# my new baby octopus briareus II !



## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

I didn't expect to get another Octopus so soon. I previously had an O. Briareus that died a few months ago. His 90 gallon tank had been in limbo just running with live rock. I was going to purchase a snowflake eel for the tank yesterday at big al's since I had a bunch of credit to spend.

Much to my surprise they had a very small octopus. Once I was able to ID the species I basically had to bring him home. If someone else bought him they'd probably try and stick him in a reef or feed him goldfish or something else silly.

So low and behold I have a new Octo. I previous kept dwarf cuttlefish and hatched them from eggs so I do have a modest amount of cephalopod experience.



















I'm keeping him in the critter keeper for now inside the 90. I will try and acclimate him a bit but it will likely just take time. My previous guy hid for over a month. I mean completely hid I did not see him a single time not in the day night morning middle of the night ever. I didn't know he was even still alive. Only disappearing crabs were my clues.

This time if I can get him eating out of my hand sooner maybe I won't go through the same thing. This one is even younger so the hiding time may be even longer, but since he is so young I hope to get a full year out of this one.

much much more to come. Now he's 6" arm to arm but it shouldn't be long until he's 30" arm to arm.


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## laurahmm (Apr 1, 2010)

He's so cute  But they only live for one year???


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

omg that is so amazing! I would love to see more pics when he settles in :3


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

laurahmm said:


> He's so cute  But they only live for one year???


Lifespan is about 12-14 months for this species. Octopus, Squid and Cuttlefish just aren't long lived. When I kept sepia bandensis they did not even make it a full year and I hatched them from eggs.

Anyway here are some new videos I will post some photos later.

It will be several months before he truly is settled, but I did get him eating off tweezers today and he grabbed my hand very timidly. So we're making early progress, but he clearly is not happy being in the critter keeper with all those nice hiding spots around. If I let him out I would not expect to see him again for 2-3 months.

So I am hoping 2-3 weeks inside the critter keeper he will understand I bring the food. Once he learns I bring the food he can then be give more challenging ways to get his dinner.


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## freddymp (Jan 15, 2010)

Very nice! Just curious whether you have experience with nautilus?
Years ago I used to have a blue-ringed Octopus and a cuttlefish. Beautiful creatures indeed.


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

freddymp said:


> Very nice! Just curious whether you have experience with nautilus?
> Years ago I used to have a blue-ringed Octopus and a cuttlefish. Beautiful creatures indeed.


No I don't. I don't have an appropriate sized tank and chiller to house one.

What species of cuttlefish sepia bandensis?

I can't believe my little guy escaped the critter keeper. I didn't see him so I picked up the critter keeper to look in the pvc then I see him poking his head out of the live rock.

I got him to eat off tweezers which is a great sign since now he is free to wander the tank he still knows I will bring him his meals. He did however throw a rock at me after I fed him. I dunno what that means


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

freddymp said:


> Very nice! Just curious whether you have experience with nautilus?
> Years ago I used to have a blue-ringed Octopus and a cuttlefish. Beautiful creatures indeed.


Are you sure you had a blue-ringed octopus?


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## freddymp (Jan 15, 2010)

I can't remember the exact species of cuttlefish, but looking at the pics of sepia bandensis it looks like the one. It was very interesting to see these guys hunt down a live shrimp.

Yes the octopus are great little escape artists. Something about they can squeeze through an opening the size of their eye. Maybe it was being playful, giving the rock to you in return since you gave it a shrimp. Smart little guy.

How do you keep your tank and your plumbing tight?


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## freddymp (Jan 15, 2010)

Chris S said:


> Are you sure you had a blue-ringed octopus?


Yes, the blue rings flashes when it got excited. Beautiful but deadly.


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

freddymp said:


> I can't remember the exact species of cuttlefish, but looking at the pics of sepia bandensis it looks like the one. It was very interesting to see these guys hunt down a live shrimp.
> 
> Yes the octopus are great little escape artists. Something about they can squeeze through an opening the size of their eye. Maybe it was being playful, giving the rock to you in return since you gave it a shrimp. Smart little guy.
> 
> How do you keep your tank and your plumbing tight?


They can escape but if you keep them happy they don't go as nutso as everyone claims.

