want to keep octo in 55g reef

Kyle_RR

Kyle_RR

New member
hey i was wondering if i could keep an octopus in a 55g reef. if not i am purchasing another 55g setup that i would be able to put the octopus in if he cant go in the reef. If i need to put him in the new tank what are the conditions for keeping him(water perameters, tank mates, equipment, etc.......)

thanks for any help
 
Hello,

i tried to keep an octopus for a couple of month. It was an juvenile octopus vulgaris.
At first, you must not keep this pet in a normal reef tank. There are several reasons.

  • the octopus will eat your other inhabitants.
  • mostly he only eats live food like mussels and fishs
  • it will crawl out of the tank
  • an octopus could come through the smallest holes (The hole only must be as big as the eye from the octopus)
  • it would be very difficult to feed the octopus

In my opinion an octopus only could be hold in a seperate tank specifically designed for it. The tank must be hermetic closed an should not have to much coralls.
A second importend point is the supply of oxygen, octopussÃ"šÃ‚´ needs nearly 100% saturation with oxygen in their water.

My Octopus died after 3 month in my tank and i will not try it again.

IÃ"šÃ‚´ve learnd that the Hapalochlaena maculosa (bluering octopus) should bo keep more easier as well as he stay much smaller than the most other species of octopusÃ"šÃ‚´ but they are deadly poisonousness if they bite you.

I hope this is a little bit interesting for you.

Andreas!
 
Here are some pictures from my "Oswald"

krake1.jpg


krake2.jpg


krake3.jpg


krake5.jpg


krake6.jpg


Andreas!
 
Hi Andreas!
Nice pics, I don't think that is a O.vulgais however. It looks exactly like the very fisrt octopus I ever owned a unknown species (SP11) on page 255 of ceph world gude. I bet your likes to hide in the sand and prefered to be nocturnal?
Kyle as for your question a reef is too warm for most species of octopus that are available in the trade. O.bimaculoides that is very common and not prone to escape prefers colder water temps. There is a ton of info on parameters if you do a brief search of back posts.
A 55 will be fine for most species and the use of ro/di water is prefered with SPG at 1.025 PH.7.9-8-2
chris
 
Thanks for the info

will someone also give me some ideas for what to put in the tank to keep the octo happy( LR,LS,algae....whatever)
 
cephalopoder said:
Hi Andreas!
Nice pics, I don't think that is a O.vulgais however. It looks exactly like the very fisrt octopus I ever owned a unknown species (SP11) on page 255 of ceph world gude. I bet your likes to hide in the sand and prefered to be nocturnal?...
Click to expand...

Hy Chris,

i identified it with some books and the internet but itÃ"šÃ‚´s really difficult to do that. The only really point to look for are the eyes of the octopus.
IÃ"šÃ‚´m sure that you are right, cause behavior was as like as you write. The tank he was inside was a bypass tank to my reeftank and contains a jaubertsystem with plenum. The octopus loved it to hang around in the plenum. I wonderd about it cause I known about the necessary of oxygen for the octopus. I think that this was the reason he died after a short while.

In my opinion octopus only could kept in seperate, autarchic tanks with a lot of special configuration. And I also think that the success is depanding on well knowing wich kind of octopus (precision species) is kept. E. g. an blue ring octopus is a crab eater, my octopus was a shell-eater, he lived with a lot of hermit crabs and ignored them. As well as there were some chromis viridis within the tank and they were als be ignored.

I really love this creatures, they are intelligend, beautiful, extravagant and really really interesting, but in instantaneous state of the art they are better in hands of nature or very specialist reefkeepers. Hoply time will change like it done bei SPS-corals.

Have a nice evening.

Andreas
 
Kyle_RR said:
Thanks for the info

will someone also give me some ideas for what to put in the tank to keep the octo happy( LR,LS,algae....whatever)
Click to expand...

Hi Kyle,

this is depending in the species of octopus you want to keep. But generally the tank mostly should be really big cause the most octopus I found in books or the net become really big guys. The only species in acceptable sice I found was the bluering octopus, but this species ist deadly poisonous. All other well known species will grow up to 1 meter ore more.
In any case the tank should include many caves and holes to hide.
I heard about that octopus would react bad to the poison of corals espacially sps, donÃ"šÃ‚´t know if itÃ"šÃ‚´s right or a rumor. Some caulerpas could not damage I think.

Andreas!
 
IF YOU WANT A BLUE RING OCTO....YOUR ^%*_'ING CRAZY. IT COULD KILL YOU. IM NOT INSULTING YOUR SMARTS BUT COME ON... YOU DO WHAT YOU WNAT.. BUT NO MATTER WHAT YOUR CRAZY =P

IF ONLY I KNEW YOU BETTER RIP MY DEAR BROTHER
 
Hy Imamarinebiologist,

iÃ"šÃ‚´tÃ"šÃ‚´s not so terrible like you wrote. ItÃ"šÃ‚´s allright, the blueringoctopus is an extremly poisonous animal but if you know how to keep itÃ"šÃ‚´s no difference to a rattlesnake or a cobra wich are animals really often kept in hobbiest hands.

If someone knows how he should do I donÃ"šÃ‚´t see a big problem. As well as itÃ"šÃ‚´s not true that every bite is deadly. The venom of the bluering is a paralysing one wich stops at least heart and lungs working. The venom will stop working after 6 till 12 hours.
If the bitten one will get a cardiac massage and breathing for the whole time the chance of survival is relative high.

But itÃ"šÃ‚´s all right, the keeping of so dangerous animels shold be really thoughtful. I would not have the courage to do this.

Nice Day

Andreas!
 
Whoa! These were proclaimed one of the deadliest animals in the world on some show I saw on the Discovery Channel. I would NOT feel comfortable having one aound the house! :eek1:
 
AquAddiction said:
Whoa! These were proclaimed one of the deadliest animals in the world on some show I saw on the Discovery Channel. I would NOT feel comfortable having one aound the house! :eek1:
Click to expand...

haha i can imagin a blue ring waltzing around the house scaring the @*^& out of everyone.....

i am aware of the dangers though
 
obviously not that aware as you are on this forum asking questions. Its ok because it will just be another case of Darwin at work!
 
Personally I think that the octopus is quite a beautiful species . So I can relate with people that would love to keep such wonderful creatures. No matter how short their life span is I watched the discovery channel myself from time to time . Yet having neither the finances nor the expertise with the octopus lethal or not I won't . My LFS that I frequent recently got 2 cuttle fish in by accident they did'nt order it but they did'nt decline accepting them either . They seem to be taking good care of them right now yet they too don't really seem to be taking enough precautions for my liking . they are seperated right now but the tanks are small . Maybe they'll make it I hope so. Did I mention I like octopus . :beer:
 
ive kept several octos with varying degrees of success. Ive tried feeding them live fish , but they never go for it so it may be a good choice. mushrooms, zoos, and anything with a mild to no sting and that is firmly attached is fine with them. I have only had 1 escape his tank. This can be prevented by lining the top 2-3 inches of the tank with astroturf---the feeling of it on their tentacles repels them. Keep in mind that an octo that is small enough to keep in a tank has a very high metabolism and very short life span----1-2 years in the wild. so if you get one that is already a year old, you may not have him for long
 
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