FearTheFishies

Hey i have been doing some research for a salt water tank and have seen that you can keep octopi in one... anybody know anything about these guys in the way of tank requirements? i already know that they have amazingly short life-spans, and they love caves and need puzzles to keep them busy, but other than that nothing...

JoeSmo

I know they need at least 50 galons, are extreamly difficult to keep alive, are escape MASTERS, and really can't be kept with any fish.

sirdarksol

They are very sensitive to parameter changes, the ultimate escape artists, will eat nearly any fish they're living with (and even some they aren't living with. They've been known to combine the "escape artist" tag with the "fish eater" tag, climb out of their tank, into another nearby one, havea a few snacks, the go back). All possess very nasty bites, some can be deadly. They're super intelligent. Females will rarely survive laying their eggs (they're over protective). One year seems to be a good amount of time for one to survive in an aquarium.

charzar-g

sirdarksol pretty much covered all of it

You have to keep them in a large tank with a heavy roof with no openings (they can go as small as their beak!) They have to have a varied diet and need a lot of rockwork - but no corals or fish

They can breed in captivity but the female doesn't eat whislt the eggs are there :0 so noramlly dies =[

aquarist48

Wow! Interesting information above. It would be neat to see them escape and go back and forth from tank to tank LOL
Ken

sirdarksol

I agree (unless it was my fish they were eating). It amazes me how intelligent these things can get in so little time. Think of how long it takes a typical human to simply learn how to feed itself. In that amount of time, these creatures can learn to solve complex puzzles.

Toddnbecka

Essentially you're looking at a critter that's going to be a high-maintenance pet for up to a year, then die (assuming it doesn't escape and become octopus jerky in the meantime.) If you're thinking to raise babies after a female spawns/dies, that isn't going to happen from what I've read.