Any advices on keeping octopus?

[anothermix]

Hi everyone! i started a thread in the invertebrates section, but wasnt sure if that was the correct column since there wasnt much response. however, i was wondering if anyone here has any experience or advices on keeping an octopus. planning for a bimac since i've done some research and it seems thats the most suitable species for an aquarium. anyone with personal experiences and tips to share? and also does anyone know which LFS has them in stock?

Thanks!

Ed

[iskay]

Tightly covered tank a must. Rubble, shells and live rock to build a home. Favourite food are crabs. No other livestock as tank mates else they become snacks for the cephalopod. They are short lived. Seen most occurrence in the pasir ris farms.

[dragonfly_sg]

Hi everyone! i started a thread in the invertebrates section, but wasnt sure if that was the correct column since there wasnt much response. however, i was wondering if anyone here has any experience or advices on keeping an octopus. planning for a bimac since i've done some research and it seems thats the most suitable species for an aquarium. anyone with personal experiences and tips to share? and also does anyone know which LFS has them in stock?

Thanks!

Ed

You can find them occasionally at Ah Beng's at Pasir Ris. Ask them.

I think mysis and those common fish food you find in the shop will not be effective or enough. If you get a small one, you can feed it with fresh Ikan Billis, or shrimps from the wet market or go bedok jetty during the weekends and ask for some fresh caught Tambans. Depending on the size of the octopus you're getting, you might need to cut up the fishes to the size it can consume at one go so as not to pollute the water. Another thing you can feed it with is live shrimp, some fishing tackle shop or fishing pond sells them. Buy a 100g a go and it should last you a week or two, and you can keep the live prawns in a floating basket in your octopus tank. You might even see the octopus get into the floating basket and feed itself.

But I remember I mentioned somewhere, they are very difficult to keep in a tank. They will try to escape every chance they get. And assuming that you manage to keep it securely in a tank, when you try to catch it or it get frigthen, it'll ink the tank. Oh and incidentally they do bite and its very painful, got to be care of that too.

[Polypterus]

What!?

Mysis are naturally HUFA enriched creatures that are hard to rear, but are certainly a very high quality food, though their size can be called into question when it comes to feeding larger cephalopods.

I do not advocate the feeding of fish; it is probably an unnatural product for the octopus to feed on.

You'll probably want to do prawns, clean shellfish, saltwater crabs, and similar crustaceans. Don't feed freshwater products, the octopus will die from malnutrition.

[limz_777]

depends on species , not all are short lived

[alcohologist]

on the subject of escaping - i kept a wild-caught (bedok jetty) unidentified octopus sp. in my relatively large, uncovered sump tank for a few months with no incident. sump was chock full of live rock and she was comfortable and content to stay in there. since then i have heard from other aquarists also, that provided adequate shelter, food, and most importantly, enrichment, the animal will be unlikely to attempt escape.

if enclosing the tank is impossible/not practical, another way to deter escaping would be to line the upper walls of the tank with (scratchyside) velcro or vaseline.

[Polypterus]

Vaseline is unlikely to work I believe. You can line the tank with turf.

[Steve Tan]

I saw an Octopus in Ah Beng like a month ago, a really small one. I used to own a cuttle fish in my tank and he finished everything in the tank except himself...

[xnsdvd]

I've got a very very young octopus to sell. Not sure what species though.

Call 9862 7310

[alexy]

octupus need a bigger tank?

[patricklhc]

Cuttlefish won't have this escape problem. I wanted to keep too but providing food for them might be a issue. Won't want to try until I am able to get constant live food that they need

[anothermix]

Cuttlefish won't have this escape problem. I wanted to keep too but providing food for them might be a issue. Won't want to try until I am able to get constant live food that they need

I agree on that. yet to swap over to a species tank. havent really takent the time to plan it yet. planning to swap my current over to a 3 feet so i can use my 2x2 as a species tank for an octopus or cuttlefish.

another question.. would an octopus or cuttlefish be able to co-live with other predatory fishes like grouper or lion?

or any tank mates that can be suggested with the 2 above mentioned?

[Polypterus]

No....Both species are clearly predatory for a reason, as are their defensive mechanisms.

Cephalopods, keep alone.

Tank will likely be too small for many octopus species. Very hard to identify.

[keithtanbb]

my only experience...kept 1 in small tank (adequate for the small one...) fed market shrimps....clever guy.....but when I was at work, crawl out and dried up on my timber decking...so you need to cover top real tight!~

[Gobyluver]

I kept one b4 in my sump. Survive for 7mths. Fed MP. Very healthy. Died w/o a clue.

[Gobyluver]

I kept one b4 in my sump. Survive for 7mths. Fed MP. Very healthy. Died w/o a clue.

[Polypterus]

I kept one b4 in my sump. Survive for 7mths. Fed MP. Very healthy. Died w/o a clue.

Not a bad thing. All have short lifespans period.

[SeahSengYong]

There is mimic octopus for sale at ah beng today.

[reefer6]

Mussels & clams are a good source of food next to crab..