I have the tank covered with a fine mesh that is small enough that he can't squeeze out of. On top of the overflow I have it covered. Given his size now he can squeeze through the teeth but if he wants out that bad he can go for it.

Since he's picked his den he's been there for 2 days and for 3 days in a row he has taken pe mysis off tweezers without incident.

As he grows he will no doubt choose a new den, but if for now we are working out a routine and as long as we both stick to it things should work out just fine.


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## Cypher (Apr 15, 2006)

Man, that's soo cool! Does this one change color over different terrain like your cuttlefish did?

Too bad about your cuttlefish; it would have been cool if you were successful at breeding them. Well, at least now you don't have to feed/ import live shrimps to keep this pet .


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

He will likely spend the next couple of months firmly entrenched in his den. Or if he does come out it will only be when I'm not around. I'm surprised he even lets me peer into the den.

Here is a video of my old octopus





I can't wait until this guy gets big enough to play with.


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

Here are some pictures I never got a chance to post from last week. Prior to the escape.





































Today I went to feed him a fiddler on tweezers, he grabbed the tweezers out of my hand and the crab made a run for it. I later got them back and gave him some pe mysis. He also grabbed my hand with 2 arms and held on for about 5 seconds. I'm surprised he is so bold, but still super shy. After a 10 minute staring contest he darted towards the back swimming like a squid. I think he may have found the crab but it's hard to say. Hopefully he continues to be this easy to find and feed, I did not see my first octopus for about 2 months straight, didn't matter if it was the middle of the day or the middle of the night I never saw him and the only way I knew he was even around was that crabs were disappearing. Hopefully that means this guy will be much more friendly early on.


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

Just 2 weeks in and he's out and about during daylight!

I was shocked to go downstairs and see him on the glass. Of course camcorder battery was almost dead but I got one video then another with my iphone.

He was out for a good 10 minutes then I gave him some PE Mysis, at first again more interested in the tweezers but then he started picking up the mysis one by one before darting to the back.

Going to try and pick up some ghost shrimp this week and will probably end up placing an order for fiddlers from paul. Right now the heat is brutal so it might not be the best time to order.

Anyway here is the video and some pics :


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## Guppy_Madness (Sep 2, 2010)

Sweet!!!! ^_^


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## J-P (Feb 27, 2011)

awww that is so cool!!!

I have always wanted one but was advised against it because they are so short lived and have to be wild caught (aka ethical reasons). Congrats on the score. Very nice indeed!


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## adrenaline (Jan 17, 2011)

*cool!*

Just curious as to how often you feed it? I'd love to get one but I've never taken care of something like that. I'll do some research online, but what would you recommend for tank size and feeding regimends? Having info from someone with experience is always nice rather than going on random peoples experiences online. never know who knows what they are doing. you seem fairly knowledgeable on them.

any advice on them? i'm Big on cichlids, and have had aquariums for ages. fairly new to Marine. so if it's something that requires a lit of meticulous care it may be something I should avoid. I've only have a marine tank running for about 9 months now.


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

I feed him whenever I see him. 

I try for about 5x a week. 
Right now I am primarily feeding him pe mysis, this is mostly because I am able to find him most nights. As soon as this heat wave dies down I will be ordering some live fiddler crabs which will make up a good chunk of his diet.

At this age almost everyday seems good for feeding but as he gets older a few times a week is fine. He won't eat if he's not hungry and if you are away for a few days simply leave him some live food.

The biggest thing about them is they don't live long. This is not due to being in an aquarium in fact they likely live longer in captivity then in the wild they are just short lived.

The other thing is you will have to feed some live food as sometimes it's impossible to find them to feed and initially they may not take frozen. Once he gets bigger uncooked grocery store shrimp will make up a large part of his diet, but right now they are a little tough for him.

A varied diet which includes live food which at times can be costly, you also have to accept that you will not always see him, but once you do you will become very attached and likely bond, only to see him wither away and die a short time later.

They are very interesting pets and not unlike fish and corals I actually consider them "pets" since you do interact and play.


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## adrenaline (Jan 17, 2011)

Thank you very much for the info! greatly appreciated! one last question if you know would be recommended tank size for it? I don't want too house ihabitants in too small a tank  I've been doing some research on it already


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

75-90g should be good for O briareus, but just keep in mind IDing species can be very hard if you've never seen them in person. You could end up with O. Vulgaris that can get even bigger and would need a larger tank, or one of the dwarf species which you will never see and only need a 10 or 15g tank.


