New Octo still hiding

[TamiW]

I just got a pygmy octopus last week thursday (not sure of species, about the size of a goldball, so probably one of the pygmy species). I drip acclimated it for about 4 hours. It immediately went into hiding, and as far as I can tell, has not come out since. Should I be worried yet, or is it normal to not come out for a while? Should I be worried about it not eating yet?

I know most of the pygmy species are nocturnal. I've sneaked down with the lights out several times to try and see if its come out. I've even borrowed my fiance's night vision to watch the tank from across the room at night with no lights on. While I haven't been able to watch the tank every minute of the night, I've gone to the tank several times each night since getting it, and never seen it out.

I know its still in there, and alive- I know where the cave is, and if I shine a light in, the octopus will recoil into the depths of its cave, but that is the only movement I see. Oh, the tank is full of amphipods, so is it also possible its eating pods that wander in or near its cave?

 

[cephalopoder]

Hi Fishgrrl.
Where did you get your octopus and what name was it sold to you under? O.mercatoris is the common pygmy octopus in the trade. It is reddish brown with white spots on it. It has large eyes and skinny arms. This species is nocturnal. What are your water parameters? It is a little early but O.mercatoris start to lay eggs in another month or so.
chris

 

[TamiW]

Good news:
The octo was out tonight. Well, sorta out. It was still hiding amongst the liverock, but I could see it clearly in a more open part of the rock away from the cave its been hiding in since I got it. It got angry and flashed her colors at me when I shined the flash light on It. It was very cool to see. (My SO has taken his nightvision back for fear I get salt on it.)

Bad news:
Phosphates are between one and two ppm. ARGH! I probably should have checked that. Anyways, I did a 25% water change, and added a polyfilter pad. I'll test again tomorrow.
Other water parameters:
temp 76-77
ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: between 0 and 10 (I don't have a low range kit).

Should I be checking anything else? The tank has been set up for just under a year (I set it up the end of october last year).

Should I try offering it ghost shrimp, or let it eat the amphipods that are in there?

Where did you get your octopus and what name was it sold to you under?

I got it from a local fish store, just sold as "octopus". The guy said it came in to the store listed as "pygmy octopus" from the distributor.

O.mercatoris is the common pygmy octopus in the trade. It is reddish brown with white spots on it. It has large eyes and skinny arms.

Reddish brown with white spots? Skinny arms? That's the one! (I can't tell about the eyes though. I don't know what to compare it to determine if they're big or not).

It was in the store for about two weeks before I got it. Unlike a lot of the octo's I normally see locally, all its arms are in good shape. Often times I've seen them where they're missing, short, or look like the tips are regrowing. This one looked like the arms weren't damaged at all.

It is a little early but O.mercatoris start to lay eggs in another month or so.

Speaking of, while I was acclimating it last week, I spent some time looking up how to sex it. As far as I could see, it didn't have the catcher mit glove that the males are described as having. However, since I've never done this before, I don't know exactly what I'm looking for. Is it really obvious in O. mercatoris or similar species, or would be something an inexperienced octo keeper like myself might not see? And if it is a female, is it pretty likely she's carrying eggs, or did I get her too early?

 

[cephalopoder]

Hi
Phosphates will not harm your octo much but will cause algae to break out. What is your salinity? It should be 1.025. Cephs like salt so sea water should be full strength. It is hard to sex any octopus with out handleing it. If if does a spead eagle on the glass you might have a shot at it. It can be tricky though. For some reason female octopuses are way more common than males. This could be just the nature of octpuses to preserve the species. The more females ... the more eggs get laid. Some one like Dr Caldwell could answer this better. If you do have O.mercatoris I would not be a bit surprised to see it lay eggs in a short time. Female octopus can store sperm for up to 6 months before they lay eggs.If it is golf ball sized, it is full grown. I have a 7 month old O.mercatoris hatched from egg and the mantle is the size of a small egg corn. There are other species it could be, O.mercatoris is just a very comon one. The pic attached is my merc at 6 months.
-chris

 

[Rudiger]

The pic attached is my merc at 6 months.

How cute! He has his mothers eyes...actually she only had one eye

 

[Tamani]

Rudiger, is that the same octo that's I've seen a video of spitting water at the top if the tank? And how did you get it out with the lights on?

Well, my octo finally was out last night. I was watching it using a dim red light. That was pretty cool. I didn't see her eat the ghost shrimp I put in dispite it practically crashing into her. However its now nowhere to be found. So . . .

BTW, those two pictures look like my octo. I thought about taking a picture of her for confirmation, but I be that the flash would set me back several days in terms of its trustingness to come out.

 

[Tamani]

Sorry for the possible confusion - I'm FishGrrl, I made a new account after losing my password and no longer having that email address to recover the password. Looks like my laptop saved the password, though. Now if I could just get it to give it to me.

 

[Rudiger]

Yes that is the same octopus as in the video. When mother octopuses are close to death they begin going crazy, acting funny, comming out during the day, etc. Maybe someone else can tell you more about this. But that is why she was out during the day. I think ghost shrimp are an acquired taste. At first my bimac wouldnt touch them, but eventually did eat one and then began to eat more, now he loves them.

 

[TamiW]

What do you suggest other than ghost shrimp? Right now, she's sucking on a blue leg hermit shell, but at 99 cents a pop, they're a little expensive for food.

She comes out every night now (what a relief), but has also managed to find a new hiding spot, so during the day, I can't see her. The first day she did this, I was sure she had crawled out, even though I was sure I had covered all the ways she could escape.

I've been watching her at night using a red filtered flashlight, but she even reacts to that. I was thinking of building a low wattage viewing light out of a night light assembly. I was wondering, though, if a red bulb is best, or perhaps a blue one (to be more like moonlight). Any thoughts?

 

[Rudiger]

red, it's softest on the eye. Astronomers use red flashlights so they can see but it won't ruin their night vision. In the documentary: Chasing Giants on the discovery channel, steve o'shea uses red light to view baby squid he catches.