Octopus Abdophus spp

[Fishyyy]

I was thinking about getting an octopus I have a 60 gallon tank that has been running in my garage for about a half a year with live rock, the tank had ick and my fish kept dying so I never put any more fish in since. I was thinking about maybe getting an octopus. Is it hard to keep them? If so why?

 

[beeguiles]

I don't know too much about them but I do know that they grow very fast and don't live a long time. And they are great esacpe artists bc they can be out of water for a short period of time and be fine. They have a lot of muscle and can squeeze themselves out of a covered tank. I heard of someone having an octopus in one tank and another tank for his other fish and his fish kept disappearing. So the guy set up a camera and what do you kno the octopus was coming out of his tank and into the fish tank, eating the fish and going back to his tank again. So they are smart too!

 

[Northstar24]

Well, first off, they have very short life spans, much shorter than most fish or inverts in the hobby, and secondly they are major escape artists. You need to basically have a sealed tank to make sure they stay in the tank - if there is an opening in the tank somewhere, chances are they'll be able to get out

You also need different lighting for an octopus, they require darker tanks, most tanks you'd find would use red lights (the same kind you can use to view your tank at night but fool critters into thinking the tank is still dark)

I think if surveyed, you'd find most people would tell you they are better off left in the ocean

 

[little_fish]

+1 North

Not to mention that you have to get special equipment because the traditional powerheads with their propellers will end up killing them or causing sever damage to their arms.

 

[Smitty]

Yeah, it'll be best to skip the octopus idea...they are extremely difficult, and some are actually dangerous to the hobbyist.