anothermix Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member iskay Posted February 14, 2012 SRC Member Share Posted February 14, 2012 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. Quote "Be formless... shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle; it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot; it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend..." - Lei Siu Lung (Bruce Lee) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly_sg Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polypterus Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limz_777 Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 depends on species , not all are short lived Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcohologist Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polypterus Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Vaseline is unlikely to work I believe. You can line the tank with turf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Tan Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member xnsdvd Posted October 21, 2012 SRC Member Share Posted October 21, 2012 I've got a very very young octopus to sell. Not sure what species though. Call 9862 7310 Quote You can reach me at 98627310 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexy Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 octupus need a bigger tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patricklhc Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anothermix Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polypterus Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithtanbb Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 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!~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobyluver Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I kept one b4 in my sump. Survive for 7mths. Fed MP. Very healthy. Died w/o a clue. Quote My Simple Tank Spec Main Tank LPS and Softies 4x2x2.5ft Sump Tank 2.5x1.5x1.5ft with lots of LR Remote Sump Tank 2x1x1ft dsb refugium with chaeto, mangroves and Gracilaria curtissae macroalgae DIY LED with 6x 3W Blue and 6x 3W White main tank light DIY LED with 1x 3W Blue and 1x 3W Red refugium light DIY LED 1x 1W Blue moonlighting Now convert to skimmerless Tank 1 x Rio 14HF Return Pump 1 x SunSun JVP-102 wavemaker 1 x 2x1 vertical Algae Turf Scrubber with 2x 10W LED Warm White Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobyluver Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I kept one b4 in my sump. Survive for 7mths. Fed MP. Very healthy. Died w/o a clue. Quote My Simple Tank Spec Main Tank LPS and Softies 4x2x2.5ft Sump Tank 2.5x1.5x1.5ft with lots of LR Remote Sump Tank 2x1x1ft dsb refugium with chaeto, mangroves and Gracilaria curtissae macroalgae DIY LED with 6x 3W Blue and 6x 3W White main tank light DIY LED with 1x 3W Blue and 1x 3W Red refugium light DIY LED 1x 1W Blue moonlighting Now convert to skimmerless Tank 1 x Rio 14HF Return Pump 1 x SunSun JVP-102 wavemaker 1 x 2x1 vertical Algae Turf Scrubber with 2x 10W LED Warm White Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polypterus Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahSengYong Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 There is mimic octopus for sale at ah beng today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefer6 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Mussels & clams are a good source of food next to crab.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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