bimaculoides solitary?

[cal3v]

Hi all, I'm about to take the dive into keeping octopuses and was wondering are the bimaculoides solitary, or can they be kept together in one tank? Maybe as juveniles but not as adults? I've tried to look for any mention but haven't found any. Thanks in advance.

 

[OctoMonkey]

It's all relevant to the size of the tank and what aquascaping you have... 2 baby octopuses in a 50gal tank with lost of hiding places would do until they were a bit older, but then the tank would be too small...
easier if you tell what size of tank you are thinking???

 

[cal3v]

Thanks Colin, I was just trying to get a general idea. I'll probably just go with a solo octo is a 30-40g.

 

[OctoMonkey]

we have actually started recomending that a 50gal+ tank is better for an adult bimac so if you can go bigger; do it

we have had some recent bimaculoides that have got massive!

 

[cal3v]

Ok cool thanks for the advice, I'll try and see if I can step it up.

 

[schmunkel98]

I've got 2 in my 135 gallon and they should have enough room as adults. They still bump into each other once and a while. Hopefully there won't be any incidents.

 

[OctoMonkey]

hi mike
do they interact? do they grab hold of each other or anything like that?

 

[schmunkel98]

Well, one of them is about 1/4 larger than the other right now. I only witnessed one time where they touched each other. The small one was trying to hide in the spot that the big one likes. Once it realized the spot was taken it moved on without any fighting. I have seen them both come out when I put fresh crabs in the tank as well. They both grab one and retreat to their own spots. I think as long as you keep them well fed and have a lot of spots they should be ok. Of course we'll see what happens when they get full grown.

 

[schmunkel98]

Well, the bigger one ate part of the smaller one yesterday. I saw him eating something, then he spit out what was left of the small guy. I had plenty of food in there, I guess the smaller one just pushed his luck too much. At least I have one tough octo left!

 

[OctoMonkey]

Oh well, there goes another attempt...