• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

small octopus?

I buy all my food. I'm hoping some of the shore shrimp will have viable eggs and that the larvae will survive in my tank for the next inhabitant to enjoy but that's the closest to breeding food I'll get. For the most part though, mine eats frozen stuff like raw shrimp, krill, silversides, etc. Some of it's from the grocery store and some of it's from the fish store. I try to balance it out with live crabs and shrimp though to provide my octopus with enrichment through hunting and it's just more nutritious.
 
a_dustball,
Almost all of the octos recorded on the site learn to take freshly killed shrimp. Even my Mercs will eat dead shore shrimp if I feed it to them directly with a feeding stick (in this case a large pipette since the shrimp are a bit small for a stick). Additionally, fiddler crabs are a major food choice. Snails, hermit crabs, scallops and clams as food varies widely. My Mercs do not eat any of them but Octane (Hummelincki) will eat some snails (the larger expensive ones and I don't use them as food the ones he consumed were clean-up crew), may or may not eat the hermits on occassion (also in the tank for clean-up), has eaten only one frozen scallop (when he was first introduced to the tank but not again) and will open and eat about one clam a week (these can also be used for clean-up but you must watch them to be sure they don't die uneaten). Given this history, I would suggest that you start with a small amount of fresh frozen shrimp (or live shore shrimp if you get a small octo - the Mercs do not eat pieces of regular shrimp) and a supply of fiddler crabs when you first get your octopus then work with him/her as your experience together grows.
 
look for the thread "What skimmer do you have, an do you recommend it?" I think it's in the "Tank Talk" forum.
 
I check the tanks every day. I don't know about being a pro, but I can tell if the salinity is off, the pump not working, etc.

At U.C. Berkeley, as at all U.S. animal research facilities, vertebrates research animals require specific animal care and use permits and protocols. (I have served on one such committee for several years.) Invertebrates are not covered except when I keep animals in space that is approved and controlled for vertebrate use. With increased animal rights activity, some countries have begun to include invertebrates (cephalopods and lobsters) under their animal research use regulations. It is my understanding that this is the case in the U.K. and Australia is moving in that direction. From my experience, while there are a few vets out there who specialize in invertebrate issues, most are not trained in invertebrate care and maintenance and requiring veterinary care of cephalopods would greatly increase the cost with little or no improvement in the health and well-being of the animals.
 
Neogonodactylus;116228 said:
I check the tanks every day. I don't know about being a pro, but I can tell if the salinity is off, the pump not working, etc.

At U.C. Berkeley, as at all U.S. animal research facilities, vertebrates research animals require specific animal care and use permits and protocols. (I have served on one such committee for several years.) Invertebrates are not covered except when I keep animals in space that is approved and controlled for vertebrate use. With increased animal rights activity, some countries have begun to include invertebrates (cephalopods and lobsters) under their animal research use regulations. It is my understanding that this is the case in the U.K. and Australia is moving in that direction. From my experience, while there are a few vets out there who specialize in invertebrate issues, most are not trained in invertebrate care and maintenance and requiring veterinary care of cephalopods would greatly increase the cost with little or no improvement in the health and well-being of the animals.

At our lab/aquarium the animals are checked at 8.30 am, 5pm and 10.30 pm by the on duty technician and also at other times by the students/staff working with them. In addition all staff and students (or someone they bribe......ummmm.ask to stand in for them if they're away!) holding animals must be available at all times to come out to the lab if there are major problems with their system (that includes the middle of the night!). We have a live in technician (the lab is some 22km from town) who has a pager linked to the seawater alarm system.

In NZ animal welfare legislation includes Cephs and lobsters but not other inverts. However, the University's own animal ethics approval protocols include ALL animals. And its a prolonged and intensive procedure to get it! We don't call the vets for any of our critters (not even the fish) as they really don't have the expertise required, we do. In fact vet nurses in training come to us for their fish care module and we sneak in invert care too!

j
 
Dust bunny I dont want to be offensive or meen but i just wanted to know have you ever had a saltwater tank before because octopuses are much harder then normal reefs and fish only tanks you can get a octopus as a starter if you do all the research but you may want to first try a reef to get familiar with brands filters feeding etc....
 
See I can't really get a reef tank or anything like that because both time and space are limited for me very much, if I get a reef and then the fish don't die before I get done with high school I won't get an octopus till after college, and for me that's going to be longer than 4 years. And I really don't think killing the fish myself is the right thing to do. I will only be able to purchase one tank. Lastly wouldn't there be a lot of work converting the tank and redoing the water levels?
 
You can trade the fish back to most lfs's so that can be covered if not you can leave them in the tank until you get the octopus and let it eat them i may do something like that but to cycle my tank.....Now the only thing wrong with that is the octopus can get stressed if the fish nip at it.Another possibility is getting coral you can have coral with a octopus and it would be a great way to get into the hobby i would recommend doing that for a few months or so before you get the octopus but you would have to get ones that dont require much light so you can put the octopus in later.Or the hardest way but it fits the solution perfectly is get a octopus and just doing loads of research:read:
 

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