i want to buy an octo, can i keep one?

[KingSpade]

I am wondering if i can keep an octo in my tank, i have 4 fish in there and i have heard they can sometimes kill them when the fish are sleeping, i have a large naso tang, large atlantic blue tang, medium blue hippo tang, and a lawnmower blenny, would an octo bother these fish? i have lots of live rock with caves for it to feel safe and hide in. also i want one that changes colors to blend with whatever its on, what species would do this?

 

[Frostyeel]

Could you keep an octopus? In that tank I would say yes.

Should you? Not if you like your fish. I don't know if it would eat all of them or if it might leave some alone, but personally wouldn't trust any fish I liked with an octopus.

 

[Illithid]

Aggresive fish will attack and kill the octo, smaller fish will quickly become food.

Check out www.tonmo.com

 

[KingSpade]

so you guys think that my fish may become a meal for an octo? like i said my tangs are large 5-6" would it eat my cleaner shrimp you think?

 

[Frostyeel]

I'm pretty sure the shrimp would be the very first thing for an octopus to eat, in the wild they eat a lot of crab and shrimp. You should check out Tonmo for information about octopus. I looked through the articles they have about octopuses and they all say that octopuses need to be kept in a species only tank, but I don't know whether the octopus would eat your fish or if you could feed it enough so that it would leave them alone. Try asking about this on the Tonmo forums.

 

[nini]

bad idea

bad idea

if your fish are that big then your octopus will probably be picked on and become food and if your octopus becomes big enough, your fish are dead lol. octopus need there space and i wouldent take any chances. your best bet is to perchase a nice 75 gallon aquireum just for your octopus. make sure you do some research on octos before you perchase one and ty to visit www.tonmo.com
ITS AWESOME
happy cephing

 

[LTJGAlex]

Spade:

I try to avoid generalized, blunt statements, but this is one time where it's warranted. Yes, all of your organisms would be doomed, within about 90% certainty. I'm not saying there are none, but I know of NO success stories of keeping octos with anything but snails. I was originally considering putting mine in with my angler in his little tank, but was quickyl assured by several trusted experts that the angler would be the dead one, and quickly!

It's always worth it to get a nice little sealable tank just for your octo if you do. I recommend the Eclipse 5g or 7g Hex for the smaller species, the top is almost totally sealed as it is and tape will do the rest.

And forget the Tang Police types who will undoubtedly reply here saying "how dare you! A dwarf octopus needs at least a 30g tank!"

yap yap yap

 

[Thales]

Its not necessarily space that prompts the recommendation of larger ceph tanks. Its mostly water volume due to messy eating and inking potential.

 

[alancolinet]

This could also be remedied through the application of a larger filtration/turnover rate of water in the system.