So I have a bit of an unfortunate update.
The female, who I have now named Poni (which means mother in hawaiian, I'm very creative), has eggs.
Are they fertilized?
[Octopus]: Victor and Poni - O. bocki? - They have have arrived
- Thread starter Mel Cheal
- Start date
Are they fertilized?
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- Jul 1, 2016
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So a very over due update, but as they say, better late than never.
Eggs hatched about two weeks after being laid. Mother passed away the day after the first babies hatched. I fed live brine shrimp and krill. They appeared to be growing, and then all passed suddenly at night on the 7th day (unknown reasons). I do have a video taken the first day hatched that I will post when I have the chance.
The male (Victor) is still alive and doing very well. He has become a lot more trusting, and comes out at 10 pm every night. He takes thawed crabs out of tongs.
And in other exciting news, I started cycling a 55 gallon tank about two months ago so in a bit I will be looking for another octo. I know its a bit of a gamble, but the local H mart sells live octopuses (for food). I'm assuming they are a cold water species so I would have to invest in a chiller, but it seems like a cool project none the less.
Mel
Eggs hatched about two weeks after being laid. Mother passed away the day after the first babies hatched. I fed live brine shrimp and krill. They appeared to be growing, and then all passed suddenly at night on the 7th day (unknown reasons). I do have a video taken the first day hatched that I will post when I have the chance.
The male (Victor) is still alive and doing very well. He has become a lot more trusting, and comes out at 10 pm every night. He takes thawed crabs out of tongs.
And in other exciting news, I started cycling a 55 gallon tank about two months ago so in a bit I will be looking for another octo. I know its a bit of a gamble, but the local H mart sells live octopuses (for food). I'm assuming they are a cold water species so I would have to invest in a chiller, but it seems like a cool project none the less.
Mel
I have always wanted to try an octopus "rescue" from the food market and tried calling around to the various Korean restaurants to see if they served live octopus. Our H-Mart does not carry them live here and since I could not find them anywhere, I suspect GA may have a law restricting it since we do have a healthy Korean population. However, @davelin315 tried several times to keep them so you might enjoy reading his trials and ask for suggestions. Here is a link to his 2010 attempts and a link to his later trials in 2014. Dave was able to find out a little about how they are exported and the news is not good but there is no harm in the attempt (if I ever come across one, I would certainly take it home).
Cool! Would love a pic of Victor, and also the video you mention of the first-day hatched. Thanks for the update!
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Mel, I am always on the hunt for these but none of the stores around me carry them any longer. I would start with a cold water tank and slowly move it up in temp. These guys seem to live in tidal flats in the mud. If you get there the day they deliver them I would purchase a few that look good and then see where it leads. I have bought many over the years and limited success has been mixed with plenty of failure but, hey, these guys go through a very rough time. Get the smallest ones you can and bring a bucket with you to the store. Ask for as much water as you can and I would also drop a solo cup or two in the bucket so that they can hide.
Acclimate very slowly and get your tank to around 50 degrees to start and then slowly let it go up in temp. I definitely think it's possible to get these guys to a healthy state, but it will take a long time to do this and you'll need to find the right specimen to do this. Let me know if you have questions, I tried to document as much as I could in the threads I posted.
Acclimate very slowly and get your tank to around 50 degrees to start and then slowly let it go up in temp. I definitely think it's possible to get these guys to a healthy state, but it will take a long time to do this and you'll need to find the right specimen to do this. Let me know if you have questions, I tried to document as much as I could in the threads I posted.
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Can I ask where you buy the frozen crabs from? Sounds like an interesting food source, I'd like to try it!
Frozen crabs for human consumption have been cooked(steamed, same with crab meat and legs). That being said, I am not at all sure what cooking does to the meat that makes it undesirable as a food source. The "common" wisdom is to feed raw but, other than that is what is in the ocean, I have never found an article that explains why it is not appropriate to use for feeding cephs (or fish in general). Not having found an article, however, does not mean that there is not a good case for raw.
Edit 2017 This post links an article that has a bit of information on why raw is better than cooked food.
Edit 2017 This post links an article that has a bit of information on why raw is better than cooked food.
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- Jul 1, 2016
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I live right on the ocean so I catch the crabs myself. They are asian shore crabs (invasive), so I figure I get free octopus food and help out the native ecosystem a little 
. I freeze them for a couple weeks prior to feeding because I don't want to have to deal with any parasites. Here is the video of the day old octos.
I will def post pictures of Victor! Relatedly, I'm planning to head out to H-mart next week as they are getting a fresh shipment in. I will be sure to keep you guys updated when I bring one home.
Heres the video of the day old O. Bocki (probably). It's not super high quality because my camera had no interest in focusing on them (they were sooo small)
. I freeze them for a couple weeks prior to feeding because I don't want to have to deal with any parasites. Here is the video of the day old octos. I will def post pictures of Victor! Relatedly, I'm planning to head out to H-mart next week as they are getting a fresh shipment in. I will be sure to keep you guys updated when I bring one home.
Heres the video of the day old O. Bocki (probably). It's not super high quality because my camera had no interest in focusing on them (they were sooo small)
