octopus information?

[weslogston]

my wife and i have wanted an octopus for a while now. well, we found one at Saltwaterfish.com, i buy alot from them. the octopus is called a Caribbean Reef Octopus. Max body saize about 5in. The ad says to keep it alone but it doesnt say why. I understand it will eat alot of things but thats ok because because all of my fish are large enough to not get eaten. I also understand that they are escape artists as well, but my tank has a custom very tight top with screen for venting, so it could never get out. My lighting is perfect for it as well as all the live rock formations in the tank are strongly secured so it couldn't move them or make them fall. I dont have a problem feeding it live shrimp or baby beach crab (which i have a never ending supply), or snails or anything really for that matter. My main concern is will it try to catch and kill my fish even though they are larger than he is and are still growing every day. I have a very large black volitan lion, a 6in porcupine puffer-getting bigger everday, a 5in humuhumu, a 13-14in snowflake eel, 5 large margarita snails, a 5in spider crab ( which would probally get eaten), and a handful of blue leg hermits which are pretty much just food for the other fish anyway. if anyone has an opinion on how big the meals are that the octopus will eat, please let me know. thank you.

[Amphibious]

I gave you plenty of reasons NOT to buy the Octopus in your previous thread, nearly a total duplicate of this one. Your not looking for our advice. It seems you have already made up your mind and you want someone on TR to point the finger at when the octopus begins EATING your prize fish. He will!!! The bite of an octopus is poisonous so any of your fish will be paralyzed by the bite and consumed, at least partially. Any uneaten fish portion will rot and could cause an Ammonia spike of major proportions causing the death of your other prize fish. Octopus, being very susceptible to Ammonia poisoning, would be the first to go. Octopus also hide during the day and hunt at night. Your prize fish are very susceptible to capture at night. Easy prey for an animal designed as the ULTIMATE night fighter with EIGHT arms armed with a HUNDRED suckers each. Your fish will be easy targets AND because you keep such good care of them, they will be tasty treats for your newly prized octopus.

THERE IS A REASON THEY MUST BE HOUSED ALONE, THEY EAT EVERYTHING!!!

Now that I’ve given you MORE reasons not to put an octopus into your prize display tank, I have something exciting to share with you. A project, so to speak. This will be very exciting and could land you a top spot on U-Tube. Here it is...

Set up a camera on your DT, introduce the octopus and film him and the Snowflake Ell going at an all out fight to the death of one of them. See who is the toughest and share that video with the world. You might become famous. It would be like the “Tough Man” contest but with a twist, the “Toughest Reef Inhabitant” contest. Why do I suggest this??? Because...

Moray Ells (your Snowflake is a Moray) and Octopus are deadly enemies. Will it happen immediately??? Probably not. They would have to find each other and spare a bit. By the way, Octopus is the Moray’s favorite food.

Need more reasons NOT to put the Octopus into your prize display tank??? I could go on. Why not set up a separate “Octopus Condo Tank”, become a “Responsible Reefer” and really enjoy this fascinating critter.

Dick

[Phurst]

I think Dick pretty well answered this question for you previously. I don't think I'd worry about the lion, the puffer or the eel, but everything else sounds like fair game. A mesh top may not be enough to prevent escape. The only hard part of an octopus is it's beak, and they are fully capable of fitting through any space large enough for their beak to fit through. They truly are masters of escape. Dick said they should be housed alone, in a purpose designed tank, and I agree, regardless of how many times you ask.

[V]

alaskian's, sheesh, cant take em anywhere

[Amphibious]

I appologize for profanity.

People like that just set me off! Half-Witts. Now i know that the bite of an octopus is poisonous so i will not be buying one. I would not point a finger at somebody online. what the heck would i accomplish there? do people actually do stupid things like that in this community? what good would it do to blame somebody "online". what could i possibly say to you? " you owe me fish". hahahaha WOW. i appreciate the advise i got from you but the little comment about " looking for someone to point fingers at" is the single most stupidest statement i have EVER heard. i am now dumber having read that comment of yours. thank you. i will be recovering from that, you should be very embarrased of yourself.

Wes,

Sorry if I “set you off” by trying to “set you straight” on the husbandry of octopus. You posted the question in two different threads one the other day and this one. I believe your profanity filled post, which you started as a new thread, was so hate filled I reported it to the Admins. This is a family oriented site, no tolerance for profanity!

I figured you weren’t happy with my response to your first thread on octopus because it didn’t fit what you were hoping to hear. So, I expounded on the subject here, your second octopus thread. You apparently didn’t like what I had to say here, also. So, you blasted me with a new thread filled with anger and disgust with me. That thread should have been posted here because it needed to be connected to this thread since it was my post here you didn’t like.

