Octo behavior...

[goodman770]

A few Octo observations:
Well I'm having a Halloween party Friday night. It's an all out blowout party, I hang up sheets of black plastic on the walls and cieling to make the room darker (just like a bar). (Anyone in Atlanta is welcome to come) Well, I was hanging the plastic but havn't moved my Octo tank yet. After having my Octo for 2 weeks, he hardly comes out, however now that everthing around him was black he was out exploring. It may be coincidence, but I believe with a black backround he feels more secure and is thus exploring more. I think when the party is over I will try painting the back of it black and maybe part of the sides. Any thoughts?

After feeding him last night...I noticed him scurrying accross the sand. He then dropped the carcus of the crayfish out away from the rocks and scurried back.
I LOVE these creatures.

Bill

 

[OctoMonkey]

Hi Bill
Yep i agree with you entirely!!!!!
I think that most tanks seem to be far too open and exposed for octopuses especially babies..... A cave idea deffinetly works as does a heavily stocked tank... stacked with rocks, pipes, shells etc...
here's a pic of my baby bimacs new playground
Colin..............

 

[OctoMonkey]

bugger

 

[goodman770]

Is that an octo tank or a snail graveyard??

Thanks for the input Colin. I plan on also adding a little more rock to mine. There are plenty of places to hide, but I want it to look a little more ocean like. For those of you with shy Octo's you may want to try the black plastic thing as well. I bet a trash bag hung over at least the back may be just the ticket to get him to come out. As time goes on they will become more comfortable and maybe wean them off the dark backround. The more I think about his behavior the more I'm convinced it was the backround. I tried getting pics last night, but they look like a dark spot in the tank, not very revealing. I'm still not positive of the species....

Bill

 

[OctoMonkey]

LOL yeah snail graveyard! I have kept every snail shell i have had for the last few years.... come in handy for doors into 3/4" pipes apparantly

A reef tank idea is perfect for an octo.... barring fish and shrimps etc obviously... I really like that natural look... The bimac has only been in the tank like this for 3 days now... I did this to see if there was a difference between its active times/relaxed behaviour compared to the other tank... I'll let you all know
C

 

[MickAv8r]

Our bimac is in a 10 gallon former nano-reef, using fiji rock at 72 degrees. When he gets bigger we plan on moving him to our cold water New England 55 gallon, and we'll raise the temp from 58 degrees to 65.

Kodos loves the live rock, he has all the nooks, crannies and tunnels mapped out. It did take a few weeks but now he comes out an hunts in the open almost every day for a few hours. His tank is also a bit brighter than most, lit by two 32W PC bulbs, a blue and a smartlamp.

 

[SushiGirl]

Hey Colin...is that the same black & white urchin from before? If so, it's spines sure have gotten long! I see the limpets didn't make it...did the octos eat them or did they just die off? I see your astreas have become food now...guess you don't have to do strategic snail placement anymore! LOL

 

[OctoMonkey]

Hi
yeah thats the small urchin. The other one with the longer spines is in G's big tank and has spines about 10" long now! It got huge!!!

The limpets managed great up until the bimac got its suckers on them, then the brittle starts finished what was left, i think it was more curiosity than anything else.

LOL at snails. yeah since the big tank is no longer there and the small tank only has one small fluro tube, there is no need for so many snails anyway... So many did get put to the bimac...

There is a big FW tank there now... 36x30x30 and a marine tank under it. The SW tank is in two again with fish on one side and the baby bimac on the other with an Aquamedic 1000 multi skimmer. The bottom tanks hold about 60 gallons in total as it is really wide, wider than the last one anyway.....