DarkFin

There was a fifty dollar octopus on an online store that said it was a miniture and was ok for 30+ tanks, don't ask me the site, because i forgot it, but do you think it would be neat to get it when im ready for the tank?

Slug

Neat? Yes. Smart? No. They require more care then it may seem. They are escape artists and have requirements I would not thrust on a newer SW hobbyist.

sgould

Octopi are truly not good candidates for home aquaria. I'd say without hesitation, pass that one by.

aquarist48

Hello Darkfin. I agree with the above posters. Sadly their life span from what I understand is probably less than 1 year. Sgould was it you that mentioned that the Octopus would escape and go from one tank to another on its own and steal fish to feed on? I'm sorry I can't remember who the poster was.
Ken

lorabell

lol...they got one in at my store.....cute ...but SCARY!!!!!...they went to all kinds of stuff just to make it escape proof.....

DarkFin

I guess you guys are right, half my tank is open because it was once a freshwater tank... I just needed an opinion because i didn't want to waste my cash

sirdarksol

That was me.
I've also heard that octopi tend to live about a year. Even in the wild, they have really short life spans. The females often die caring for their young (they refuse to eat until the spawn are big enough to leave the cave.)
They have really specific water quality needs and are crazy good at escaping. Yep, it's been said in the thread, but it needs to be repeated... they are intelligent, quite possibly meeting scientific criteria for sentient, and amazing problem solvers. I wouldn't doubt that, given time, an octopus could figure out how to undo a latch on the outside of a tank if it could get a tentacle out through the lid.

DarkFin

lol, ok Thanks, im not getting the octopus anymore, to much work. im going to go for a.... probably a lionfish or one big crab

aquarist48

Thanks SDS! Wise decision darkfin!
Ken

surfalways

i work at a marine biology center, and we recently just got two octopus vulgaris, the common octopus. most octopuses live very very short lives- under a year. They are also very shy - and like the other posts said escape artists- but you could use astro turf.
The water also has to be kept at 1.021 salinity- and you must do water changes every day.

PugsAndKitties

i have a lionfish, shes awesome. trust me, you wont regret it! they are very fun to watch and each is its own fish. for example, mine doesnt beleive in eating other fish, but she loves shrimp.

DarkFin

lol that sounds cool