Blue Ringed Octopus -

[marinemini]

Hi

I dont know much about octopus but i do know you would be dumb to get one , my advice to someone wanting a octopus not get this as you will die and i i do not think there is treatment for it and advice to the seller is to give it to a aqautic specialist or a big aquairum place.

[Simbo18]

I know I'm 15, and being 15 I think I am immortal and that I don't understand death as well as many of you out there. But I do know that you have a way, way..... better chance of being killed in a car wreck than keeping a blue ring... right? So maybe you should get rid of your vehicles because you are putting your children in just as much danger.
But keeping a blue ring isn't something to blast people about. You should have agreeded to help inform the blue ring's buyer rather than tell him how dangerous the animal is. Flameing someone dosn't help.
JENnKerry, when are you going to throw your tank inhabitants back in the ocean?

Luke

[DrMilhouse]

And I'm no math guru or bean counter so I don't have any complete grasp of statistics the way most 15 year olds do, but perhaps as nearly every home in america has at least 2 cars that people drive every day. Just guessing, but there are currently only about maybe 1000 to 2000 total blue ring octos in anyone's home (and I'm guessing that is an extremely high estimation of how many blue rings are in homes), the laws of percentages seems to come into play that

a tetrabazillion cars out there with millions of miles driven each day and there are several casualties each day involving vehicles, yes, it would be more dangerous to jump into your car and start it, but of all those minor accidents in a car and all the safety features involved, there's not much out there than can help you if you get bit.*

*I'm just a support guy for an internet service so I don't know statistics, medical information for bite victims, or the true number of cars on the road. Take it with a grain of salt, but trust me on the sunscreen.



Oh yeah, Mr. Aqua, just to ease all of our curiousity, what ever happened to the little guy? He still around? Did ya give him away?

In the poster's defense, it sounds like it survived a cycle so most likely it came in on his live rock. Sounds reasonable enough anyway.

[marinemini]

i read in a different post by aqua that he gave it to a friend in a college or something.

[Vamplestat]

Whoever the friend is is a braver person than me. They are beautiful creatures but the key word here is DEADLY. I realize that is only the case if you are not careful in handling etc.. but all it takes is one mistake. I am with the majority in this post that they should only be in the care of experienced aquarists if not in their natural habitat.

(yes I know this post is old but I had to jump in )

[Simbo18]

I'd take that octo over rideing in one of my friends cars any day. I would feel a whole lot safer with a creature that can't get out of a box than be in a 4th accident with my friends. JMO though. Those octos are only dangerous if you are irresponsible.

LOL DrMilhouse, I do relize my statisistics are deffinatly off but YOU still have a better chance with an octo in your house than being on the road. That's all I was trying to say.

Luke

[OUinLA]

Some people are into venomous animals. That's why there are collectors of some of the deadliest snakes in the world. I would never want a rattle snake, black mombo or blue ring but for some people that is their thing.

[Unseentric]

I've held off for as long as I could thinking that by responding I would just be aiding in keeping this thread alive.

Please stop responding to this thread. The subject is dead. This thread was started in November of last year!!!!! And since the first few posts nobody has had anything remotely intelligent to say about the subject that has been discussed already, at nausea, in other similar posts.
Please for the love of god.....no more. Your post is in violation of the terms and conditions of use of this web site and has been edited. Further violations will result in revocation of your posting privileges.

edit: political content removed

[NickTide]

sorry, I thought this was a octo thread, not a political one. Cheap shot Unseentric

[BlindRI]

With the new research being carried out now on the Medical benifits of TTX. We may have a "nuetralized" Blue Ring soon! Antibiotics for the the little devils that kill the offending bateria for captive bread breading programs!

Would you keep one then?

[DrMilhouse]

They're beautiful, but even under great circumstances they have a life expectancy of about 6 months. Kinda seems like a novelty item to keep around for a while instead of a pet. I don't believe I would keep one.

[traveller7]

Originally posted by NickTide
sorry, I thought this was a octo thread, not a political one. Cheap shot Unseentric

It is and it has been edited.

Not sure how I missed it earlier.

[majestic sea life]

go put your hand in the tank and give him a nice belly rub lol

[AL ur Pal]

In the link that octomonkey left it stated that the same toxin found in the blue ring (tetrodotoxin) was also found in a sea star and several snails. I work in a LFS and pick up sea stars and snails for people to buy all the time. Should I use a net from now on? Is there a chance these things can can KILL ME?

[Gonodactylus]

There are several species of marine invertebrates that have been identified as containing TTX. The same toxin is also found in some vertebrates including puffer fish and a few newts. I am certainly not going to tell you not to wear gloves or use a net, but generally the species that pose the greatest risk are those that can bite (blue-rings) or that you might be tempted to bite (Fugu). However, this is a lot like mushroom hunting. You need to know what you are doing. As a place to start, try looking at:

http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/ttx/ttx.htm

This is an informative site that provides some good background.

Roy

[AL ur Pal]

wow! great info, thanks!

[AL ur Pal]

Wow, thats some scary stuff... a toxin found in certain zoanthideans (palytoxin) has the toxicity 100 times greater than Tetrodotoxin!

[alien for fish]

get a bimac they are just as cool

[Kaiser_s0ze]

i have seen the bimac and the blue ring. i really want to get my 30g ready for cephs, so besides the afore mentioned octos, would anyone else recomend any cephs that have great color and might live more than 1 month.
thinkin of cuttlefish!
plz help

[OctoMonkey]

The size of your tank really does rule out a large amount of cephalopod species that you could keep... you could try dwarf species that are sometimes available like bocki, mercatoris etc but then you have the short lifespan problem as they are commonly sold as adults.

also, cuttlefish are very touchy in the USA, not many survive the importation...

lastly, some bimacs have easily outgrown 30gal tanks, you maybe should prepare for that. In their favour, its better to get a bimac because so many of them are captive bred and it doesnt affect wild populations.

[randy8876]

Get a 120 gallon tank and then buy a day octopus. Mine is awesome, but soon I'll have to release him (or eat him) since it's getting too big. Mine loves to play around at the top of the tank and is a great hunter and changes colors and texture all the time.

[Mr aqua]

Hi everyone, its crazy this thread is still alive! at least people stopped flamming me. for the curious, i gave the blue ring to a biology teacher at my university. he lasted up until may or june in his tank when he eventually died of unknown cause but most likely it was just his time. he ate well and was pretty cool to watch inside his cave. he never escaped and he didn't kill anyone. the prof now has a bimac and a few cuttlefish which are equally as cool but eat like crazy. i hope this brings a conclusion to the curiousity and the flaming. thanks everyone else out there for keeping an open mind and ur support. happy reefing! *whens the next frag swap!!!

[kidk3]

how many people can say tehy housed one even if for a few months I htink it would be cool to have one

[Kaiser_s0ze]

hey randy, what kind do u have?



mr. aqua, u got me really wanting a blue ring. but ppl give me the same arguement u got. so now thats 2 ppl (u and prof) that have had a blue ring and not died !

[Kaiser_s0ze]

anyone think we could keep this alive for another 4 months!!
would make it a year