[Octopus]: The Kraken - O.vulgaris

Kharn

O. vulgaris
Registered
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
83
G'day

Whilst I'm still a few months away from owning my Octopus I have certainly, effectively, cemented in place just how everything is not only going to run but also aquascaped to, I do intend to have 'coral' with my Octopus but no other inhabitants and the 'coral' I have chosen is all Leather / Non Stinging Corals.

The only reason that this tank is NOT up and running already is simply because it is the 'luxury' side of a much larger build and effectively the very smallest part of the builds overall entirety, not matter how large this Octo Build sounds...

SYSTEM LIST:-
Display Tank:- 48"Lx24"Wx36"H @ 170G est.
Equip Sump:- 36"Lx18"Wx18"H @ 85G est.
Refug Sump:- 48"Lx18"Wx18"H @ 55G est.
RO/DI Reservoir:- Food Grade Drum @ 58G est.

Skimmer:- LifeReef VS3-72" 1500Gal est.
Reactors:- At least 1 for Carbon.
Lighting Disp:- ReefBreeder Photon 48" LED Fixture
Lighting Refug:- ReefBreeder Value Custom LED Fixture
Return Pump:- Laguna Max-Flo Power Jet 4280 - 16500lph
ATO: AutoAqua Smart ATO System
Powerheads:- 4 to 6 Tunze Nano Stream 6015-6025

LIVESTOCK:-
Octopus:- O.vulgaris
Coral#1: Green Star Polyp (Briareum sp.)
Coral#2: Gorgonian (Photosynthetic)
Coral#3: Stereonepthya (Photosynthetic)
Coral#4: Stereonepthya (Photosynthetic)

As far as the tank goes itself and 'Octo-Proofing' it, the lids whilst I am not going to say I'm not worried about, they are however easy to fix/seal/lock/etc.

Overflow Design
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What mostly concerns me is my design of overflow and how best to prevent the Octo from going into it, thankfully the design is easy to describe...it's the ENTIRE rear wall of the tank, like a fake wall but just black acrylic and well an Overflow with teeth at the top, I am just concerned about how best to 'Octo-Proof' the Overflow ?

The powerheads will not be a problem with what I have planned in mind, working with another unique creature so diligently over the past 5-6yrs has given me understanding in general of many marine predators and their overall certain specific needs that match one another.

Birdseye View
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The 3 landscapes within the tank (1 in each rear corner & 1 slightly larger in the rear center) are 'DIY Premade Octo Dens', these Dens are designed for the Octopus to utilize as a resting place / home similar to what they would have in the wild, something with a narrow entry/exit but larger interior.

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However to take it a step further and to add to the overall filtration or rather "quality of water" within each Den itself, a power head will be position beneath the above Octopus Den and SAFELY & SECURELY divided separate (but still allow flow), what this will do is suck water from the above Octo Den and then push the water back out into the Display keeping the water within each Octo Den new and fresh, whilst the divider keeps the Octo from harming itself on the Powerhead.

I'm not a new reefer I have served my time :smile: one of the reasons I now fancy what most do not is because I have kept so much of what others still love and find fascinated by....after all it did NOT take me much reading to become consumed by the Stomatopods and then intern after half a decade become...

The Mantis Man.
 
You might consider being able to move you power heads (or at least be able to change the direction of the output easily) in case the octo wants a slightly different flow :biggrin2:. Ours tend to like to feel the output "wind". Several O. briareus have used my Koralias to aid sucker shed.

The larger octos will often rearrange dens to their liking (especially females about to brood) so you may want to include rocks that are allowed to be moved.

Where will you source the octopus? Vulgaris are very hard to come by in the US. I recently contacted one occasional supplier that would get them from their live rock and TampaBaySaltwater told me they have not seen octos in their rock since the oil spill in the Gulf. Octopus briareus seem to be plentiful in the Keys but we have seen few other species.
 
One the plans for the powerheads is to angle them up and point each 1 at an opposing Tower/Den Entrance this should help add that effect of water pushing into the Den.

I do plan to give the Octo many many building tools etc from rocks to other pieces it can use or play with at its leisure.

I'm an Ozzy.... :wink: I can get my octo whenever I want from the backyard, it will be very VERY easy for me to ALWAYS have an Octo in the tank.

Because of this I plan to treat my Vulgaris as a phoenix when it dies the replacement will be named The Kraken 2.0 :smile:

Keen to get started
 
It's partly why there has also been no rush...(up until now) and why I decided to go all out in 1 and leave the other totally alone, feels fun not knowing much about something again :biggrin2: but as I said I wasn't in a rush seeing as it is very simple and easy to obtain Octos.

This Octo tank build within this forum is just 1 tank.....of the 28 about to be built...

27 for Stomatopods :P but even then most tanks are split in half or thirds so around 50-60 Stomatopod individuals oh and most importantly (on here :wink: ) 1 Big Octopus.
 
Here are a few key pieces of the equipment which are incoming.

Protein Skimmer - LifeReef VS3 72" @ 1500gal, Mazzei Dual Input Counter Current.
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Lighting - ReefBreeders Photon 48" LED Fixture.
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Reactor - TLF 550 Reactor (Carbon)
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Return Pump - Laguna Max Flow 1,200GPH - 4,400GPH
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Going to run the Return pump at the high end if not on max @ 4,400GPH as I really want good overall turnover, the lighting is more for the corals sake then anything but even then the fixture can be dimmed/timed etc.
 
U have way better equipment than I have but I just use a cheapy oscillating powerhead and my baby briars love it they are all over the tank they don't douse one area with high overflow more of a churning affect
 
I have had my run with cheap equipment through the build of my many Stomatopod tanks....

Cheap just ends up more expensive somehow, either by chewing extra power or by dieing early and needing replacing.

I remember when I first approached my problem to needing a powerhead in every compartment / tank which in some cases meant more then 1 at first I was overjoyed to find these $15 powerheads but after 5-6 months I had to replace them all and I had around 30.

Now today I have 30 Tunze Nanostream Powerheads and they all cost less then what I spent on before them through trying to "save money" lol.

So this time, it's all quality upfront!
 
Might take a while before I even get an Octo once the tank is cycled and running cause I kind of want all the 'corals' to not only be seated but 'grown' specifically the GSP, but the GSP should grow quite fast.
 
NPS Filter Feeders should be fine as well for the most part like Gorgonian & Dendro etc. although these do tend to be more difficult to maintain since they don't photosynthesize and require consistent feeding which can lead to bad water quality fast unless the system (filtration that is) can cope with an NPS food load within.

I'd love to see my Octo peaking out from behind the trunk of a big phat toadstool leather or similar :smile:...

And I intend to... :biggrin2:
 

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