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## Cintax (Jun 16, 2011)

What's the dwarf species?


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## Kweli (Jun 2, 2010)

Very cool, I approve


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

Poor guy could not figure out how to get a crab out of an open jar. He made half a dozen attempts and with the lights soon coming on I gave him another crab. Which he pounced on before i could even turn the camera to him.

He is still very shy but he did grab my arm a couple of times and stay relatively in the open. I took a couple of pictures and some videos which are below :


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## ecoleshill (Jan 22, 2009)

Very cool. How big will he get?


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

ecoleshill said:


> Very cool. How big will he get?


30-40" arm to arm.


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

This morning :


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## Zortch (Nov 3, 2010)

That is just so cool...


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

awee how nice!!! How long did it take the other to warm up? I can't recall if you said it ever did..


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

Ciddian said:


> awee how nice!!! How long did it take the other to warm up? I can't recall if you said it ever did..


It actually took about the same amount of time. The only difference was during the first month to 6 weeks I never ever saw him. Not once not in the middle of the night day afternoon evening.

This guy did come out a bit at first. I also kept him in a critter keeper for a few days until he somehow figured out how to escape. I now see him pretty much every morning and look to have him eating out of my hand almost everyday.


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

The colour changes in this video are very impressive. The fact he can't get the crab out of a jar with no lid not so much..


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

Very Nice Pics


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## J-P (Feb 27, 2011)

I am supremely jealous... Ethically I can't do it, but I really Really want an octopus as well.


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

J-P said:


> I am supremely jealous... Ethically I can't do it, but I really Really want an octopus as well.


What do you have against it ethically?

Given they live longer lives in captivity and are offered enrichment not found in the ocean to stimulate them I'd say they live pretty good lives in captivity comparable or exceeding the lives many captive fish recieve. There are also more people albeit few who are attempting to mate them but this requires substantially more resources.


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

New photos followed by a bunch of new videos. They are uploading now.


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## J-P (Feb 27, 2011)

corpusse said:


> What do you have against it ethically?
> 
> Given they live longer lives in captivity and are offered enrichment not found in the ocean to stimulate them I'd say they live pretty good lives in captivity comparable or exceeding the lives many captive fish recieve. There are also more people albeit few who are attempting to mate them but this requires substantially more resources.


they can't reproduce in a home aquaria enviroment. For every one we take home, there are thousands that die because of the trade. And no they do not exceed many captive fish. You never know if you get a juvi that will live for a few years or an adult that will live for a few months vs a standard mistreated gold fish that can live for 20+ years.


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

J-P said:


> they can't reproduce in a home aquaria enviroment. For every one we take home, there are thousands that die because of the trade. And no they do not exceed many captive fish. You never know if you get a juvi that will live for a few years or an adult that will live for a few months vs a standard mistreated gold fish that can live for 20+ years.


They can and have been bred in captivity. In some cases by regular hobbyists. The reason you do not see it happen often is rarely do you come across males and females.

Thousands die? Of what? Depending on the species such as a dwarf you may get an old guy since there is not much size difference, but with a briareus there is a drastic size difference and you should pretty easily be able to tell baby juvinille or adult apart.

No Octopus species less a GPO will live a few years. Their natural lifespans are almost all in the 6-18 months. I believe Bimacs may make it about 2 years but they are the exception.

Goldfish live a long time because their lifespans are long. Octopi live short times because their lives are short. They live longer in captivity due to the fact you can still hand feed them after they lose the desire to hunt and there are no predators.

Octopus Briareus stay near their dens most of they life. They typically do not swim very much, unlike say a tang or a wrasse which is always on the go. With the dinural lifestyle they come out a bit in the morning and evening and hide in their dens most of the day. There is another larger reef tank in view from my octopus tank and he and the one I kept before him never tried to go into the larger body of water. I know he can see the tank because he often watches me clean it.

The biggest problem is simply people don't know what species they are buying since it's harder to tell a merc from a vulgaris then a tang from a trigger. Still it's up to the owner to make sure they have a suitable environment for the octopus just as it were a fish. Since octopi are generally considered more advanced I would guess far fewer percentage wise die due to keeper ignorance. There will always be high death rates but this is primarily due to age. If you buy an old dog instead of puppy it's going to die sooner too.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

J-P said:


> they can't reproduce in a home aquaria enviroment. For every one we take home, there are thousands that die because of the trade. And no they do not exceed many captive fish. You never know if you get a juvi that will live for a few years or an adult that will live for a few months vs a standard mistreated gold fish that can live for 20+ years.


