NEW Specimen tank

[Goodwin9]

I thought that I would share a few pictures of my new specimen tank which I had custom built to house my OCTOPUS. The tank is 48X36X28 and is made out of 1/2" acrylic.

The first picture was taken at the factory prior to it being delivered.

The tank has mechanical, chemical, UV, sand filter, protein skimmer & chiller for the filtration system.

This picture shows one of the two locking lids on the tank which should make escape impossible.

Since this tank is rather large for my small octopus, I had a removable divider built to split the tank so that I could house a second specimen if I decide to do so.

Should make for a nice home once things have cycled through and stabilized.

 

[bskiba]

very cool love to see it when it is running.

 

[danferd2002]

looks great, keep us updated.

 

[bskiba]

I was in Huntington Beach a couple weeks ago and they ussually have octo's at Tongs. they are tempting to buy like crack to a crackhead. you really want one but know it wont workout and you shouldn't have it.

 

[Goodwin9]

Anymore comments or suggestions

 

[jnfallon]

suggestion - When opening the tank, make sure the thing doesn't jump on your face and attach like that scene in "Alien" - that would super freaky.

Comment - Awesome project. I think octos are more interesting than most other animals. Keep posting pics as you progress, please.

 

[drummereef]

Can't wait till you get that bad boy in there. :thumbsup:

 

[jnarowe]

I am very interested in following your project. The people that run the marine science center in my town have always had problems keeping them and say that they must be returned to the wild within a few months or they deteriorate. So they swap them out around the 5-6 month mark. They also have a lot of escape stories of course. Feeding is fun, especially if you have no problem getting crabs where you live...SD? That might be tough.

 

[reefez]

The octo lifespan is not all that long. Like 5 years I think I heard.

 

[reefann]

Five years for most of the big guys.
More like one maybe two for bimacs and vulgaris

 

[alien9168]

This looks really neat...maybe its just my inexpireince talking, but this is one of the first tanks i have ever seen ACTUALLY designed for octos.



Very cool + great work!!

 

[thor32766]

yeah sweet work keep us updated

 

[thor32766]

yeah sweet work keep us updated

 

[46bfinGA]

Ive never kept an octopus and would never claim to be an expert,but from what i have read and seen they can pretty much fit thru anything.It looks as if you have slots in the divider that you had made. Are you not concerned that one may be able to reach the other and cause some harm?

 

[H20ENG]

Nice tank Goodwin!
Where I worked, we kept Giant Pacific Octopus (dolfleni -sp?) and 2 spot (bimaculatus).

The giants were DIRTY animals. I had a large sand filter for mech and bio, and a large ETS skimmer (on a 500g tank, dubbed "Octotraz" since we were a mile away from "The Rock" ) that you could smell a mile away. This tank got a nightly waterchange from the main system (350,000G), and also a nightly skimmer cleaning. We used 12" of astroturf inside and outside the tank to keep them from climbing out. These animals, IIRC, need the highest oxygen concentration of any marine species, so watch that. Oh, and they eat A LOT.

We also had some juvenile dolflenis in a 180g for a short time. It had locking lids, but they would get right up to the 1" "heater hole" in the top of the tank, and spit water out until the night engineer came by (furious that they had to mop up yet another "octo-flood"), then they would stop. Our hypothesis was that they saw so many people every day, that they were lonely and knew how to get somebody to come running. This is ludicrous of course, but I can tell you that when we gave it rubber dog toys to "play" with, it stopped spitting water for good.
They are as intelligent as a 3 yr old child. FWIW...

The bimacs were cute little guys about 12" diameter. They were in a small cylinder tank with live rock, and a locking mesh top. As long as the skimmer kept rocking and the O2 was up there, they were fine.

So, my point, watch your mech filters for clogging (The Rainbow Lifeguard pleat filters clog WAY too fast, better to use a filter bag in the sump) and skim, skim, skim!

Having worked with and interacted with octopus, and giving my wife and children a once in a lifetime experience was definitely a highlight of my career.

Enjoy,
Chris

 

[bskiba]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8227889#post8227889 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 46bfinGA
Ive never kept an octopus and would never claim to be an expert,but from what i have read and seen they can pretty much fit thru anything.It looks as if you have slots in the divider that you had made. Are you not concerned that one may be able to reach the other and cause some harm?

I had a teacher in the past that worked at the Seattle aquarium and he always said they could fit out anything that their beak could fit through.

 

[H20ENG]

Very true. You have to plug every hole in the tank. Slimy octopus are VERY hard to pick up off the floor....

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8232098#post8232098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by H20ENG
Very true. You have to plug every hole in the tank. Slimy octopus are VERY hard to pick up off the floor....

Thanks for the heads up. This tank has been designed with a specific purpose of holding an octopus. Lids lock down, return teeth are 1/4" and spaced at different levels on the overflow to prevent the octopus from covering them and flooding the tank. I hope that all of the bases are covered.

 

[H20ENG]

A small rubescens or bimaculatus could have only a 1/4" beak. You may want to wrap 1/8" mesh around the teeth til they get a little bigger.

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8232098#post8232098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by H20ENG
Very true. You have to plug every hole in the tank. Slimy octopus are VERY hard to pick up off the floor....

I did buy some bridal mesh just incase, but not sure how I would use it if I had to... For what the setup cost, I'm going to look pretty stupid if I can't keep him safe and happy.

Here is a short video to give you some idea of his size, click on the image to view

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