Anyone have experience with Octopuses here?

[Nightbird]

So as I stated in my new member intro message, I now have a 55 gallon aquarium free. And although I am thinking of doing freshwater fish again, I have always wanted to try my hand with an Octopus. Does anyone have any experience with these here? I have heard they aren't to hard to get since were on the coast and shrimp fisherman catch them all the time, but I'm just curious how hard they really are to keep and if they are worth the trouble in someone else's opinion.

Thanks for any feedback!

[Bud]

Never had one personally, but knew a a guy with one. Be sure your tank is completely sealed, he thought his was but it escaped. Before it got out and died, it stayed hidden out of site all the time. Cool animals, not so great for aquariums in my opinion. Good luck.

[Nightbird]

Never had one personally, but knew a a guy with one. Be sure your tank is completely sealed, he thought his was but it escaped. Before it got out and died, it stayed hidden out of site all the time. Cool animals, not so great for aquariums in my opinion. Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback Bud. I too have read that you REALLY need to secure the heck out of your aquarium top. I've also read they can pick stuff up and slam it against the glass, so no sharp or heavy stones..lol. I'm sure somebody around here has one in their aquarium since were right on the coast. It would just be cool to have something that really interacts with you, and since they are so intelligent that would be a blast. You should check out the vids of them on youtube under "my octopus" to see what I mean. When I had Discus fish, they looked awesome but were rally skiddish and didn't want anything to do with you..lol.

[goalk33p3r]

You should look in to cuddlefish. They are pretty awesome as well. Like bud said got to have a tight lid. And you really can't put anything else in that tank. Water quality is very key. Do a lot of reading and asking questions. Try the forums on reef central or lareefclub you can find some good info. If you ever do decide on getting one I seen live aquaria for like 40 or 50 dollars good luck

[Nightbird]

You should look in to cuddlefish. They are pretty awesome as well. Like bud said got to have a tight lid. And you really can't put anything else in that tank. Water quality is very key. Do a lot of reading and asking questions. Try the forums on reef central or lareefclub you can find some good info. If you ever do decide on getting one I seen live aquaria for like 40 or 50 dollars good luck

Thanks goalk33p3r. Actually, a Cuttlefish was my first choice, but after doing my research on them, they are incredibly hard to keep and are notorious for dying due to any little thing. They are also really delicate in nature, and on all the Cephalopod forums people warn against even trying it. And the few people who do have them also warn they die in a really horrible way, by going blind first, and then basically starving to death -which you have to watch unless you kill them first. No thanks! lol.. Octopuses are apparently much more hardy, and once you get the water down as long as you have a tight lid then their chances of survival are pretty decent I've read. Only bad thing is they have a very short life span, usually only about a year I've read, but depends on the species.

Thanks again for the suggestion!

[phisher]

I kept a bimac octopus for a few months several years ago. They are extremely interesting but don't expect every individual to live up to the youtube hype. Long and short is that its a cool animal that requires a lot of specialized care and will not live long. I would recommend you check out the TONMO site and forum for the best and most accurate information. I would not try to find a local species, you really need something from a more tropical area unless you want to make accommodations for cooling your water.

Cuttlefish are definitely an option, several people on tonmo are actually breeding them, the information you listed sounds like it might have been for a nautilus maybe?

[Nightbird]

Thanks for the info phisher. I think I will drop the idea of getting on Octopus, because the more I read about it, the more I am hearing accounts like yours that it's not really worth the trouble. As for the Cuttlefish, I actually got a lot of my info from TONMO, as I'm a member there, but I think what may be going on is that there are a few very specialized breeders out there who have a lot of experience and they make it look easy. Either that, or my info is too dated, as it's been about a year or so that I was there reading on it. However, as I mentioned before, I read that they die a really horrible death, going blind and then starving, and all the owners who have seen this say you need a strong stomach to watch it happen because it breaks your heart..definitely don't wanna see that happen..lol.

I haven't been to the pet center in a while. Does anyone know if they have a good freshwater selection of colorful fish? I'm mainly looking for red colored fish, like Blood Parrots..though lately I have seen more orange colored ones instead of a true red.

[Gerwin]

everyone posted good info and I agree, difficult to keep
that being said I have a customer that kept one for months and did not even have a lid!! every time he came in he said it was doing great, just keeping hi, broke in feeding.
he actually gave it to a buddy, he offered it to me several times but I was afraid I would kill it it would have crawled out on me for sure. BTW it was a specimen from south Florida as I recall

[Nightbird]

everyone posted good info and I agree, difficult to keep
that being said I have a customer that kept one for months and did not even have a lid!! every time he came in he said it was doing great, just keeping hi, broke in feeding.
he actually gave it to a buddy, he offered it to me several times but I was afraid I would kill it it would have crawled out on me for sure. BTW it was a specimen from south Florida as I recall

Thanks Gerwin for the info! And I think you made the right decision on not getting it..because they also love to jump into other aquariums and eat buffet style..lol.

By the way..do you carry any red colored freshwater fish right now at the store? I need fish for my 55 gallon and I'd like to get it done this week. So far I've only thought about Blood Red Parrot Fish, though they aren't a "true" red color. I believe your the pet store owner, but if I'm wrong let me know and thanks again.