new tank questions

sdm

Premium Member
Hi all,
I recently got an old 30g aquarium from someone who was getting rid of it. Now I have been looking up octos for a long time, but been unable to get one because I did not have a qualified tank. (i.e. copper having been used, or not big enough) Unfortunately, I forgot to ask if copper had been used in the past, and the next time my mom or dad'll see them (we got it since they are one of my parents patients) is undetermined. Could be weeks, months, heck it could even be a year or two! Anyhoo, because of how messy octos are(therefore huge biolad) I have to either get something in there so the tank keeps the max biolad high or put in an octo. My question is, what should I do? I've never heard of a tank cleaned up after copper was used enough to put in an octo/ceph in, but anythin I put in there at the moment will probably end up staying there, as the the two other tanks I have are full. Also, just while I'm on the topic, what would be ideal for a 30g? I know that bimacs are basically out of the question, but I dunno how I like the idea of mercatoris or joubini. Thanks in advance!
 
If you have used copper in the tank before I would not put any ceph in it. Mecratoris is a cool little octopus or you could get a nice mantis shrimp like a peacock they are relly neat. As with any invert you have to make sure no copper is in the tank though.
 
Well I dunno if copper has been used or not. My question is, if I take a reading and have no detectable copper, is it okay? As stated above I have never heard of any tank that had copper used in it before, cleaned up enough to be able to place a ceph in, and have that ceph survive. Oh, and mercatoris sounds cool but I was hoping for an octo that lives a little bit longer than 3-4 months.
 
If the copper test reads zero chances are it's ok but you may want to ask this question in Dr Rons forum or the reef chemistry forum fo a more detailed answer. I have kept a number of bimaculoides in a 30 gallon before with no problem but there is always the chance of getting one that will grow larger than the average bimaculoides. Thats why tonmo is recommending a 50 gallon or larger.
 
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