Id needed and also a question

D

Deuce_Bigalow

New member
Hello all, I am new to this board, please don't hurt me. .:eek2:

I'd like to see first off if you could ID my octo, I was told he was a Bahli, but he is very much a daytime octopus, and I am told on another board Bahli are not this way. :confused:

Also, I was planning on putting him in my predator tank (90 gal with skimmer and wet dry), however, I have a small blue spotted ray there. :eek1:

Will the two of them play nice? My LFS guy tells me the two will be fine, but he's given me bad advics in the past so I thought I'd check here.:confused:

Any help would be appreciated.:D
 
Can't help you with the ID, but that's an awesome lookin' octo!

What I can say is: keep it in a tank by itself with plenty of hiding places (i.e., rock, PVC pipe). Ignore all advice from that LFS.
 
I have given him lots of caves to hide in, the problem is he doesn't use them much if at all.

This guy hangs out on the galss all day watching anything that moves in the room. When the lights go out he clings up in a ball in the cornerof the glass and appears to rest.

I only have him in a 20 gallon tank(with airstones and a small powerhead type pump), that I circulate every other day through my reef. It's a pain and was hopeing to add him to the 90 gallon tank with the skimmer, as I don't have much in that tank (1 damsel and the ray).
 
"Damsel = food
Ray = food

Woohoo....a 90 gallon all to my lonesome."

pretty much anything that you put in there with him, at least fish wise, will be potential food, and the octo will most likely win. Don't do it, unless you are not terribly fond of the ray.
 
Nice looking octo.
I would say comming from bali and having such long arms it could be a member of the horridus complex, but this is just a guess. What species ?, I have no idea. I would guess with such long arms this species is a sand dweller. If it is it will not hide in anything. Instead it will burry itself in the sand. If you have a section of deep sand in the tank around 6" deep it will give the octo a place to burry itself and hide. They seem to do this near the edges or in the corners of the tank.
I wouldn't put any thing in with the octo.
Key word here is species only tank. Most blue spotted rays don't eat in captivity so you would be lucky to get one taht eats any way.
 
Deuce,
One of the things that I did in my tank was buy some lace rock. One of the pieces is long and flat and sort of a "top" to a cave that I made with other rocks. My octo clings to the top of it while hiding, similiar to what yours seems to be doing on the side. Hiding places are pretty important on keeping the stress down.
Good Luck!
Bill
 
I agree that this is probably in the horridus group. Several of these species are day active and live on reef flats. Not all burrow exclusively. Some live in holes in the bench. I would try a couple of inches of sand along with some coral rubble.

Roy
 
cephalopoder said:
Nice looking octo.
Instead it will burry itself in the sand. If you have a section of deep sand in the tank around 6" deep it will give the octo a place to burry itself and hide. They seem to do this near the edges or in the corners of the tank.
I wouldn't put any thing in with the octo.
Key word here is species only tank. Most blue spotted rays don't eat in captivity so you would be lucky to get one taht eats any way.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the I-D help, I found a link to LONGARMS and my octo appears to be the same species IMHO.

Well my predator tank has a 5 inch DSB, so maybe he would bury there. I have had no luck getting him to hide in his caves so far. Like I said he seems to sleep when lights are out.

Do you honestly think he will kill my ray?

The damsel I can't seem to catch anyways, I figured he would end up as dinner. The ray eats fine, guess I am lucky in that respect, I know how this board feels about ray's and shark's, but my ray is about 5 inches in diam, and will be getting a larger home before much longer.

I have had sucess feeding both the Ray and the Octo Krill, and I was hopeing if I kept the octo fed well that he might leave my hermits and the damsel alone.

I hate the idea of keeping him in a 20 gallon tank, and the whole filtration problem and his need of highly oxygenated water is one I am finding difficult to solve, in a secure way.

Funny thing about this Octo, he seems to crave attention, I thought maybe in a tank with others he might not get bored so easily.:(
 
Ray and Bali together

Ray and Bali together

Ok I know it was against better judgement.

But I cautiously tried pairiing my octopus and my blue spot together in a 90 gal tank.

I spent a very long 18 hrs wathing for any signs of distress or agressive actions.

At first the octopus was a bit afraid of the ray, and would change color whenever the ray came near, but no inking or even squirting that I saw.

After about 4 hrs this settled down, and I am happy to say three days have gone by and they both seems healthy and happy.

The octopus is actually playing with bio-balls I put in the tank for him (swatting them around and moving to swat them again).

And the ray has been trying out the crawfish, that I feed the octopus.

Honestly if I though either were in danger, or unhappy I would remove the octopus.

They truly seem to leave each other be, and both seem healthy and happy. Here's a link to another board withsome pics.

http://www.reefaquariumguide.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16929
 
Very cool pics! BTW, I have kept rays before and they won't try to sting you. You'd have to grab that barb to get stung. Some of my rays have shed their barb before also, so you may find one in the sand someday. As for hand feeding, rays are very good at it. Mine liked frozen smelt. I would cut it into strips that they could swallow whole and offer it on the bottom or on the side of the tank. If you give it to them on the side you can watch them eat it. It's really cool that way!
 
I used to keep 2 cleaner shrimps with my rays. I eventually had to remove them cuz they figured out that if they sat on the ray's head they could stick their claws into the ray's spiracles and pull out whatever the ray was eating at the time!!!

It was interesting to see the shrimps cleaning the rays but too damned annoying for the ray at feeding time!

Dont suppose a cleaner would last too long in that tank now!? :)

C
 
Wow thanks all. I honestly thought I'd get flammed for havig them together. Honestly they seem to live in harmony so far. And if the octo is out playing with floating bio-balls he couldn't be too unhappy, right?:eek1:
 
Accidents do happen tho!

I would still be keeping a close eye on them. I used to feed my rays on bits of octopus and squid!

There has been problems in the past with co-inhabitants of an octopus.

C
 
I understand, and appreciate the concern.

I keep them both fed well, the octopu hasn't even bothered with mys nails or my small hermits.

The ray seems to only go after things he finds in the sand, and the octo just steers clear of him most of the time.

If I see anything that looks dangerous to either I will immediately remove the Octo.

Thanks again

P.S. i escape proofed my overflow with a stand pipe and inlet screen, and I blocked off all my cracks in the top of the tank.

This octo hasn't even explored the overflow yet, and seems uninterested in testing the limits of his home.

I have heard constantly that they try to escape, does this breed just not try a lot??

:confused:
 
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