2 octos in 1 tank

[El-ahrairah]

I have had two bimacs in a 50 gallon tank for about 6 weeks now. I picked them up from octopets.com in Carlsbad late January. I have to say the activity, personality, and behaviour of the octopuses is so much more 'alive' with two in the tank as opposed to one. I realize that I will have to move one to another tank eventually, but in the mean time they co-exist very well together.

Naturally they don't really like each other and they have to compete for the food I put in the tank, so it keeps them on their toes so to speak. They do not really fight with each other, if they get close to each other they puff up to look as big a possible flashing and posing at each other. Occansionally they touch, but it is basically just 'tag your it' and they separate. Neither wants to engage the other in anything other then a couple of taps.

Each has its own lair in the tank, but surprisingly both lairs are pretty close together, seeing as they don't like each other much.

Both behave quite differently as well; G'kar, is like your classic intelligent octopus, he doesn't wander a lot, but when it is time to hunt he never misses. He is very good with camo and ambushing prey, though if there is a chance that the other octo (Londo) will find the prey first, he will come out and get it.
Londo loves to wander, he is constantly moving all over the tank, but he also misses prey a fair bit. Londo will expend a lot of energy chasing damsels and shrimp around the tank with what appears to be 'half-hearted' attempts (I hope half-hearted because if he is really trying he isn't very good).

The damsels and the peppermint shrimp are supplemental food items to give the tank a more natural feel. I tend to feed them snails and hermits and fiddler crabs regularly. Since they know they get feed regularly they don't bother with any snails that have an operculum, i guess they can't be bothered putting that much effort into feeding.

Compared with having a single octopus in a tank I feel that two octopuses keep each other more active since there are 2 top predators in the tank. Neither can get lazy or he won't get fed - and ultamitely not grow as quite and become food himself. Of course I make sure that both get pretty equal amounts of food so that they stay the same size (but they don't know that).

I really enjoy watching the two of them inderact with each other and I feel that I get a lot of natural behaviour out of them and the tank.

-Michael Moore

[OctoMonkey]

very good so far Michael but six weeks isn't a success yet, hope it works for them tho

[little_squid]

what temp do ya keep them at ?? curious

[El-ahrairah]

I don't have a chiller so the tank hovers around 74-75.

[little_squid]

sweet thanks for the hint on that web site !! ive been wanting to get one but been holding off they seam fair there so might jump on one !!

[cirri]

Do you really feel that having both of them in there together has cause a positive outcome on their experience. Almost all the octo babies I have ever had/seen/know will and do explore. I think G'kar might not be as relaxed or intelligent as you perceive him to be but scared %^#$less. Of course he never misses he has to get back to his den, before the food is stolen from him!

I would not post/recommend this practice to anyone planning on keeping cephs.

I am glad you have future plans for separation, but G'kar sounds like he would already be better off in his own tank. He may actually come out and learn more about the world!

Don't see this as a flame! I am just alarmed that this might incourage others to try and replicate without knowing the dangers!

[El-ahrairah]

I completely feel that this is a much more natural and postivie situation for the octopuses.

G'kar is definitely not scared, he is the dominant octopus of the two. He will wander occasionally when he wants, but he is quite content to sit and watch over his immediate territory. He behaves just as I have watched many a bimac out at catalina island. G'kar explores just fine and there isn't anything he hasn't already learned from his 'world'.

When in a tank all to themselves I find that octos adjust nicely to their surroundings and quickly realize they aren't in any real danger - which is not a natural situation. With two octos in the tank they are clearly aware of each other presence, which keeps them on from growing complacent and lazy.

The bay where the adults are collected by octopets is teeming with bimacs they are everywhere (no real other predators besides other octos and plent of food due to the shellfish culturing). Thus in their natural environment they run into other octos all the time. The same as in my tank.

The main danger with this situation is if one octo gets a fair bit bigger than the other, he will catch and eat the other one. If they are both the same size then they really aren't interested in a fight that could injure themselves even if they win. Just like the fact that they don't put a lot of effort into trying to capture the peppermint shrimp or the damsels that are in the tank.

At octopets each batch of babies grows up in the same small water table with only a small PVC pipe as a den.

While my setup presents a possibility that one octopus may eat the other, they are presented with a more natural setting. The size of the tank isn't much smaller than several of the tide pools in Palos Verdes wher I find multiple octos happily coexisting in the same tide pool.

I am not saying that everyone should try this. I felt like trying it and so far it is working out fine and when compared with my previous tanks with only 1 octopus, the behaviour I am observing I feel is more interesting and natural. I felt that this would be interesting to the other people i the forum.

There is a danger of one octo killing the other, which may upset other octopus keepers, but that is a chance I am willing to take. Given that I sacrifice hundreds of snails and crabs to the octos over the course of there life, it would be hipocritical to place the life of one of the octopuses above all the other marine invertebrates I feed to them. As they are captive bred, I am not interfereing with their natural population, though I am probably effecting the hermit crab popualtions somewhere . If one of the octos is scared (which I don't believe - but I may be wrong), in the wild they are scared most of their lives.

-Michael Moore

[REEFERINDC]

Very well put.I agree 100% you have the octoowner behind you .

[Dr. Idso]

Hello,

Just for the record, cannibalism among octopuses can indeed happen when keeping multiple octos in a single tank. I've had at least eight octopuses in a single 10-foot long tank for over a year without any problem. However, the tank had plenty of habitat for each octo and I fed them constantly to keep them happy. These were all bimacs that had mantles ranging in size between that of golf and tennis balls.

Just last week I returned from Mexico with a few bimacs and one pigmy octopus as well. I put two bimacs in one 60 gallon tank with the pigmy and have been observing them closely for three days now. The octopuses have checked out their new enviornment completely and "ran" into each other just this morning (the two bimacs). Their encounter ended with each bimac biting off and eating a one to two inch piece of the others' tentacle. It was bizarre to see them each munching on a piece of tentacle, as I had never observed this before but always knew the possiblity of such an occurance was a reality.

Now, one has been moved out and lives in my school aquarium. Interestingly, neither bimac had bothered with the pigmy octopus and even "rolled" right over it several times.

Just food for thought. Octos are great as long as they don't devour each other!!!

Regards,

Dr. Idso

[Ryan]

Wow we'd love to see some pics of that