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is there any possibility you could keep and octupus in an aquarium the only problem i really see would be the ink

i done quite a bit of reasearch on octupus, you need a very large tank with super tight lid, Also the rock would need to be epoxied cause octupus being curious and very very strong, will redeccorate the rocks, you also have to keep there active minds busy, like with a little ball that they can play with, they can also startle easy, so the tank would have to be in a low traffic area, water would have to be perfect, cause there sensitive to change. The last thing is there quite expensive, and dont have a long life span in captivity, maybe only a year or so.
Good luck

www.responsiblethrashers.com

ok u should have let me down easy lol]

sounds like way to much work

im a little 2 lazy for that


thanks tho

You don't necessarily need a large tank, some of the smaller octopi (that doesn't sound right) *can* be kept in tanks smaller than a fifty-five gallon. It is kind of a pain to keep them though, because they're good escapists, are best suited to tanks by themselves, and yes, they have very short lifespans. It sucks to get attached to something that dies a year after you buy it.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I agree with what has been said above...just wanted to add that most octopus are pretty boring to have as pets anyway. Most of the time during the day they will stay tucked up inside of a rock and hide.





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its octopuses

Ditto on the grammar correction...not that it's important. The suffix -pi is used when pluralizing words that end with the suffix -us. However, "octopus" does NOT have the suffix -us, it has the suffix -pus, Latin for foot. (Octo-pus...eight feet, you all get it.)

Thus, the correct plural of "octopus" is "octopuses".

Either TFH or Aquarium Fish magazine recently ran an article on how to keep an octopus ... apparently it's not easy, but can be done. I think the article appeared sometime in the past year.

It was AFM, it was a very good article, sorta made me not want one because of the short life spam. Why do all the work for a thing thats only gonna live a year or two??

I had a tiny octopus that came on some of my live rock. It was a few millimeters when I first saw it, and the next time I saw it, the thing had grown to about 3 centimeters. It was really cool, but I figure that by now it is dead. Anyways I never did anything special for it, but of course I only saw it twice.

I have kept two types of octopus, including the Blue Ringed Octopus. They are actually relatively easy to keep. And can be kept in a small tank. I kept both of the ones I had in a 10 gal octogon tank (no pun intended, lol) and not at the same time. Their water requirements are not difficult either, as they are very hardy critters. They can survive in poor conditions quite well. The other one was a Caribean Blue. The biggest problem is the lifespan. Who wants to pay so much for something that rarely comes out of its hiding place, except to eat, and only lives about a year, or slightly more. And, if it is a female and she lays eggs, she will die right after the eggs hatch. They will only eat live foods. They can escape the tank with as small as a 50mm opening. And they are quite strong, and can actually lift up most all lids on aquariums, and climb out. There have been several studies done, where the octopus tank was placed ajacent to another tank with live feeders in it. And the octopus, actually opened his tank lid, climbed out of the tank and into the feeder tank. Ate what he wanted, then climbed back into his tank and back into his cave. Kinda neet.

If you are thinking now about cuddlefish, or squid, they are very neat and don't try to escape. However, their requirements are much more than the octopus are. They do require a very large tank (relative to their size of each species), and need very clean water.


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I thought blue rings were poisonous???

Blue ringed octopuses (ha ha, you two) are very venomous indeed. They can cause death in humans, as their venom is quite potent. I think it attacks the nervous system, and makes it very difficult (and in some cases impossible) for the victim to breathe. Something like that. Sounds fun, huh?

Last edited by sirbooks at 27-Jun-2005 13:54

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Yes, a very strong neurotoxin. Only 1 out of 10 people bitten by them have survived. But then again, my lionfish are all venomous, and fatally if your are allergic to bee stings, and my stone fish was deadly poisonous, about as much as the blue ring octopus. I miss my poisonous tank, only have the lionfish left. Maybe some day in the future I'll get some more of the poisonous fish for another poisonous tank.

And for those of you that do not know, many of the SW fish sold in lfs are poisonous. So always ask before purchasing something from SW.

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There is always a bigger fish...