got a bimac today!

[Rudiger]

I recevied a baby bimac from Flying Fish Express today. FFExpress did a very good job shipping, he arrived quickly, safely, and very alive. Thanks FFexpress! Right away he explored all the rocks until he found one he liked and settled down. About two hours later he began hunting. It was so cool. He would spread out all his arms over openings in the live rock and then i guess he siphoned water or did something, but two amphipods came scurrying out another hole, then he jeted over and chased them. But they ran into another hole. I was planning on letting him get used to my tank and not feed him until later tonight, but since he was already hunting I dropped in a hermit crab. Imeadiatly he jumped on it and is eating it right now. He needs a name. This is great, im very happy, thanks again FFExpress.

pat

 

[OctoMonkey]

Nice one!

Im sure you'll have a lot of fun with that one Pat. Any chance of doing some video again?


from Colin, The Big Green Eyed Jealous Monster

 

[Rudiger]

yea Colin I already got some movies of him on the digital camera. Only problem is that my firewire broke and those cables are expensive. Ill get a new one sometime and then I can download the movie onto the computer.

Bimacs are great, he can change so much. Not only can he change color but he changes his texture quite dramatically. He is smooth and light brown when he swims but when he lands on a rock he becomes very bumpy and dark brown and white.

pat

 

[Death Shrimp99]

How big is your octo and can you post some pics to make shure its a bimac because i was gona oder 1 from FFE but i'm not shure how good they are at identifying them. I heard fishsupply.com has a guy that knows when its a bimac or not but i dont think they have the babies like FFE does.

 

[Rudiger]

The babies that FFexpress have are not wild caught but tank raised, so they know the species and age. The little guy is only 6 weeks old. If you are planning on getting one now is the time.
Ill try to get pictures and video soon, but i need to find a new cable for the digital camera.

pat

 

[Rudiger]

death shrimp - here is a picture of the babies from FFExpress, this one looks just like the one i have: http://www.ffexpress.com/inverts/cephalo/aquacult_oct.jpg

Ill post pictures and video soon, i just need to get a new cable for my digital camera.

pat

 

[Rudiger]

I came home this afternoon and he was jumping around the rocks hunting amphipods again. He sticks all his arms into the holes in live rock and pods come swimming out. I dropped a ghost shrimp into the tank and it landed right next to him but he showed no interest, so I guess he doesn't like ghost shrimp. He is eating though, he loved the hermit crab i gave him yesterday, but that was my last hermit. Looks like I need to find a new food source, any suggestions?

pat

 

[cephalopoder]

Sounds like you have a awesome bimac pat. The wild caught one I got a few months ago is very shy.
All octos like ghost shrimp, maybe it didnt see it. Try spearing it with a probe and offer it to him. You can try shelling a clam and offering him that too. Bimacs love snails. My supermarket orders perriwinkles for me. A drive to the ocean to visit a tide pool is a trip well worth going on. Food is plentyful.
chris

 

[Rudiger]

Im sure he saw the shrimp, i made a good drop and it landed two inches from him and then walked around. Maybe he just wasn't hungry, its possible he has been eating amphipods all day. Chris, do you know of any new hampshire stores that sell blue leg hermit crabs? My LFS tried to tell me a blue leg hermit crab cost $9 when they should be 50 cents. Im going to go check out the grocery store now, ill see what I can get, I might take a trip down to the coast this weekend. Do you know any paticular spots that are good?

 

[cephalopoder]

Pat, sea world in salem NH sells ghost shrimp and hermits. Inland reef in nashua sells blue leggs too. I go to gloucester MA to get food for my octos. I dive there so I know it well.