Journal singularity's Journal: Octopus News 3
So I decided about a month ago to get a new pet. As some of you all might know, I already have one pet, a cat named Nametag. Unforunately, my job dictates where and how I live, at least to the extent that I cannot have a pet that does not stay in the water most of its life.
At first I had an idea for a small biosystem. I thought about getting some fish, some frogs, a turtle, and some other small creatures for a large aquarium. I figured that most of it would be water, with a shelf for some of the creatures who needed a place to sun and escape the water.
Then I read up on how the different animals would relate to each other. For the most part, the creatures would end up eating each other. Turtles seemed nice, but then I learned that they live anywhere from 70 to 100+ years. That was not something I was willing to sign up for. When it came down to it, I could have fish, snails, and some small frogs. It would be your basic freshwater aquarium.
Determined, I went researching some more. What pets could I have? Then it came across me - my favorite aquatic creature, the octopus!
I will write more in another journal article about how great these creatures are.
Then I really began to research.
Thanks to sites such as Tonmo, I learned how to set up a saltwater aquarium for an octopus. The octopus will eat most things, though, so the tank would have to be octopus-only. That was fine with me. One truly awesome animal, one of the smartest underwater creatures, would be fine with me.
Tonmo advised setting up the tank similar to how you would do for a coral reef tank. That took me to a wonderful site, ReefCentral Comprised of an online magazine and a community forum site (along with reviews and other things), I began to figure out what I would need to set up an octopus-worthy tank.
My one goal: To keep the total cost under one paycheck. About a third of the way through, I can tell you that it is going to be close. Me being who I am, and wanting to cut costs and do things correctly, I am taking a Do-It-Yourself approach to a great deal of the set-up.
The other goal, which is a mixture of planning, work and money, is to get the tank to be as maintenance-free as possible.
My most recent purchase (I bought a few items out of order) was a 75 gallon All-Glass tank. The minimum suggested for an octopus is about 40 gallon. I looked at 55 gallon tanks, and most of them are not as deep as I would like them (they are usually sized about 48x13x20 length X depth X height). This is a nice size for a large fish tank, but I wanted to give the octopus a little more room to play with/in. The 75 gallon is usually 48x18x20, meaning only the depth increases.
I took the tank to get drilled today for two 3/4" bulkheads. More about that later.
I also bought an AquaC EV-180 protein skimmer to remove a lot of the organic material from the tank during its use. It was an expensive purchase (although I got a good deal on a used one with pump), but from what I read it is one of the more important things for the tank. Since it will be the only thing doing any electrically powered filtration (the rest being mostly biological), I figured it was one place not to skimp.
I had some trouble finding it, but I bought two 2'x4' sections of what is called "plastic eggcrate lighting diffuser". It is basically white plastic gridwork (each square about 1cm x 1cm) that has a ton of uses around the house, especially in the aquarium. I am considering using one of the peices as a top lid for the tank. The other will be cut up into various uses, some of them being basic filter to keep things like snails from going where they should not be.
Later this week I plan on ordering a stand for the aquarium. I also will get to Menard's to get about $50 worth of various PVC piping and attachments. The eventual goal is to have a sump (an aquarium sitting under the main aquarium, in the stand) to hold all of the various filters and heaters for the tank. As such, I need ways of getting the water to and from the sump.
The sump is where I am hoping to save a lot of costs by doing a lot of the work myself. I am currently deciding between a 20 gallon long tank and a 30 gallon tank. Originally I had decided on the 20 gallon long tank (sized 30x12x12), but I am not sure that will be large enough to hold everything I need it to. So I have started pricing 30 gallon tanks (sized 36x12x16)
I also need to make sure to escape-proof the entire tank, as octopusses (not octopii, apparently, as one would think) tend to be quite the escape artist, able to fit through tubes little larger than a quarter in cross-section.
So I am hoping to get water in the tank by the middle of May. From there, I need to cycle the tank - have things living in the tank to get the proper levels of bacateria to stabilize the various chemicals that are formed in a seawater habitat (research, if you wish, the nitrogen cycle). So for most of the summer I will have a dozen or so cheap saltwater fish in the tank. They will cheap for several reasons: 1) To keep costs down, obviously. 2) Some might die during the cycling of the tank as various chemical levels rise and fall. 3) They will be eaten once the octopus is moved in!
Since the octopus will only eat live food, once I get the octopus I will have to set up a second tank to keep feeder fish. Right now I am thinking about a cheap 20 or 29 gallon tank for that.
I will add more later. It is now time, however, to watch my taped copy of "The West Wing."
Where do you get one? (Score:1)
Where do you go to buy a live octopus? I have never seen one for sale at any petshop I've been to. Sure, I've seen parts of them for sale at eating and other food establishments, but not of the live "intended for pet use" brand octopuses.
Re:Where do you get one? (Score:1)
MarineDepot [marinedepotlive.com] is a place that I am getting some of the supplies, and possibly an octopus.
Harbor Aquatics [harboraquatics.com] is not too far away. I will have to check with them if they would order an octopus, though.
In addition, there are a few reef-centric pet stores in the Chicago area (Sea Escapes in Elgin, Scott's in Westchester, and A Splash