octo life span

[jarrett]

hello all i was just wondering what the best octo would be for a tank. i want one but dont want it to die in a couple of months. i was hoping you all could tell me what some would be with a long life span thanks

 

[Neptune420]

Bimacs or vulgaris are your best bet for an aquarium, they only live about a year maybe longer if your lucky. To my knowledge there are no long lived species available for the home aquarium.
If you still decide to keep one good luck finding one. There are only a couple of places i know of that sometimes has them. Ebay and saltwaterfish.com and I think liveaquaria.

 

[Animal Mother]

No matter what kind you get it's a gamble unless you find a source for a tank-bred Bimac, and they need cooler temperatures than a typical setup. Otherwise you will end up with a wild-caught octopus and there is no guarantee on how old it is. They only live 2 years max, and even some tank-bred ones only live 9-12 months.

 

[jarrett]

thank you

 

[05TurboS2K]

i thought they lived like 10 years....or are we just talkin tank types..

seattle aquarium has had one as long as i remember. A large red one.

 

[Animal Mother]

The Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus doflieni) lives to be 5 years old at most, more commonly 3 or 4 years, and that's because they live in VERY cold water which slows down their metabolism. Of course most people can't afford a tank big enough for one of those or the expense of feeding one. That's why you only see them in public/private aquariums.

Some public aquariums release them before they die and replace them so they can keep one on display. I believe there was an article last year about the release of the one at the Seattle Aquarium. Pretty sure you can find the video on YouTube or Google.