past the 4 week mark!
The Once-ler has been with us for a month now! Even though my family was so against moving the fish out of the 55 gal. tank this summer, everyone is glad I made the change. She has enough room and swims a little everyday, my girls love to watch. My husband agrees that an octopus is the best thing I've ever kept in that tank. I don't care if she is the only inhabitant, it's worth it to know she is safe and happy all by herself in there. It's really satisfying to go to the LFS and not want anything but another cool piece of live rock for her to play on!
As the Once-ler is only my second octo, I don't want to dispute the I.D. of aculeatus. I have to point out some differences I've seen between her and my last octo, though, I don't know if they are significant or not. The Once-ler has more webbing on her arms without a doubt, and she uses it more. By that I mean, she can extend her arms and webbing to make herself appear larger in a way Al never did. When she does this, she assumes a dark color with light dots, and rolls up her arms like cinnamon buns (very scientific description, I know...), she can even do it with the little growing back arm now. Al never did the polka dot thing, and didn't have nearly as much webbing.
Her mantle is also larger in diameter in comparison to the rest of her body. This is one of the first things my husband noticed about her. It's not that she is just bigger than the last guy, but that ratio of mantle diameter to body size is different. D, it is "serendipitous" that you posted mantle observations because I was taking pics last night of that same thing. Al did not have the little tassle on the end of his mantle like the Once-ler. When she is smooth, the "tassle" appears as a darkened spot on her skin, check out the photo. A totally different observation, it seems to me that her mantle has gotten a bit "lumpy" looking. Just a slightly bumpy look when she exhales sometimes, and I'd swear it's grown. Does this mean, "Just DARN?" Or is it just that she could still be growing and I'm over-reacting to appearances?
I posted the other photo so someone can tell me what "parts" we can see through her skin. There are two dark purplish spots that pulse, are these hearts? What is the red spot in the middle?
She re-organizes the shells rubble around her den nightly, but she's done that from day one, so I'm not sure that's brooding behavior. Yesterday, she excavated a tunnel under a large rock. She's never made a tunnel before, but again she's always played in the sand, it seems to give her an excuse to show off her webbing. Admittedly, I felt down after Roy's post on Saturday, but I decided to enjoy what time I've got!
The Once-ler has been with us for a month now! Even though my family was so against moving the fish out of the 55 gal. tank this summer, everyone is glad I made the change. She has enough room and swims a little everyday, my girls love to watch. My husband agrees that an octopus is the best thing I've ever kept in that tank. I don't care if she is the only inhabitant, it's worth it to know she is safe and happy all by herself in there. It's really satisfying to go to the LFS and not want anything but another cool piece of live rock for her to play on!
As the Once-ler is only my second octo, I don't want to dispute the I.D. of aculeatus. I have to point out some differences I've seen between her and my last octo, though, I don't know if they are significant or not. The Once-ler has more webbing on her arms without a doubt, and she uses it more. By that I mean, she can extend her arms and webbing to make herself appear larger in a way Al never did. When she does this, she assumes a dark color with light dots, and rolls up her arms like cinnamon buns (very scientific description, I know...), she can even do it with the little growing back arm now. Al never did the polka dot thing, and didn't have nearly as much webbing.
Her mantle is also larger in diameter in comparison to the rest of her body. This is one of the first things my husband noticed about her. It's not that she is just bigger than the last guy, but that ratio of mantle diameter to body size is different. D, it is "serendipitous" that you posted mantle observations because I was taking pics last night of that same thing. Al did not have the little tassle on the end of his mantle like the Once-ler. When she is smooth, the "tassle" appears as a darkened spot on her skin, check out the photo. A totally different observation, it seems to me that her mantle has gotten a bit "lumpy" looking. Just a slightly bumpy look when she exhales sometimes, and I'd swear it's grown. Does this mean, "Just DARN?" Or is it just that she could still be growing and I'm over-reacting to appearances?
I posted the other photo so someone can tell me what "parts" we can see through her skin. There are two dark purplish spots that pulse, are these hearts? What is the red spot in the middle?
She re-organizes the shells rubble around her den nightly, but she's done that from day one, so I'm not sure that's brooding behavior. Yesterday, she excavated a tunnel under a large rock. She's never made a tunnel before, but again she's always played in the sand, it seems to give her an excuse to show off her webbing. Admittedly, I felt down after Roy's post on Saturday, but I decided to enjoy what time I've got!