65 replies to this topic

[Riggers]

Hey Guys

Ive got hold of another 4x2x2 and ive decided to build an Occy tank (not the surfer) haha, any suggestions for a type of octopus thats pretty cool as ive never kept them

cheers
Nick

Edited by Riggertron, 22 August 2011 - 02:39 AM.

[Neakit]

All i can say is they will only live for a year or 2 and you better have some way of locking the lids down cause none of your fish will be safe. On a different note they are very intelligent animals, from what i have seen there isn't too much choice on species that are available.

[Riggers]

From what I've researched so far there quite messy so your mechanical filtration needs to be pretty spot on, also if there's holes bigger than there mouth they can push themselves through, so I've cut some glass to size for the lids and I have lockable section for feeding etc... I've seen them open lids from jars to get to there dinner and apparently they are one of the smartest animals living in the ocean, the only experience ive had with them is messing up there garden while diving and then watching while they rearrange them back to how they like it im always up for a new challenge... funny little fellas

What species where you keeping neakit?

[Peckoltia]

I kept a blue ring years ago. Bit of a funny/silly story about how it came about. Was collecting some shells, and putting them in the pocket of my boardies. When I was standing in the shallows I noticed it start to squeeze its way through the drain hole of my pocket and drop into the water near my feet. Collected it by sucking it into a plastic drink bottle.

I kept this guy in a 2L water bottle with just a little bit of sand on the bottom and a bit of weed/rock. Just put a small airstone in there. Made a pretty close to airtight hole in the lid for the airline to pass through so it couldn't escape. Just did a 50% water change once a week. It lived happily like this for over a year. Eventually died of old age i presume? Probably one of the coolest animals I have kept.

Best of luck mate. Good choice, if you like occys I'd also look into cuttle fish too.

Alex

[Riggers]

WOW Alex thats amazing!!!! I can believe that you kept it in a drink bottle, Thats FANTASTIC!!! it seems like there a really cool animal to keep im interested to learn heaps more, now ill have to research cuttlefish too! Ive seen quite a few of them while diving too, i wish i could change colour like that! Thanks Alex


EDIT... my spelling is terrible!!!!

Edited by Riggertron, 12 June 2011 - 11:28 AM.

[aussiemcgee]

I did a uni research project on the local perth species - octopus tetricus, a few years back. It was very interesting and they grew really quickly on a diet of mussels, prawn and crab ie. ~50g - 1kg in about 2 months (the mussels were just in the bottom as a snack, which they busted into when they got hungry).

We had ours in a large flow through set up in freo and had, from memory, about 5 animals/ cage. Cages were made of a fine 'gutter guard' type mesh about 800mm x 400mm x 1000mm (lwh). But the real trippy bit to keep them from escaping was just ordinary shade cloth wrapped around the top 300mm of the cage (inside and out), above the water line. Their little suckers just couldn't get enough of a purchase to climb out.

The best bit was when we finished, I was eating fresh occie for weeks!

I would say that a 4x2x2 tank just wouldn't quite have the height to contain this particular spp. especially when they get bigger.

[Riggers]

Thanks so much for the great info McGee im quite excited about giving it a go

what sort of tank would you recommend? i can always use the 4x2 for something else and buy another tank lol

[aussiemcgee]

Its hard to say mate, glass is an etirely different medium than 'gutter guard'! they will get a much better grip on glass and may be able to stretch further?

But I'd have to say height wise it would have to be at least 800 - 900mm (as they grow so quick); ~250mm of that would be required to be freeboard with the shade cloth. L and W would be entirely personal/ space determined.

Will definately be a different formal display tank! will try and hunt down the pics for ya

[Niz]

This is Bob.




Bob lived in a 4x2 for a little over a year before he died.

His tank was setup as a standard carnivore marine system, had a big skimmer, sump, live rock etc. You'll need to keep carbon on hand incase they get spooked and ink. I used gaffa tape to keep a flyscreen mesh over the tank, just peeled it up to feed and restuck it. Overflow was double gutterguarded. A double 4ft t5 for a few hours aday, although he would hide when they were on unless food was being offered.

He ate fresh seafood of any sort, and loved the occaisional live bait too. He grew from the size of a golf ball, to being able to touch the lids with a leg with his head on the sand! I kept playtoys in the tank for him, the yellow chain with food in a bottle attached to the top (mine never opened a jar).

Prepare to have your heart broken. The short lifespan is really short. I couldnt work out what was wrong with Bob when he died, until I remembered how long I had had him.

For Pro info, you need to visit www.tonmo.com - The Octopus News Magazine Online

Another idea is to try cuttlefish, but maybe after an octopus. I had limited success, mostly due to transporting them, but the few i did keep were even more interesting than Bob.

[Niz]

And here is a video of him with a huge banana prawn in his gob.

[Riggers]

Thanks Mcgee Ill look into some different tanks sizes Niz thats freakin awesome i love "bob's" colour he seems like a real occy with personality! I didnt even think about them inking hahahaha (i wish i could ink!)
As soon as i move my rack out of the way ill have some space to play with so ill set something up and get some pics up

Thanks once again guys for your great info im in love with occys allready!!

[Jules]

yeah dude do an occy tank!
my mate used to have one, best animal ever. use to squirt water and pit out the tank, and one day we were having a few drinks in his backyard only to find when we got back in the occy opening the cover glass and half out the tank ha ha!
but the most fascinating creature to watch!
kudos to Peckoltia on the blue ring to, seen em at Vebas a while back and was really thinking about keeping one one day.

[aussiemcgee]

first time putting pics up, hope they turn out ok...

 cage1.pdf   360.82KB   82 downloads  big_occie.pdf   636.52KB   92 downloads  big_occie2.pdf   516.4KB   71 downloads  cage2.pdf   351.58KB   58 downloads

[Riggers]

Wow McGee awesome photos!! cheers..... i really like the colour in the second picture. I was in at Ocean Reefs today and i had a look at the occy they had out the back, it was amazing and im totally hooked all ready!! As soon as i peered my head over the side it changed colour instantly to match the enclosure, similar setup to the first pic, i put my fingers on the top of the mesh and he changed color again came over to sus me out then tried to reach up and grab hold of me to see what i was!!!!! i wanted to take it home there and then!!! Dont worry Jules im definately doin an Occy Tank Ill keep some progress updates for you interested parties

[Riggers]

So after getting rid of pretty much all my freshwater stock im now left with plenty of space and a couple of 4x2's to fill it:) last night i took down my rack of tanks (going till 2am) and now its time to put the occy tank in its place....... I still have a little bit of work to do like plumbing etc and getting the hardware together but im hoping by the weekend ill have water in it Ill post some pics and some more details soon

Watch this space..........


Nick

[meganj]

Wooohoooo!!!! Exciting!!!!

[Riggers]

Leak testing the tank for the occy the previous owner did some dodgy patch work on the existing holes so it was just a matter of cutting some new glass to size and a dab of silicon, im glad i did it because all three of the patches you can see in the picture had slow drips coming from them when the tank was full..While i was there i did the rest of the seams in the tank as well...better safe than sorry...

and now with the new patches on it No more leaks!!

[Riggers]

Its coming along nicely, in place and almost ready to go

[highlucks]

This is going to be a great project. As others have said make sure you have tight fitting lids cause if he can see the fish in the tank next door. He will want to get in there to have a snack.

[Gareth]

cant wait to come see this one mate, ooh yeah!