New Tank Ideas

I'm pretty much done stocking my sps tank and am now ready to start a new system. I have a 30 gallon that's been sitting around my room for about 2 years now and I'd like to use that tank and spend more money on the equipment than buy a bigger one. I'm looking to setup something themed around a rare species or dedicated to a certain type of coral/animal. I was thinking about a gorgonian/macroalgae/pipefish tank but i'm not sure 30 gallons is big enough. I'd love to keep an octopus if anybody has any experience with those but I'm pretty sure my tank is too small for most of the diurnal ones. I work in the aquarium hobby so unless something is pretty rare I shouldn't have a lot of trouble getting it. I'm not sure this was the right place to put this thread but it seemed like a good place to start. Thanks in advance for all the advice/ideas.

maybe a smidge on the small side... but a dwarf cuttlefish tank would be sweet.

I just spent about an hour looking them up and learning about them. If I can get ahold of some Sepia bandensis dwarf cuttlefish that's definitely what I'm doing. From what I've read they go perfectly in a 30 gallon tank and do pretty well on frozen food with weekly supplements of live crustaceans.

The best diurnal octopus for aquarium life and size together is a o. bimaculatus. A 30 gallon is too small for it once it gets 6-8 months old. would at the very minimum keep it in a 55g. and even then wouldn't feel good about it. You could probably keep 2 sepia bandesis in a tank of your size, the thing is you really really need an established tank. I can stress water quality enough when it comes to cephalopods. you will need a good skimmer not just a mediocre one. one thing to consider is I know you are looking to save money and not get a bigger tank, but cephs require a LOT of extra cashflow. Im not saying this to scare you away, if you are aware of this and want to undertake this i think its more than wonderful. I would just want to make sure you have success with them. The food requrement for cephalopods get expensive, not as much with sepia bandesis but its still a lot. The advantage is that you do not have any specific lighing requrements for ceph tanks. with the bimac for example its reccomended to have a low light tank. bright light will stress them out. The sepia bandisis is as much as you want. its cool because as long as there are a few spots of low flow for them to chill out and caverns you can do a full bown sps tank if you like. If you have any ceph related questions feel free to pm me. be prepared for a short lived experience and the natural life cycles for cephalopods we keep are not over 2 years in captivity. usually just barely over a year with bandisis. If you want to keep them for long periods of times you would want to look into settin up a nursery for them. however with the small ammount you could house in a 30gal it would be a hard struggle to get viable eggs and a continuous life source. hopefully some of this info helps, ultimately if i were you i would not set up a ceph tank unless its 55gal or more. but again feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

Cuttlefish and octopuses are very smart.

from my experiences at the aquarium with cephs they are going to need a very nicely clamped down top on that tank, otherwise you'll have a carpet surfing oct.... they figure out how to get out of everything and the only thing that seems to have stopped them has been astroturf (sorry the pic is small, its from my phone)...



they are very very smart and i have troubles finding ours all the time even when they are right in front of your face lol...

o. bimaculatus are one of the only species of octopos that dont typically try to escape. they are usually happy in their home. other commonly kept cephs like o. vulgaris are very curious and need to have a really safe lid, though for safety even with a o. bimaculatus i would still have a secure lid. some people use duct tape. cheap and easy. a 1 pound octopus can lift something in the range of 45lbs, and can fit through anything the size of their mantle, so small holes need to be secured. a sump is going to be someting you will need with an octopus for purposes of oxygenation.

I have kept Octopus Only get tank raised if thats the way you go, and yes they need to be completly secured. They are super smart.

I am keeping sepia bandensis cuttles right now and will probably never keep an octopus again I love these guys so much friendlier then my octos.

We are actually tank raising them and I should have some eggs in a month.

Dwarf pipes, many banded, or dragon pipes would do fine in a tank that size as well.

or you could keep a mantis shrimp, great personalities.

Or you may want to try your hand at a seahorse/pipeband tank...those are very nice, challenging, and enjoying.

Winy those things you've got just look creepy!
Scary in fact!