My Grand Plans!

[O. Eye]

First of all...this forum keeps me up at night - dreaming of how cool it will be to finally have an octo (it's going to be a long time before it happens - but I'm so jazzed that it will). To all of you who contribute - thank you.

This is my current setup:

1. $129 check to buy a tank
2. All the tools I need (shop class - I work for a school district) to built a sweet stand.
3. Insatiable desire to know more and more about everything Octo keepin'
4. Patience
5. A wife who is willing.
6. A 41" wide corner yearning for a cool hunk of exotic "furniture".
7. Three kids who will learn and love all things ceph.

So far, my current setup has given me no problems!

So...I've settled on an All-Glass 65 gal tank (the one that's 36" wide to fit my space). It's $129 plus tax at a nearby LFS (good hardware prices - sad fish). I'll be getting a bimac from fishsupply as suggested.

The tank above has no overflow. Just a glass box. If I were going for a reef tank, this would be a no-brainer. I'd get the overflow. But, since my dream is for my kids (3, 4, and 5 weeks) to fall in love with learning about this amazing beast - I fear our new addition might find his way into the box.

What do you guys think of the overflow kit here?

http://www.all-glass.com/products/aquariums/twinflo.asp

I'm sure I could do a "mod" that would cap the corner overflow. Please let me know what you think.

I've concluded that a sump/refugium is the "classy" way to go. I'll design the stand for easy access to this. A ten gallon tank to put plants and some snails (octo food). Be great if I could find some snails that love to reproduce like crazy - any suggestions?

I figured on a Eheim Pro II 2028 canister filter. Extra pads on hand in case of ink.

Skimmer - the more I read the more scratching on my skull I do. I want something straightforward, but really effective. Suggestions? Oh yeah...reasonably priced would be nice too (remember the wife I mentioned?)

If demonic aliens invade, I'm pretty sure our government will simply collect some of my tap water, hose those bad boys down and watch them melt into puddles of snot. Yeah...my water is bad. I'm obsessive-compulsive, but not rich. With only a 65 gal tank, I want the most virgin water I can get - but I only need about 7 gallons of the stuff about twice a month. RO/DI suggestions that fit the bill?

This is a bit long and a lot all over the place. I've read a lot (and will continue to do so). Finding this kind of general info is easy. Sorting it out is the challenge. Finding OCTOPUS TANK specific information is even more of a challenge - that's why I'm here
:)

"I am an Iowan with an octopus." - Who here can say that? I live right on the Mississippi - so IL'ers sound off too. If I got an octopus with viable eggs - it would be great to give them to someone close (it's good to have a plan - heh, I don't even have a tank - HA!)

One more curious question - what have you found to be your octopus' favorite toys?

Thanks Again!

[goodman770]

IMHO, I would go with the overflow. Here is why:
1. With and overflow (and a wet dry) you can have a sump. In the sump you can have your heater, chemicals, skimmer, etc without tubes flowing all over.
2. The overflow naturaly skims all the "funk" off the top of the water that will often acumulate with a regular tank. You can rig it so that it's covered to not let the Octo in there.
3. With the heater and all filtration going through the overflow, you have less tubes going in the water and it's much easier to seal the aquarium from escape.
4 It just looks better without all the wires and tubes all over.
5. If you ever decide to go reef in there, it's a much easier and efficient setup.
My 2 cents.

[goodman770]

Brian Tracy is the man.

[cephalopoder]

I would reccomend having your tank drilled and have two bulk head fittings used for your overflow rather than using a corner overflow box. The reason being , if your are setting this tank up for a octo tank you will have more options.
A corner overflow is hard to seal off with mesh incase you get a small species like a pygmy or even baby octos one day. With bulk heads you can slip a mesh draw string filter bag over the bulkhead screen and you have a overflow that will even keep baby octos and amphipods from getting sucked into your sump. Always add two bulkheads incase one gets clogged if octo decides to cover it, blocking off flow.A tank with a sump is the the best way to go.
As far as skimmers for your sump... There are lots of great ones to choose from. I like AquaC myself, but there are many good brands that work well, turbofloaters, precision marine... Do a search on reef central and get a idea what people like. Check the vender feed back section too to see how the service end stands up under review.
I reccomend using only 100% ro/di water for your ceph tank. You want the most pure water you can get.
You will not need a heater if you get a bimaculoides. They like temps down to as low a 55f and prefer 60-72 for the best temp. They can survive at temps up to 79, but I don't reccomend it. The NRCC breeds bimacs at 64F. They will live longer at lower temps.

[O. Eye]

Thanks for your replies. I can get the standard 65 gal All-Glass (box) tank and have it drilled (buddy works at a glass shop) with two overflow bulkheads with screens. Since you game me the suggestion, I've been hunting around the net looking for information on how to setup something like this (I'd like to have it all planned out before spending a single dime). Do you use the suggested elbow to raise the level of where the water goes into your overflows? Do you just have the standard bulkhead screens, or some wazoo deal like some I've seen to pull as much crud from the water's surface as possible?

My conclusion: Marine tank setups are like religion - everyone has a different spin. Like religion, however, I need to find the setup that kind of rings true to what I want (believe) and then sink my teeth in and go for it.

Does your return from your sump also go through a drilled hole/bulkhead? If so - low in the column near the bottom - where?

I'm going to have this 65 gal tank (not sure on sump capacity yet [suggestions - 1. For basement, 2. For under tank (36x28x24 tank stand)]), figured on 3/4" for return flexible PVC and 1" for the overflow plumbing. This seems kind of standard.

I've also considered just running the overflow and return pipes through the floor and into my unfinished basement. It would give me a lot of space to work with as far as a sump. My only concern is the distance the return water would have to travel back up to the tank from the sump. Would I need some ultra beefy pump for this?

As per cephalopoder's suggestion, I think I'll go with the AquaC EV 120 with Iwaki 20 RLT pump (one of AquaC's suggested pumps) . Anyone have this setup and operating regret-free?

Crayfish/Crawfish. This seems to be the best option (at least - most interesting) for Octo chow. Where do you order these from? How many to you get at a time? How long do they live? If one of my kids fall into the baby pool I might keep them in, will they later need therapy? Crawfish food (not my kids being eaten - what do you feed your crayfish)?

Cephalopoder, thanks again for your advice. I want to know all I can from posters in here. I want to have the ideal octo tank and I want to get it to ask close to right as I can THE FIRST TIME.

I wasn't planning on a skimmer, I was going to simply go with Eheim Pro II canister. Now it looks like skimmer/sump seems the way to be. Do I need the canister too or is this overkill (if feels like it would be).

Thanks