please help. baby octopus in our 29 biocube don't know what to do

[JRocha]

we have had squidward in our 29 biocube and we thought it was a he but it turned out it was a she. she was in the filter chamber for about a month and just this morning when the lights turned on we found about 30 or so swimming around the tank. does anyone know if we should seperate them or what we should do. does anybody want them? Any info would be great.

 

[bookfish]

I would like some and so would Thales. Can I offer you some coral in trade?

 

[JRocha]

so what should I do to get them to you. do you want to pick them up over here in pacifica or how should we do this. this what they look like right now.

 

[bookfish]

I'm tied to the shop today, let me see if Rich can go get them. Or I could perhaps go tomorrow. I'll let you know a little later today. THX!!

 

[JRocha]

please call us at 650 515 5095. my name is Jaime. pronounced like ( hi me ). coral trade sounds great.

 

[bookfish]

OK, as soon as I can get the logistics figured, I'll call. Are you around tomorrow in case I need to make the trip then?

 

[JRocha]

I work till 3 or 4 tomorrow and my girlfriend works too. we have about 30 or so in a tupperware with some gracilaria for the moment I don't know if that is ok or not. this is the first time I have ever had to deal with this. they are so cool. they change color already. I just want them to go to a good home where someone can take care of them properly.

 

[JRocha]

Please give us a call asap. I would like some advice on how to keep safe with the filter on. They are pretty strong swimmers already but we need to get them out of the tank. It is a reef tank full of high quality coral and I don't want them to take over. They are very healthy but we CANNOT house them!!!!!! My name is Rachael, this is my 29g and I just want to know what I can do to help them and my tank. Thanks my # is 650 867 1917

 

[JAR]

Amazing!!!!!!!

 

[JRocha]

thanks for the praise but it is my girlfriend Rachaels tank and her octo. so technically speaking she is the lucky one. I just helped start the tank with my water, rocks, and sand from my 240 gallon reef tank. after 2 days of it running we got the octopus and it was out all day everyday eating like crazy. little did we know it was carrying babies. I do help out with her tank since she was a newbie so it was a joint effort. ANYWAY. We are going to set up a 8 gallon biocube at Ocean Treasures for them until thales and or bookfish can take them and care for them properly so head down today and check these little guys out. there are about 50 that we have captured so far. so many more in the filter that I cannot catch. I hope they make it and I can see them grow at the steinhart. wish us luck and drop by at Ocean Treasures in about 2 hours or so so we can get the tank up and runnig. we are taking all 8 gallons from the 29 biocube to put in the 8 gallon biocube so no cycle is necessary. believe me this process works really well as I have done this with my 12 gallon jbj and the 29 biocube. no cycle just add fish and coral after 2 days or even the same day. sorry for the novel just so damn excited to be a part of this.

 

[screebo]

Congratulations, Jaime and Rachael! You're Parents. :bigsmile:
You are enjoying something very rare and in a community that can offer you plenty of ideas. Hook up with Thales first others with first hand experience may well come out of the woodwork. (I have none with 'pusses) Have a great day!

 

[screebo]

How exciting and a little scary at the same time. The miracle of life! Makes me feel like a grain of sand on the beach..........

GOOD LUCK TODAY!

 

[Thales]

Nice! Any idea what species? If you don't know, a pic might be helpful.
From what you have written, that they are in the water column and that there are lots of them, my guess is there are a small egged species which is bad news on the raising them front.
Generally, small egged species hatch into planktonic paralarvae which there has been very very little success in feeding and raising. Large egged species tend to produce more benthic hatchlings which people have had more success in feeding and raising.

A good resource for raising octopus is here:
http://www.tonmo.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=85

 

[bookfish]

Can you email me at
jim@rhmag.com to arrange tomorrow?
Thx-Jim

 

[bookfish]

thanks for the praise but it is my girlfriend Rachaels tank and her octo. so technically speaking she is the lucky one. I just helped start the tank with my water, rocks, and sand from my 240 gallon reef tank. after 2 days of it running we got the octopus and it was out all day everyday eating like crazy. little did we know it was carrying babies. I do help out with her tank since she was a newbie so it was a joint effort. ANYWAY. We are going to set up a 8 gallon biocube at Ocean Treasures for them until thales and or bookfish can take them and care for them properly so head down today and check these little guys out. there are about 50 that we have captured so far. so many more in the filter that I cannot catch. I hope they make it and I can see them grow at the steinhart. wish us luck and drop by at Ocean Treasures in about 2 hours or so so we can get the tank up and runnig. we are taking all 8 gallons from the 29 biocube to put in the 8 gallon biocube so no cycle is necessary. believe me this process works really well as I have done this with my 12 gallon jbj and the 29 biocube. no cycle just add fish and coral after 2 days or even the same day. sorry for the novel just so damn excited to be a part of this.

So if I understand correctly they are at OT now? That would be good for getting them to Thales since he works in the city.

 

[JRocha]

yeah we took them to OT and haven't been there since. I've been working 12 hour days and haven't had the chance to go down there. so I don't know how they are doing. here is a couple of pics of the mother.

 

[JRocha]

we had a straggler in the tank but we haven't seen it in a day. there could be several alive in the filter inside the macaroni ceramic rings and bioballs in the back where there is plenty of live food. the tank is crawling with all sorts of pods since there are only tiny fish in there which are 2 panda gobies, 1 rose antenna goby, and a baby yellow tang that is QTing to get ready to go into my 240 gallon.

 

[Thales]

Looks like aculeatus, small egged. The problem is they don't eat pods and stuff when they are planktonic, they eat who knows what out of the water column.

 

[JRocha]

well thats sucks. at least we got the privilege to see it happen and we tried to help them. I'm pretty sure we still have a few running around in the ceramic macaroni in the back of the biocube. hopefully we will see a tiny guy come out of the filter one day. not likely but you just never know. Jeff goldblum in the movie jurassic park said, "life finds a way", and it sure does. ha ha. happy new year.

 

[Thales]

Maybe!

I think the record for any planktonic larvae was about 25 days. I wish I had known you moved them to OT so I could have at least gotten on to try to ID.

Welcome to the world of cephs - amazing, frustrating and awesome!