Now, you present an “apology” in another new thread, once again disconnecting it to this thread. I brought it over here as a quote so people following your octopus thread can connect your displeasure with me to my response. I’m sorry you don’t like my response but, you came here looking for direction. I’m giving you my honest opinion based on 42 years experience exclusively in SW and having kept a few octopus in my day. Some successfully, some not.

i appreciate the advise i got from you but the little comment about " looking for someone to point fingers at" is the single most stupidest statement i have EVER heard.

Of the statement above you asked, "do people actually do stupid things like that in this community?” Probably not members of TR because we do our best to EDUCATE people before they make a mistake. But it happens all the time. The people on this forum that give advice have to be very careful what they say. It isn’t that people will try to hold us responsible for their actions by demanding retribution for a mishap BUT they find it easy to blame someone else, by pointing the finger, avoiding taking personal responsibility for their actions. After all is said and done, regardless what information is presented here or anywhere else for that matter, we are all responsible for making the final decision to act on that information.

Respectfully,

Dick

[Phurst]

Sorry you had to deal with that Dick. He won't be bothering us again. Some people just don't know how to act in polite company

[ScubaBosh]

Dick, you're the man!

[laurabolyard]

You go phib!!!

[SaltyDawg]

unfortunate though...he could have learned a lot. Dick, you tried your best....but this guys selective hearing is worse than my wifes.

[laurabolyard]

So, I guess what youre trying to say is that I should probably bring this octopus back to my LSF

[laurabolyard]

gocha?

[Amphibious]

LMAO! NO! Bring it up to me. You guys are a hoot!!!

Thank you!!!

[V]

your kinda sexy when your firing on all cylinders ampage

It could have just been a strange week for him though, so from my perspective, im not going to overly look into it too much.

Besides, its a different rush when someone else gets your blood pumping, instead of them blue pills hey amapage...lol

[laurabolyard]

He was pretty good wasnt he? He did a great job of putting him in his place without sounding at all rude, he did it with both sides of his brain tied around his back!

[CarmieJo]

You guys are all great!

[V]

You guys are all great!

Not as easy as it looks i'll let you know!!!

[V]

unfortunate though...he could have learned a lot. Dick, you tried your best....but this guys selective hearing is worse than my wifes.

Oh my looooorrrrd!!! you mean to tell me your not a chick... & here i thought there was a logical reason behind your sensitivity...muhahahah!

See, only i can get away with it & not get my IP number canned in the sin bin

[Amphibious]

You know how far to push the limit though, V. Right to the edge!

Thanks you guys. I’m a very patient person and capable of “reading” a person’s temperament. Wes was being very annoying with his repeated questions, his answers, his very demeanor on TR. He needed to be handled diplomatically. In the end he tried to control our responses to fit his preplanned judgement. Instead of learning from our experience he thought he was better than the collective wisdom displayed here on TR. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, he got himself banned. I understand I was not the only member attacked.

Yeesh, I’m just an old man trying to pass on common sense gleaned from a lifetime of experience before I go SCUBA diving in the big reef in the sky.

By the way, Girls, could you imagine being married to a guy like that???

[V]

only the good die young, so you & me will top 102 you old geeze.

[Phurst]

LOL, you guys crack me up.

Just for the record, this particular member was NOT banned for repeatedly asking the same questions, being annoying and generally ignoring sound advice. We are better than that here. He had several profanity filled posts directly attacking members that were removed. He received several PM warnings from Carmie, Bobby and myself and chose to ignore them by continuing to name call and demean the members here, so I made the choice to show him the door.

V is not in any danger as long as he keeps up the monthly Aussie beer shipments to me

[ScubaBosh]

V is not in any danger as long as he keeps up the monthly Aussie beer shipments to me

HAHA how do I get some of that?

[V]

whom ever said money doesn't buy friends is clearly supplying the wrong beer

[lReef lKeeper]

LOL, V is not in any danger as long as he keeps up the monthly Aussie beer shipments to me

and all of the Aussie corals come to my house !! straight from the great barrier reef to my front door !!

[SaltyDawg]

Now I'm emotional. She said they were vitamins, isn't estrogen a vitamin? LOL
I didn't see the other post where Wes was being nasty towards others. The site admin. do a good job of keeping on top of this sort of stuff. Guess he got what he deserved.

[V]

Gold responce.!

Its ok, Im the nightshift gatekeeper. i'm looking after talking reefs 6. Whilst you a'll asleep, im taking care of buisness ok.
I dont do it for the money, the badge or the gloat status, i do it all for the love!!!

That & there's no-one here to actually monitor at that time, but thats besides the point. I can still keep track of the internet spiders... ive gotten quite good at kicking spiders when their not looking & soiling the jam jars for your american breakfast folks..muhahaha