octopus help needed

[nycmat]

hello all.

I have a friend who really wants to have a octopus tank. he wants all agressive fish to go in the tank. despite all my objections to having it, i cannot convince him otherwise. with that being said, i would like to help him so that at least it has the best chance to live. While we here on MR do not condone killing animals and prefer to have certain species to be left alone in there natural habitat, we all know that they are still taken out of the ocean. i want to give it the best chance to live in a aquarium. now i know some people here will say the best thing is not to get one. NO duh. so if you care for all species in the ocean which i know we all do, lets try and put our heads together to get this done. so what would be a proper set up for it? he really loves the animal and that is why he wants it so bad, rather then everyone suggesting "NO!" to getting it, what would everyone suggest to have one in a 105 gallion set up. Its a reef ready tank. i have been informed to put a mesh over the overflow. not sure what kind. what kind? where do i get it? at present he has about 40lbs of live rock to start with. i still need to get a skimmer. was thinking about a octopus recirculating skimmer. go figure (LOL )

your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated on this.


thanks in advance
matt

 

[Aquatic Life Direct]

NO! :lol2:

 

[nycmat]

NO! :lol2:

kiss it !!

 

[Aquatic Life Direct]

Maybe Bob1000(tobin) will chime in....

 

[michael stern]

What fish does he want to keep with it?
Most "aggressive" fish will happily make a meal out of the octo.

 

[nycmat]

well he wants to keep aggresive fish like eels and lionfish. but thankyou for everyones pm's. what kind of skimmer etc still remains open. thanks'
matt

 

[jhale]

Matt it won't work. Big fish eat octo's like Michael said.
Tell him to switch his fish plan and provide plenty of hiding spots for the little sucker.
If you need to tell him to sign on here and see all the people telling him NO.

 

[grundig5]

I initially got involved in the hobby to keep a bimac octo but ultimately ended up in the reef world. This site provided me with a LOT of useful information and actually detered me from going forward with it:
tonmo.com

From my research...extremely short life span, does MUCH better in colder water (under 70 I think?), does well with VERY few tankmates if any, requires mostly live food like crabs which need to be cared for as well, make huge amounts of waste, and they can escape from almost anything.
So I would say get the best skimmer you can afford, probably need a chiller or some means of keeping temps in control, definately need to have a plan to keep it in the tank (glass top alone will not work), relatively lower output lighting is generally considered best, and you need to have a way to care for or get live food for it. Good luck though, incredible animals.

 

[Domboski]

I agree with Michael Stern and jhale. Agressive fish will make the Octo ink unless they eat the Octo before he has a chance. If you don't have really good circulation and filtration, the Octo will die from its own ink (fast too).

If the water is too warm, the Octo will perish much quicker than the average timespan people keep them. Normal reef temps will greatly reduce the lifespan.

Ask your friend to tell us exactly what species of Octo he wants or can get and we will be able to provide more appropriate information. Each species has special requirments to consider.

 

[eatyourfish]

whats up buddy? well said,except you left out that fact we are putting a tank divider in to separate them from the other fish.! but i otherwise i love it! lol

 

[Thales]

With most species a divider is useless, they will climb over it or rip it out. The octo section would also have to be octo proofed so the occy won't escape which most species are able to do.

What species are you thinking of?