Hi,
great to finally find THE forum I've been seeking!
I've never even had a marine tank, but I've long been interested in keeping octopus and cuttlefish. Right now I'm in the process of obtaining an 80 gallon tank, whose first guest will be (I hope) an octopus (O. bimaculoides).
Now, I have several options here and I'd appreciated input from folks with experience. First, I could buy one at a pet store here for $50 - they have a dozen or so, ranging in size from grape-sized to walnut sized. All are in little plastic cups floating in larger tanks, and some look very stressed as the cups tumble past the powerhead. The storeman told me I could have one in a 10-gallon in 3 days "They're very hardy". I doubt this! However, I thought it might be an advantage to get one that's already acclimated to tank conditions, maybe it would be hardier.
Second, I could catch one. I know a spot where I have found several at low tide. The disadvantage here is the stress of capture and transportation, and acclimatization to higher temps and different water quality (I'd wait until mid-July to collect from a shallow warm spot to make things easier, in theory). In the meantime I'm hoping the tank will have cycled enough to introduce the octopus.
Third is even sketchier, and I'm not at all sure if they're O. bimaculoides - go to a Koreatown grocery store and buy one from the seafood section (I'm serious). Only problem is they use a chiller, but hey, if they've survived water quality THAT bad they might be more resistant to water quality problems.
Last, I could order from one of the companies online and see what turns up in the mail!
Eventually I'd like to keep CUTTLEFISH in this tank, I've yet to find any suppliers who carry them though, some have never even heard of 'em. Anybody with current information on sources, please let me know. I'm most interested in Seia pharohensis (sp?).
OK, that's long enough for a first post!
Thanks!
great to finally find THE forum I've been seeking!
I've never even had a marine tank, but I've long been interested in keeping octopus and cuttlefish. Right now I'm in the process of obtaining an 80 gallon tank, whose first guest will be (I hope) an octopus (O. bimaculoides).
Now, I have several options here and I'd appreciated input from folks with experience. First, I could buy one at a pet store here for $50 - they have a dozen or so, ranging in size from grape-sized to walnut sized. All are in little plastic cups floating in larger tanks, and some look very stressed as the cups tumble past the powerhead. The storeman told me I could have one in a 10-gallon in 3 days "They're very hardy". I doubt this! However, I thought it might be an advantage to get one that's already acclimated to tank conditions, maybe it would be hardier.
Second, I could catch one. I know a spot where I have found several at low tide. The disadvantage here is the stress of capture and transportation, and acclimatization to higher temps and different water quality (I'd wait until mid-July to collect from a shallow warm spot to make things easier, in theory). In the meantime I'm hoping the tank will have cycled enough to introduce the octopus.
Third is even sketchier, and I'm not at all sure if they're O. bimaculoides - go to a Koreatown grocery store and buy one from the seafood section (I'm serious). Only problem is they use a chiller, but hey, if they've survived water quality THAT bad they might be more resistant to water quality problems.
Last, I could order from one of the companies online and see what turns up in the mail!
Eventually I'd like to keep CUTTLEFISH in this tank, I've yet to find any suppliers who carry them though, some have never even heard of 'em. Anybody with current information on sources, please let me know. I'm most interested in Seia pharohensis (sp?).
OK, that's long enough for a first post!
Thanks!