The killer octopus on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
The killer octopus on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Whoa Swords, 8' feet across?
Actually there are several types of octopi that fit nicely in the the confines of normal aquarium sizes. These range anywhere from the size of a basketball to the size of a tennis ball in diameter. The pacific blue spotted octopus is fairly common in stores here in LA which is one of the smaller varieties. The smaller varieties I have kept in a 6 gal tank, the basketball sized ones you would need more like a 30 or 40 gal tank. The really large ones that Sword speaks of are the cold water variety commonly found in Northern Califorinia and Alaskan waters. Montery Bay seems to be home for more than a few.
Most Octopi that are available to the hobby live anywhere from 8-24 months in the wild. Most around a year. In a properly maintained aquarium, life expectancy is about the same, the problem is identifying the octopus your buying and then determining how old he is. You may buy a smaller octopus that is actually full grown and has already lived 80% of his life expectancy. I have never kept more than one at a time, not sure how that would come off.
Any crustaceans are dust in the presence of an octopus. Incidently, when possible, they are an effective way to take care of a mantis shrimp. Fish are problematic, an octopus can nail a sleeping fish, but the couple I have had showed no interest.
A tight fitting cover with something filling every crevice is a must. Many octopi are content with their tank. Many like to take a stroll. I had one sit on top of the top of my tank, I think just to prove he could do it. I read somewhere that someone had one crawl between his tank and another tank in the room 15' away for a midnight snack!(?)
Water quality needs to be excellent. This is made more difficult by the fact that they are messy eaters and they also produce a lot of waste as well. Thus very frequent water changes are necessary, like twice a week. And you need to vacum out the leftovers of any meal. I usually fed mine 2-3 times a week, maybe occasionally 4.
Most need live food to start with, the inexpensive crabs are the best. With time they usually will take to pieces of shrimp, crab or fish. One even learned to like the freeze dried krill - large size. Most of mine have left submarines alone, only in the movies I think.
Inking is not much of a problem. Most of mine never or very rarely inked. Interestingly, it has usually been because someone else's hand was in the tank, and not mine. They are very smart and they do learn who takes care of them. If they do ink, a little carbon in the filter will take care of it; or a water change will do it too.
Lately, I have seen a growing number of blue rings kept in a small cup for sale. The stores have a number of ways to justify how and why they sell them. Personally, I don't see how you could ever let them out of the cup. A number of times my finger has been wrapped up while cleaning algae off the glass. I have never been bitten, but it happens. With a blue ring bite, I understand that you won't find your car keys before its too late. Lets say your the brave type, what about the child that sees it and sticks their hand in the tank, what if it escapes and the well meaning wife/girlfriend/kid picks it up to put it back. Are you willing to risk others peoples lives? Leave it in the cup? Oooh that sounds like a fun existence. I say leave em in the ocean. If we don't buy em, then they'll stop catching them.
The previously mentioned website is very informative, and are they worth all this trouble? I would have to say they are my favorite critter. Enjoy.