octopus in a reef, CAN IT BE THIS WAY

marinerules

New member
I am wanting a bimac like my friend tommydh on here, He has had his a couple of days and now im wanting one, however I want coral in this tank also , I already have some pulsing xenia, my question is will it hurt to have coral in a tank with an octo and have a 250 watt metal halide bulb,

I know they dont' like bright lights, but there is lots and lots of caves I have set up under my rock if he doesn't liek it ?
 
marinerules

Chill, don't get your panties in a wad.:p I personally don't have that much experience with different types of coral. My tanks are FO with some LR. In my opinion it shouldn't hurt anything to have your octo in with your coral. The only problem that I can see is that most reef tanks are kept warmer than what an octo should be kept in. You might want to also keep away from corals that "sting".
Hope this helps.

P.S. not everyone that looks at a post has an answer, most of the time they have the same question
 
Re: man

Re: man

marinerules said:
man eleven view and not one response, i think i will go to another board for the octo info

I wouldn't get worried until there were 50 to 60 views & no responses...and don't expect any other forum to be any different.

Seeing that you're 17, I would have to say you need to learn to have patience. In the marine aquarium, nothing good happens fast -- you'll see that saying a lot on this forum (and all of the other forums too, BTW).

Unless you get a tropical type octopus, a reef tank is going to be way too warm, making your octo grow faster and live a much shorter life.

Xenia won't survive in the nitrate laden environment an octo will produce (they eat a lot & produce a lot more waste than fish). Most other corals sting and are dangerous for an octo in a confined area. You might be able to get away with a leather... maybe. If you want to interact with/see your octopus, then MH lighting isn't a good idea since it will hide all the time.

You would have to stick with strictly coldwater, non-stinging corals & that's VERY hard to do in a home aquarium, places just don't really sell coldwater species of corals.

You also didn't say anything about the size of the tank, what type of equipment you're running on it, or how long it has been up and running...

Look at it this way...I think panthers are cool & I'd love to keep one, but I don't think it would get along with my other pets, neighbors, or that my house would be a suitable place for it to live the way it's set up now! The fate & well-being of the animal has to be the first concern.
 
Hi marinerules,
I agree 100% with the others on this one but you MIGHT be able to keep some mushrooms in there. I have mushrooms in my seahorse tank and occasionally pieces or something gets into my food container (red shrimp) via water changes. There is no light (just daylight from window, not direct) and no heater (I keep my ac on around 73 F)and the SPG is 1.016 and somehow I ended up with 3 growing (very slowly) in there. Point being, they seem to live thru everything and they might be a possibility. This is as far as I have gone so far in testing their limits but I think I might try them in the octo tank a little later. oh, and they don't sting. So far these are the only possibility I see cause like the others said corals just need too much light and warmth. FWIW
laura
ps definitely try and give people a chance to answer, I'd hate for you to miss out on some valuable info or great advice because you are impatient, most people don't LIVE online.;)
 
yea

yea

yea im impatient i want to know ,
its funny how there is replys in reef dsicussion as soonas you post
not gripping though

sounds like its not worth it to me, if you can't have coral , and no light what so ever , sounds really boring
 
Re: yea

Re: yea

marinerules said:
yea im impatient i want to know ,
its funny how there is replys in reef dsicussion as soonas you post
not gripping though

sounds like its not worth it to me, if you can't have coral , and no light what so ever , sounds really boring

You may not have noticed, but the response you got on the reef forum was from someone who said they couldn't really help you. Plus, there are many more reefkeepers out there than octo keepers, therefore more people are on that forum at all hours of the day and night.

Oh, and it's not that you can't have any light at all, just not mega-wattage like most corals need. The point of getting an octo is not so you can look at all the pretty colors just sitting there in your tank, but so that you can have an intelligent, amazing creature that will actually interact with you.
 
There aren't as many people with cephs as there are people with reefs (REEFCENTRAL?). It doesn't look like they helped you at all over there.

