Cleaning the Octos tank

[gwrulzmylife]

Another question for those more experienced than I.

My octo tank is ~4 months old and REALLY needs a good cleaning. Anyone wish to share their experiences cleaning octos tanks? I'm afraid I'll scare him to death when I get in there with the scrubber.

THanks in advance guys!

 

[trikais_sam]

I had maintained a vugarus octopus for approx 1 yr. When it came time to cleaning I usually cleared out the remaining skins(shells) regularly, then when the algae on the glass needed to be cleared, I used (though some may disagree) a magnet cleaning marketed by Commodity Axis(Via Aqua), though there are many available. I found that this pretty much did the trick, though the only pane that i cleaned was the front. Hope this helps you out somewhat.

 

[nancyocto]

Many octos like to play with the cleaning magnet and view it very positively.

 

[gwrulzmylife]

maybe he is playing with the cleaning magnet, but I'm afraid I may hurt him! He's not strong enough yet to pull the magnet from the glass, but he sure isn't shy about coming out!

Been using a net to get the shells, had to leave it in there one day for a couple hours cause he grabbed it and tried to take it back to his cave! LOL, too funny!

 

[cirri]

I defiantely agree that a magnet is a good way to go. I do a 10% h2o change weekly, and my octo has gotten very used to the activity.

It is another play time for him.

I had to do a major cleaning last week. Had some red ball algae that I wanted removed and did a 20% change for the first time.

It sounds like you may have a fear of him bitting you or something. He is going to be curious to whatever you do to his home! Have you let him feed from your hand or crawl on you at this point?