how to care for a Bimaculoides
- Thread starter MissNano
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CuttleKid
New member
A 55 will work. as for filtration you want to invest in a high quality skimmer to help with the large bioload of cephalopods. Since Bimacs live in cooler californian waters you will need to keep the water temperature lower than normal reef temps. You might want to get a chiller depending on where you live if the temperatures climb too high to maintain the tank at optimum temp. Lighting wont be a problem because bimacs ar diurnal so they come out during the day so you can pretty much use whatever lighting as long as it doesnt gave a high heat output that could raise the water temp. a uv sterilizer might come in handy because octos commonly come in with parasites that are especially hard to fend off once they take hold
A great book worth purchasing is Cephalopods: Octopuses and Cuttlefish for the Home Aquarium by Nancy King and Colin Dunlop.
Good Luck
A great book worth purchasing is Cephalopods: Octopuses and Cuttlefish for the Home Aquarium by Nancy King and Colin Dunlop.
Good Luck
jmadden
New member
I'm speaking from experience here as I've had my Bimac since it was about the size of a quarter and now seven months later it is much larger with a mantel close to four inches. There are lots of things to consider when it comes to owning an Octo. Octopus are the most intelligent of all cephalopods and the bimac has a very short natural life span. The bimac octopus lives in the wild around a year and a half or so and dies shortly after reaching sexual maturity. The investment required to take care of an Octo the right way and to flourish is intensive. I would recommend setting up a tank that is reef ready, think long term, so after your octopus passes away you don't have to upgrade everything to make your tank ready for fish and inverts. TONMO's website has a wealth of information and can further explain in detail the ins and outs of owning and enjoying your octopus. Do lots of research, patience, knowledge, good foresight and planning go a long way.
I've been keeping bimac octopus for nearly four years, and I currently have two. While I agree with jmadden's basic sentiment that one should not lightly decide to keep an octopus, I have had a different experience with my bimacs.
Based on my experience, I think that the growth rate (and life span) of a bimac octopus is greatly influenced by the amount of food it eats, and the water temperature it is kept in. In the wild, the average monthly water temp ranges between 57 in February to 68 in August. The bimac I caught on Nov 6 2010 with a 3/4"-1" mantle (head bag) now has a mantle only about 2.75-3", because I keep it at 63 degrees, and feed it very sparingly. about 26 months ago I brought home a bimac that I would guess was at least 6 months old already (3-3.5" mantle) and it is still alive. It's a male, which might be a factor, but it is at least 2.5 years old. Because it's easier, most people have kept bimacs at room temp without a chiller (73 degrees) and fed them every day, and/or as much as they wanted to eat, and under those conditions, they will grow fast, and probably last less than a year after capture, even if you get a small one (18 months tops). I think it's still good advice to design the tank with the understanding that your bimac will die before too long, but under proper conditions, I think you could expect a baby to live two years. That would of course require a chiller.
Maybe, but maybe not. To do it right you need a tank that is at least 50 gallons (65-80 is much better), that is 60-65 degrees F, and you can't keep many other species with a bimac (no fish). You'll need a 1/5 to 1/3 hp chiller, pumps that don't add much heat (external), regular fluorescent lights, and a secure lid. I got my 1/4 hp jbj Arctica chiller used on Craigslist for about $300, and later (after patiently for looking for months) found another, as a back up, for $250 (1/5 hp jbj). I built a secure acrylic top, and I use regular (cheap) fluorescent lights. I think the cost and electricity for the chiller is not much more than the cost of lights for a reef tank would have been, so it's close to a wash for me in terms of money. My bimac eats defrosted pieces of frozen shrimp and scallop in such small quantities that it's essentially free, and biamcs are notoriously hearty and tolerant of nitrate, and surprise temperature changes (power outages). making the tank escape proof, and insulating it with Styrofoam sheets can be a pain, but I wouldn't call the overall investment "intensive". I wanted to save on electricity even more, so I built a 2nd pane of glass onto two sides of my tank, and insulated the other sides, and bottom, with sheets of Styrofoam. The 2nd pane was a pain, but not absolutely required, unless you live where the dew point is often above 63 degrees (rather humid). Other types of octopus are more easily found in the aquarium trade, and can handle temps above 75 degrees, and so are easier to find, and keep than bimacs are (although I think bimacs have the best personalities)
I agree with all of that. I happen to live where I can catch my own bimacs, so I can get away with having a dedicated bimac tank for as long as I like, but if you plan to buy an octopus, you never know what species you'll get (no matter what the seller says) so it pays to have a tank that is large enough to handle most species, and can be useful for fish, reef, whatever down the road, if you get bored with a (mostly) octopus only tank down the road. Do lots of careful research and prep before you get an octopus, but it can be reasonably done.
Cephy
New member
Typically, most aquariums that happen to be in the range of 70-80 gallons can fit most species (though dwarf species and acuelutus may be to small for these sizes). To big of a tank can lead to some problems and may have it's benifits such as chemical stability and less probability of scenapoetic (water quality etc) stressors occuring. This may sound good but there would also a smaller chance that you'd see your octopus or even know if your animal is still alive and eating properly.
