Posted by yellowboy on December 10, 2002 at 18:57:35:
In Reply to: Re: Dwarf octopus posted by Buddy on November 25, 2002 at 23:23:42:
Octopus have more personality than any invertebrate in my opinion but it comes with a price. They need full strength sea water, that is gonna go through your filering system at least once an hour with activated carbon in case they ink the tank. You'll also need extra water ready for a water change in that case too. They need massive filtration...an octopus puts out 3x the ammonia per unit biomass than fish do. They aren't as harmed by ammonia but nitrite will do them in quickly and ammonia deteriorates into nitrite. They also have a very absobant body so the tiniest amount of toxic material in the tank is quickly in the octopus, that means the tank must never be cleaned with chemicals or the like. The lighting can be pretty much anything, standard NO florescents should be fine. Also many octopus are prone to escape, the chances of this increase with worse water quality. Octopoda Bimaculoides is much less willing to jump tank than others... putting the bumpy side of velcro around the top of the tank or astroturf will make them less likely to leave, they dont like the texture. You are also gonna need a massive supply of live marine foods, shrimp crabs scallops etc. Hiding places are a must. The tank must be aged for a while before introducing the octo...6 months is prob good. I'm probably missing something. Check out the cephalopod page or cephbase for TONS of info. Good luck with your octo friend.
