Mysterious Octo Death

[Sanfernando]

I found my little bimac dead yesterday morning and can't figure out why.
Water parameters are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: undetectable
pH: 8.1
Temp: 72-75 degrees

It looks like he ate a few crabs I put in with him as I have yet to seem them (they were emeralds so they are usually out in the open atleast for a while). The snails and cucumber are doing fine.
I got the bimac from FishSupply and this tank has been set up since January and I can't figure out why he died. I have been looking forward to having an octo for almost a year and want to get another one but I don't want to risk killing another of these wonderful creatures due to my own negligence. If there is anything you can think of that might have killed it or any other info you need that might help solve this puzzle please let me know.

 

[Sanfernando]

Almost forgot, the salinity is at 1.025 and the water is RO/DI with Instant Ocean. I acclimated the octo for 3 hours in a dark room as well.

 

[alligator]

Do you know how long he lived before you purchased him? I only had mine for 9 months.

 

[Sanfernando]

He was a baby bimac, his armspan was maybe 2.5" and I got him on Thursday.

 

[Dr. Idso]

Hi,

Sounds like your bimac died of SIDS! LOL! Seriously, sometimes they just seem to die shortly after transport. Last year, for example, I ordered two baby bimacs of the size you spoke of, for two tanks I had established in my classroom. I had set up both tanks identically, and we were going to run color change experiments on the octopuses by varying the bottom substrates in each tank. Unfortunately, one died for no apparent reason on day 2 following its acclimation, while the other one lived on for another five months. I did have a special one week guarantee from Jack at Fish Supply, which was an awesome gesture on his part at the time, so I did get a replacement octopus, which I actually brought home for fear of having it die in that same tank.

So it might seems silly, being that octopus are invertebrates, but I sometimes wonder if they could suffer some sort of internal damage due to very rough shipping that might take a few days to actually do them in? Anyways, I hope you don't give up and try for another octopus. I just finished feeding my two large bimacs freshwater crawdads that were 3 inches long, and it was a joy to behold! Octopus are wonderous to observe.


Regards,

Dr. Idso

 

[Sanfernando]

I don't plan on giving up, I just hate losing an animal and not knowing why. I talked to Jack and it sounds like he will give me credit for the bimac which is great since its not on their 5 day guarantee and being a student I don't have much disposable income between setting up the octo tank and caring for my reef. I will be moving in a couple weeks so would it be wise to wait till after the move to get another bimac?

 

[OctoMonkey]

you need to do a copper test... any amounts are lethal....

A theory that i had a while back when something similar happened and, when investigated seemed even more likely, was that i fed a crab from a lfs to an octo that died... the crab had been in the lfs tank for only one day and i found out that the tank had been treated for whitespot with a copper based medication!!!

its that lethal it seems

 

[Sanfernando]

The RO/DI water I used was 0 ppm before I mixed it with Instant Ocean. The crab did come from the LFS, but I work there and know for a fact that no copper was used in the tank it came from. I did empty the tank of water that was in there for a while which was not RO/DI, but it is the same water I use in my reef tank. I emptied out as much of that old water as possible, then filled the tank partially back up with the RO/DI saltwater and then emptied it again. Would this have been enough copper to cause the death of the octo?

 

[Gonodactylus]

Being sealed in a bag and shipped for a couple of days is rough. I would guess that up to a quarter of the cephalopods that I have been shipped have died within a week - often after initially eating. We used to blame this on cyanide and other toxic collecting techniques, but now that more captive raised animals are being shipped, it is clear that this isn't the whole story. pH changes are certainly a factor are as temperature swings, low oxygen, ammonia and probably even physical damage from violent sloshing.

When I bring animals back from the field, my success rate is much higher. At least when I hand carry them I can control for temperature and violent sloshing. I can also open the container and provide more oxygen (although at least some of you have heard my stories about escapees at 40,000 feet). However, ammonia and pH can still cause problems. Probably the only solution is more water and more oxygen along with a buffer like Tris and these measures are not cheap!

There is a reason that most suppliers will not guarantee live delivery for cephalopods.

Roy

 

[Sanfernando]

Well I did a copper test today but I'm not sure about the results. I used the Fastest Copper test and after adding both of the test packets, the water took on a bluish tint if you looked at it from where you compare the water color to the color chip. If looked at from the side the water looked totally clear and if copper was in the water it should have taken on some kind of yellow or orangish color. Does anyone know if the bluish tint means anything? I did put a copper removing resin in the tank, could this have caused the blue color?