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Tank Mate(s) Life

Jocco

Vampyroteuthis
Registered
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
386
Location
Staten Island, NY
I'm between cephs at the moment. Waiting on the LFS to come through with good news. I'm sure MANY of you can relate.

At the moment I have a pencil urchin (named Van), 2 scarlet shrimp (we call Spic n Span), and a red brittle star (named Oscar). There are 2 little red hermits in there too, but they disappear for weeks at a time and come out to the front of the tank on occasion. Unless they were eaten.
Come to think of it, I haven't seen them in a couple weeks.

We did have a handful of fiddlers in there, they are either hiding or dead and the clean crew at them. I haven't seen their claws in the air (wavin' like they just don't care) in a few days.

We plan on getting a few more small hermits, start building up the findable food stashes for the new ceph. Maybe some other things. Haven't been to our LFS in some time now. Our last octopus Misty, he died a couple weeks ago.

I discovered the brittle star got an arm stuck in the overflow, it ripped half of the arm off to escape. It has hung around there for at least 3 days now. Lights on and off.
That can't be normal. I've read they hide A LOT.

How are YOUR ceph-less tanks doing?
Any tank mates/future food to speak of?
What do you do with your ceph-less tanks to prep for the next ceph?
Anything else I can nurture and help fill the void? Octo friendly of course.
 
I have been cephless for over a year now. My tank is a 40 gallon with a clownfish we call Nemo due to a deformed fin, a segeant goby we call Worm, Serpent star who has lived with about 5 different octopuses in the past and misc. hermits that appear every now and again. My octopus 70 gallon tank was taken down and moved to SC so I have two 70's down there to be set up when we move permanently. Been a hard stretch without. I don't think any creature can take the place of an octopus. They, as you know, are simply amazing unique creatures. :smile:
 
So... I can't find the other cleaner shrimp. I don't know if it became a meal or what.

Can I get another? Since they're better in pairs? Or will it just get picked on by the surviving shrimpie?
 
Hey, @Jocco! Are you actively looking for a new octo? Seems like there's been some availability as of late, based on a bit of an uptick in forum activity... :?:
 
I wait it out by starting another tank. Then I can have coral and fish. I use the empty ceph tank as a holding/quarantine for all fish and corals to make sure they dont have any parasites or any unwanted pests. Things like red bugs,ick,Ect. Most of us have RODI systems and test kits and the knowledge so really you just need another system. I never buy new anything so it doesnt cost that much for a used "Most of the time running" system. I like cephs more then my reef systems but I have gotten into growing and fraging corals which I sell online or reef meetings, I have worked it out that doing this makes me close to break even cost wise and its fun. Just a thought :smile:
 
I don't have the space for 2 tanks, but it is something to consider in the future.

It has been 6 months of waiting. I occasionally call my LFS.

The last time we called I found out that they completely forgot about me.

My Facebook time hop likes to remind me that during this time, our most active octopus was with us still and we were enjoying the tank to the fullest.

My brittle star Oscar is alive (occasionally gets a piece of an arm cut off somehow, but it grows back), most of the hermits from the last ceph are still alive. The pencil urchin Van is still munching away. The single cleaner shrimp died a month or two after its partner.

Maybe we will get another pair soon.

We didn't get into other tank mates or marine life because... ya just never know.

Rocco mentioned doing cuttlefish next... but I see the flurry of trying to get the right food in the beginning and we aren't home enough to baby them like that. At least I don't think I have the hours to collect pods on a daily basis.
 

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