, connections to sump tanks, how chillers are oriented and hooked up. A picture is worth much more than a thousand words to me.