Octopus and lionfish

[Allmost]

Hello all,
I have a 65G tank, it is planted with grape algae and some other acro algae. it houses a V. lionfish for a while now.

I REALLY would LOVE to have a Octopus, would he be fine in the same tank as my lion ?

the size of the octopus will be bigger than the lions mouth of course.

thank you all

or am I better off connecting some 20G tanks together with thick Clear PVC and cover them all, and house the octopus in there, and he can freely move through tanks to give him a bit of challenge/thinking ?

 

[Lupine]

If the octo is bigger than the lion's mouth, (or even if not) the octo will kill the lionfish, and probably any other fish you put in with it. They require their own tank with a very secure top.
There is a lot of homework to be done before acquiring an octopus! Check out www.tonmo.com.

 

[Allmost]

Thank you

I have started reading on them. not ure how it would be able to catch and eat the lionfish without getting stung lol but still I love my lion too much to risk it. guess a web of tanks it is

 

[Cerastes]

Thank you

I have started reading on them. not ure how it would be able to catch and eat the lionfish without getting stung lol but still I love my lion too much to risk it. guess a web of tanks it is

Octopi are quite frequently smarter than the people who attempt to keep them!

 

[JCR's Reef]

Very smart. Forget where I seen it but there was a bigger octo in a public aquarium that was picking off the sharks at night. I think there is a video of it

 

[DoubleM 10]

Very smart. Forget where I seen it but there was a bigger octo in a public aquarium that was picking off the sharks at night. I think there is a video of it

that was at the shed aquarium in Chicago near me lol. lions are not the brightest crayon in the box(i know i own 3). they just know who feeds them. Mine at least dont really have problem solving skills. they just do what nature tells them to.

on the other hand octopus do. which means BIGGER octopus= lionfood

bigge lion=octo lunch

matt

 

[IDrawFish]

Octopus + Lion = bad idea, most likely end up with a dead lion and possibly a dead octo from the toxin as well. Everyone would love to keep cephalopods but they really are for the most advanced aquarist. There is a wonderful book I reccommend you read entitled "Cephalopods: Octopuses and Cuttlefish for the Home Aquarium"

http://www.amazon.com/Cephalopods-O...2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295557774&sr=1-2-spell

If you are interested in learning more definately read this from to back and then you'll at least be a little more prepared.

 

[loneracer05]

as others have stated this isnt a good mix. i had a good bit of luck with a 3 stripe damsel witth my old octo. though this is not the norm. most octos can only be kept alone.the 2 20 gallon tanks together may work but i see filtration being an issue.

 

[Allmost]

thanks, the octo tank is almost done cycling

 

[Blitz99]

Everyone would love to keep cephalopods but they really are for the most advanced aquarist.

I fully understand where this statement comes from, but i think we hobbyist over think things too often.

I worked at Fabulous Fins in the early 90's... i was not advanced in saltwater in any way shape or form... heck, back then lighting was always just a normal output tube and we kept pink tips forever under them.

anyway, i had 3 octo's around that time. one lived well over a year until i left the hood unlatched and my mom (i was 17) wouldnt put it back in the tank... another lived about 6 months, and the third around a year...

i NEVER cycled the tanks i put them in and typically set the tank up as i found the octo at the store. To this day, i dont know what species they were but they were all dwarfs.

how much more life would someone have gotten out of them? who knows, but my guess is not too much...

i'm not saying what i did was right or the best way to go about it (DUH) but if an impatient kid could keep an octo healthy and alive that long, then even a moderate hobbyist can do as good if not better without overthinking it.

by the way, i used to feed goldfish only and would also put them in mountain dew bottles for the octo to figure out, or hand feed them. never got bit and the one seemed to really enjoy playing with my hand.

 

[deathy17]

how long do they live?

 

[NewbyReefer]

Very smart. Forget where I seen it but there was a bigger octo in a public aquarium that was picking off the sharks at night. I think there is a video of it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFOEZh1Lbbg

 

[asid61]

I fully understand where this statement comes from, but i think we hobbyist over think things too often.

I worked at Fabulous Fins in the early 90's... i was not advanced in saltwater in any way shape or form... heck, back then lighting was always just a normal output tube and we kept pink tips forever under them.

anyway, i had 3 octo's around that time. one lived well over a year until i left the hood unlatched and my mom (i was 17) wouldnt put it back in the tank... another lived about 6 months, and the third around a year...

i NEVER cycled the tanks i put them in and typically set the tank up as i found the octo at the store. To this day, i dont know what species they were but they were all dwarfs.

how much more life would someone have gotten out of them? who knows, but my guess is not too much...

i'm not saying what i did was right or the best way to go about it (DUH) but if an impatient kid could keep an octo healthy and alive that long, then even a moderate hobbyist can do as good if not better without overthinking it.

by the way, i used to feed goldfish only and would also put them in mountain dew bottles for the octo to figure out, or hand feed them. never got bit and the one seemed to really enjoy playing with my hand.

BAD IDEA ALERT!!!
All of the experts on TONMO.com who have kept octos agree that not cycling a tank is a very bad idea, and most recommend cycling 3 months. There is an almost certain chance that an octo will die in an uncycled tank; there are exceptions, and maybe you got insanely lucky, but it's better safe than sorry.

 

[AlexS95]

That post was six months ago dude.

 

[asid61]

oops

 

[AlexS95]

Haven't seen you on TONMO lately?

 

[wes1333]

Crazy video