octopus hitchhiker??

[turbo2oh]

I posted this in Reef Discussion but wanted to ask here as well. I was searching my tank at night with a red light for the first time and saw anlarge eye reflecting, it seemed too big to be a shrimp, so i tried a camera ambush and saw this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/turbo2oh/ocotpus.jpg


Any advice?? I know nothing about them and he must have came along with my TBS rock.

[snookcatcher]

how much lr did u get? all at the same time? i live right by there and want an octopus

[turbo2oh]

I got the 29g package, I believe he came in the 2nd shipment.

[Gonodactylus]

Octopus mercatorus.

Roy

[liverock]

Originally posted by Gonodactylus
Octopus mercatorus.

Roy

Thais Roy.....for the ID..


FYI

Are neat critters will eat hermit crabs, plus other offerings of fresh seafood......lifespan is short ....two years at most I belive, but Roy can comment much better than me!

Thanks
Richard TBS

[lynn271]

Yes, please, more info on this lovely little octopus. I also have one of these that came in TBS rock.

[Gonodactylus]

I have never reared one from juvenile to adult, but my experience has been that when collected as adults (mantle about the size of a nickle to quarter, they only ive another few months. I suspect the life-span is less than a year.

Roy

[sdm]

6-8 months usual, right?

[slave-of-rock]

lucky hitch-hicker, i wish i would get one of those

[BG123]

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine that also got his rock from TBS and he is now setting up a new tank for his octopus hitchiker too.

[alien for fish]

hey turbo ..... how big is it?? dude ................you are way lucky to have lil guy guy in your rock shipment!!! sweet!!! talk about fresh rock!! who's your supplier??

[slave-of-rock]

tampa bay saltwater^^

[cephalopoder]

I reared a O.mercatoris from egg to adult a few years ago. From hatching to adult death was about 7 months.

[alien for fish]

are they as entertaining as the bimac speices?

[cephalopoder]

No , not at all. They would however make a great specimen for tank next to your bed with a red light on as a night light.

[turbo2oh]

Someone from my local reef club has offered to adopt him. Hopefully we won't have to tear everything apart in order to catch him.

[ReefDweller13]

I ork at a fish store and go thru about 3-500 lbs a month. lots of hitch-hikers but never an octo..e do have a octo tank tho and he is very entertaining..

[july865]

i recieved one in my TBS package yesterday. anyone willing to trade a for one??? he is mostly baige. but changes color very rapidly to match his suroundings. its rather funny placing different colors behind him and watching him change....

[slave-of-rock]

thats sweet, what would you want for him?

[july865]

asking for a titanium heater or other dry goods item. i currently have it in the "for trade" section on RC and the so. cal section.

[traveller7]

Please take the trade discussions to PM or the trading forum.

Thanks.

[Anemone]

Okay, here's a pic of july865's hitchiker (now in my tank :D - thanks Al).

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/562/1075octo2-med.jpg

Think the id is the same (Octopus mercatorus)?

Kevin

[july865]

glad to see it go to a happy home. i am sure it will be well loved and cared for. my titanium heater is on the way.
... thank you kevin.....

[gwrulzmylife]

lol, I used mine to clean out LR before, nice glass fish trap used two weeks later to get him out baited with his favorite! Mine was not a hitch hicker, but a second from OCtopets. Worth the cost to me just for cleaning the LR.

Cheers!

[slave-of-rock]

are they as hard to take care of as people say? like what temps do they need and to they need a perfectly sealed tank also? thanks
-kyle

[AW2EOD]

Originally posted by Anemone
Okay, here's a pic of july865's hitchiker (now in my tank :D - thanks Al).

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/562/1075octo2-med.jpg

Think the id is the same (Octopus mercatorus)?

Kevin


Tha't not the safest place for your octo. You're going to come home one day and find him burnt to that heater. Since you have that heater in your tank, I'm assuming that you're tank has openings in the top.

In an octo tank, the main thing you need to do is to make sure the top of your tank is COMPLETELY sealed off. It will escape, and you wont know it till you find him dried up on the floor.

[FL Knifemaker]

We should start a TBS Octo club:cool:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=489252

As cool and interesting as they are, I found accidentally introducing them to a reef tank is a pain in the butt!! I'm conviced that they like to destroy stuff just for sport. :p

Mine are/where totally nocturnal. They upset just about everthing they can get ahold of in the tank including breaking off attached clams 4 times their size! My first one ate about a dozen medium size hermits in about 5 days. He also ate several other crabs and killed and left dead several snails.

The only way I was able to catch mine was once the last hermit was gone I put a single hermit into a beer bottle in the tank. I set the bottle on an angle so the crab couldn't climb out. Within about 2 hours after lights out, I heard the hermits shell rattling in the bottle, turned on my moonlight and snatched the bottle, octo and half eaten hermit out of the tank :rollface: He now resides with one of the employees at my LFS.


Now I have to repeat the process with Octo II .

Good luck catching one with a net, they are like a rocket!!

[july865]

AW2EOD
anemone is well aware of the "sealed tight lid" rule. as far as burning himself on the heater, i am sure "once bitten, twice shy" rule applies. he will only do that once.....lol

[Anemone]

The octo is quite happy muching on the hermits I provide. :D The heater shouldn't be much of an inconvenience - octos move quickly enough that they can get off a hot heater - unlike cukes and anemones.

The tank is sealed pretty tightly (it's an eclipse tank - they have a tightly fitting hood except for a small slot where the power lines come in). Only about 1/4" opening left, and if that appears to be a problem, I'll seal it with tape.

Definitely nocturnal. Has ignored the three snails I put in its tank, but appears to be eating about 2 hermits a night.

Did the hitchiker you got eat those clams Knifemaker? I've got a few hitchiker clams/mollusks that are accessible in other tanks, and if your octo ate yours, I could move some of mine to provide a little variety.

Kevin

[nancyocto]

You might also try offering some thawed frozen shrimp (good quality). Most octos favorite foods are crabs and shrimp, but they also sometimes eat snails, clams, etc - depends on the species

I'm wondering about the heater - I've read that octopuses are insensitve to fire, maybe heat, too. I protect my octos from equipment in the acquarium by using loose netting (such as comes with the bags they sell for carbon or the type of netting that comes on aquarium nets). Since octos are so curious, it's a good idea to cover any water intakes. Some of them have even been know to take power heads apart.

Octos are very intelligent - depending somewhat on the species - can be playful. But they do need a tank to themselves, with maybe just a starfish or a pencil urchin as a companion. They need a cleanup crew, too, but some of them may disappear as food!

Nancy

[FL Knifemaker]

Kevin,

YES!! Torn from the LR, smashed open and picked clean!! I didn't mind him getting rid of the turkey wing clams but I also have some larger, nice looking attached clams. I can't believe the strength the little octos have!!


Nancy

Are you Nancy from the Octo forum?? If so, thanks for all your help and info over the past few months ;)

[nancyocto]

Yes, I help take care of the Ceph Care forum at TONMO. Glad I was able to help. I'm keeping track of hitchhiker octos so I can provide assistance and perhaps write an article on them.

You're right, even little octos are very strong. It doesn't take long for them to win at tug-of-war with the feeding stick or to start pulling the cleaning magnet apart (that was what my octo did when she wanted attention - the outer part fell with a thump and someone came running!) Later on they can move the live rock and redecorate your tank!

Nancy