converting my would be reef to octo tank

[yakmon]

I have read and enjoyed most of the posts on this board and think i want to convert my would be reef to an octo tank. ill give you a description of my equipment and hopefully you guys can give me some feedback.

75 gal all glass reef ready aquarium, 15 gallon sump, euro reef cs6-1 skimmer, 4" deep sand bed (southdown) a bunch of live rock (80+ lbs) misc. powerheads and a heater. reef type lighting setup 1 mh lights and 4 55 watt pc's

looks like i can take the mh offline for a while, would the 4x55watt pc's be too much? or even 2 of em?

According to most of the posts, you guys run carbon 24/7? is it ok to just put a bag of it in the sump or shoud i find a mag cannister to run carbon?

Right now the top of the tank is open, and i have read that bimac's from fishsupply.com aren't prone to escapism, should i fabricate one to fit the tank and screen off the overflow slots with some fiberglass window screen?

prevously the tank ran for a year and a half as a fish only with live rock, i took it down for 4 days to convert the dsb, remove bioballs from the sump. would i get enough bio filtering from the LR and dsb or should i revert to the wet/dry setup? thats not currently possible with that big skimmer in my sump, but i can probably plumb up something.

the tank has been running with a light bio load on it right now, bout 6 big snails and a dozen or so hermits for about 2 1/2 months. plenty of tiny shrimps run around the rocks at night, not exactly what kind of 'pods they are.
if you have any questions, i can take pic's of my setup for you to look at.

thanks for your time and look forward to some replies

Jeff

 

[goodman770]

Hi Jeff...
A couple quick observations. Depending on the Octo you get...you'll have to do a couple things differently. The bimac is the most common, easiest Octo to keep. It typicaly doesn't try to escape, comes out during the day, is beautiful, and is just an overall great pet. However, they are a Pacific species...and thus like the water colder...low 70's and below. Thus, that provides a problem with keeping corals as well. I'm not positive what would be a good warm water species to keep...if someone could help me out. However, with these other species...keep in mind that you will have to have your tank covered like fort knox. Also, regardless...plan on covering the top of the overflow with something.
A 75 would be a great size tank for a decent size Octo...I say you look for one that can take the higher temps and see how it goes. Just know that they are typicaly harder to keep and get. Chris or Colin may be able to direct you in a better direction as to the speicies. Also, do a search on past posts for bimacs.

 

[yakmon]

i guess i wasnt as clear as i thought i was, right now there are no corals in the tank, just the snails and hermits, and live rock.

tank peramiters, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all 0. 8.4 ph temp 78, sg 1.024.

 

[M.Dandaneau]

We have a local small species here in florida that doesn't try to escape either (sorry, I'm not sure of the species ID), but they work well in liverock tanks and ignore most corals...unless, of course, he doesn't like you rock arrangement and redecorates.
They are commonly found in empty snail shells and are fairly abundant, even in shallower water.

 

[yakmon]

i think ill just go reef with this tank, maybe down the line ill pick up a 40 gallon tank for an octo. thanks for your advice

 

[Kevomac]

Your local Florida species is probably O. Mercatoris from I've read on RC. Colin or Chris could tell you better, but I remember reading that Mercatoris are commonly found in snail shells in shallow water off the Florida coast. I've also heard that they will bite if you pick up their shell! I'm not saying they'd do it in your tank if you got one, but I guess if you picked up my home in my neighborhood, I'd probably bite, too!