Keeping an octopus in an Eclipse 6?

[PupChow]

I was talking to an owner from a LFS two days ago about octopus, he told me that recently he got a small octopus himself and kept it in a Eclipse 6 (since it doesn't have gap for the octo to escape). I am wondering if that tank size is enough for an octopus? Maybe he got an pygmy... but how can you tell?

On a related note, I saw one really small octopus for sale at another LFS, the owner said its from the carribean... Is there any easy way to distinguish the pygmy from a regular sized one? Thanks!

 

[cephalopoder]

Hi
I am not sure what species the local lfs owner kept but even for a pygmy octo thats too small. The small tank could not provide enough filtration and the bio load would go out of controll. I would recomend at least a 12gln for a pygmy and you have to make sure thats what your getting. The hard part is to know hwat your getting, and if they send you some thing different and you have a small tank... then what do you do?
Pygmy octos like loke O.joubini do well in small tanks like a 12gln but hide most of the time and are not that much fun to watch. Get a 30gln set up and go with a O.bimaculoides. You'll be delighted! there the best species to keep!
As far a distinguishing species buy Mark Normans book, Cephalopods A world Guide. That will help you know the different species a little better.But it takes a long time to get to know them and id them well. Good luck!

 

[PupChow]

Sounds good to me =) Thanks a lot!