Pacific Octo

[Frog02]

I have a 35 gal. Eclipse with a seaclone protien skimmer (had to widen side hole) works great.
I live in Washington state and I scuba dive. When I dive I find alot of little baby Giant Pacific Octos in bottles etc.
I was thinking about converting my 35 into an octo tank. But I don't want to buy a chiller (have to cut hole in glass for iceprobe).
I was wondering if I kept my tank around room temp 60-65 degrees if the octo would adapt with a slow temp acclimation. They do range to California.
Any ideas or suggestions would be nice. I do plan on re releasing it when it gets to big. Plus I live close to the water for food sources (crab, clams) and tank decore.
Do you think he will fair to live rock or should I take it out and same with sand I have aragonite. Localy in the water its regular sand and hard rock.
Thanks:rolleye1:

 

[Gonodactylus]

Most GPO's that we see in California are in the north and often fairly deep. They are unlikely to see temperatures above about 58. Trying to hold a room that much below ambient sounds risky. Also, GPO.s grow fairly quickly, so if you were successful, it wouldn't be happy in a 35 for very long.

Roy

 

[Mr.Lizard]

We have a GPO display (http://www.oceanjourney.org) and a grow out tank in our quarantine area specifically for the GPO. They get LARGE as you all well know- and they definitely dislike trying to crawl over astro turf (I read someone's post talking about that around here somewhere....) We have our exhibit temp at 52 degrees. The tank is @ 6' x 4' x 4' with both skimmer and fluidized bed filters and a killer chiller which combined at least double the water in the system....The GPO in there now is smaller than the last, and it can still easily stretch the full length of the tank. It spends quite a bit of time in it's cave. I definitely would have to agree with Professor Gonodactylus- you'd be doing a lot of catch and release! And probably not much good for the animals, either. The 35 might work well for a smaller species, though- you'll need a big system with a big capacity chiller for the GPOs IMHO. Just my .02 worth from first hand experience. Good Luck ! Get us some pics!

 

[InnsmouthLook]

Isn't an adult giant pacific octopus strong enough to pull a small child or pet into the tank? I read that somewhere, it's probably sci-fi bull but can you imagine?

 

[Putawaywet]

Isn't an adult giant pacific octopus strong enough to pull a small child or pet into the tank? I read that somewhere, it's probably sci-fi bull but can you imagine?

No sci-fi there my friend. I've got first hand experience with GPO's and can tell you they are indeed quite strong. They could easily pull a small unattentive toddler or pet into the tank if they thought them a potential food source. Especially if they were at an elevated level where they merely had to pull them down in. They might initially have a problem getting ahold of something furry, but if they wanted it bad enough they would more than make up for it with their resourcefulness. They are also extremely curious and will give most anything within their line of sight the once-over.

Kinda a bit unsettling actually to see them looking up at you from just a few inches below the water. Yet, at the same time, unbelievably amazing.

Brett

 

[cirri]

Why not go for a bimac, better suited for your tank size and also Cali native.