You do have light on an octo tank, just not the "egg boiling" MH lighting that you have on coral tanks.

Sorry if you think an octopus is more boring than a "pet rock", cant help ya there.

I've posted things before that took a week for someone that knew the answer to post. I guess you'll have to go find a forum that revolves around you.LOL

But seriously, we are all on here to learn more and to share our experiences. If someone knows the answer they will post it, just give them a chance.

My suggestion to you is to run 2 tanks.
1-coral
1-octo
(but first, gain some more experience. anyone can keep coral or an octo for a few months with no problems, its after a year or two of keeping that SAME organism alive that shows you know what your doing when caring for your tank.)

I wish you the best of luck, Jimmy
 
Sushigirl said "Unless you get a tropical type octopus, a reef tank is going to be way too warm, making your octo grow faster and live a much shorter life." Is that true the colder the water the longer it will live? because i am planning on getting an octo and want to do all i can to get it to live a long time since i understand they only live about a year.

Oh and BTW i just realized the shark vs octo video on someones signature and the website didint come up can u fix it cuz i want to see it.
 
Sorry about the video, I just checked, but the site is down right now. I'll put it back on when it's up and running. (Thanks for letting me know)

And yes, the temp does effect the growth and life span of an octo. I think the ideal temp is 70-72.
 
If you don't get a response right away please give us a chance, its summer. Some of us are enjoying the outdoors when we can hehe.
My bimac tank has 60 watts of no fl lighting. I use a eco sand plenum for filtration and I keep xenia, mushrooms, stars, buttons- polyps no problem. The plenum keeps the nitrates down .
I just would not use MH lighting. Some species of octopus have eyes very sensitive to bright light and will develop milky spots in the center of the eyes. No one knows the cause but intense lighing may be the cause. I would not try and put any corals that can sting in with your octo. Temp, as others have posted is a problem as well.
As far as being bord with a tank that has a octo and no corals... If your thinking a octo will bore you then maybe its not the right animal for you. The active agressive behavior of a friendly bimac that can slip though small holes in rock, grab your hand and try and pull you in, and squirt you when it hungry is rather boring compaired to the passive non moving nature of a mushroom or leather coral.........not!
:D
 
I have corals in my octo-tank but they really dont do well...Nothing in my octo tank does well except for the octo! The tank is covered with ugly algae and aptaisia and the octo kills anything that moves so a clean up crew is out of the question... Further, I had a colt frag in my octo tank that kept comming off the rock....So I put it back on the rock and waited arround the corner...Next thing I know the octopus comes out and rips it off the rock! It had been him doing it the whole time! Trust me when I say keeping corals in the octo tank wont be spectacular or anything...The only reason I put coral in this tank is because I my display tank is thriving and once a month to keep the corals size in check I frag them...The octo tank is just a small step above the toilet for corals really....
 
update

update

just went to friens house , and octos are DEFINATLY NOT BORING , even if its the only thing , I AM GETTING ONE , i think i will take my mh lights off my 30 and move both to my 55 and have coral in it
 
Death Shrimp99 said:


Oh and BTW i just realized the shark vs octo video on someones signature and the website didint come up can u fix it cuz i want to see it.

Hey the video is back up and running, so here is the link:
56k
T1
 
Hey thanks man it works now, Do you know what species of octo that is? It looked very big, had to be to eat a shark. I found the website you got that from and found more videos.
 
I think they said it was a Giant Octo (probably O.cyanea)
You can order the whole video for $20 from the site. I'll hopefully get mine next month.
 
Its Enteroctopus dolfleni. The Giant Pacific Octopus.

I do think that there is some clever camerawork going on there though. Looks to me like the shark just got hit on the head with a hammer or something before it got grabbed, also he's telling the story in past tense and its happening at the same time, so........

:)
 
That shark thing reminds me of my Bimac vs. Golden retreaver.
Wish I would have had a camera on that one.
 
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