Actually, these smaller species ship very well and have very few losses. They will readily breed in captivity, and with proper care can actually live longer in captivity than in the wild.

If you think it is unethical to house an octopus, then I would assume you would believe it is unethical to keep tangs, clownfish, triggers, wrasses, gobies, cardinalfish, etc. etc. because I can assure you, these have a much higher mortality rate in regards to their natural lifespan than a small octopus. When was the last time you met someone with a yellow tang that was 20+ years old?


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## J-P (Feb 27, 2011)

Chris S said:


> Actually, these smaller species ship very well and have very few losses. They will readily breed in captivity, and with proper care can actually live longer in captivity than in the wild.
> 
> If you think it is unethical to house an octopus, then I would assume you would believe it is unethical to keep tangs, clownfish, triggers, wrasses, gobies, cardinalfish, etc. etc. because I can assure you, these have a much higher mortality rate in regards to their natural lifespan than a small octopus. When was the last time you met someone with a yellow tang that was 20+ years old?


Sorry I am in error partly:


> As an alternative, you might consider one of the captive bred species of octopus or cuttle. Pygmy cuttlefish and Two-spot octopus are each bred in captivity and can usually be found on the market. Each is also arguably more interesting in terms of behavior than their "prettier" counterparts.
> 
> If you haven't done so already, I suggest you check out http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/ and http://www.tonmo.com/ both sites are excellent resources on cephalopods and their husbandry.
> 
> ...


and


> Also, as Alex has pointed the ethical problems with keeping some of these animals should not be understated. Reefs are in a decidedly precarious condition today. It is not a wild off-the-wall statement to say we are seeing the last of coral reefs as they have been for millions of years. The apparently invevitable crash has already started and will be accelerating over the next few years; see this article for a good synopsis of the problems. For our hobby to persist, as hobbyists we need to concentrate on doing best at what we can do - maintaining organisms in small self-contained systems - however, we need to expand our hobby to maintain animals through their ENTIRE life histories so that our source of organisms is independent of the natural reef. Unfortunately, while we (as a - rather large - group) have a surprisingly large amount of strength and expertise in animal husbandry; it has seldom been put to good use, and needs now to be focused on developing our own resource base.
> 
> The reef-aquarium hobby has failed remarkably at maintaining animals through their entire life histories. While your stated purpose of breeding shrimp is a good one, the technical problems of that particular project are immense and more suited to larger facilites or research labs, at least for the time being. However, don't be too discouraged!!! There are many other types of animals that might be more suited for developing a breeding program. Some of these creatures, though, while apparently feasible, are proving difficult enough to challenge anybody. If you want to chew on a good project that should keep you busy for a couple of years (or decades??), let me suggest you take a look at the Reef Stewardship Foundation. They have had, for some time, a serious program of developing sustainable populations of invertebrate animals for the marine aquarium hobby. Perhaps, you might find something there that is of intrest.


Reply by Dr. Ron Shimek

But this was pertaining to a different dwarf species that I was interested in.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree in regards to the ethics in general, but for the most part it is a slippery slope when one starts throwing the term "unethical" around regarding a specific species in the hobby.


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## J-P (Feb 27, 2011)

Well with a specific species I can see it (especially when endangered). With an entire family (as I did), then yes, as I was in error.

The species I had inquired about with Dr. Shimek apparently is endangered and for some reason I only partly remembered the reply (the portion about how I wasn't to get one) 

My apologies for muddying the waters.


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

Thank you for correcting yourself.

So a couple of interesting things lately. She has been out more and more. I'm now pretty sure she is indeed a female. Every few days she will come out during the day. Usually when hungry. Yesterday while defrosting a shrimp I held it over the tank and she crawled out to get it! I guess I shouldn't be teaching this kind of behavior, as neither Octopus I kept ever showed even the slightest inclination to escape.

After she went back in she let me pick her up right out of the water. She then proceeded to squirt water and I put her down. Lots of photos. Lots of videos and finally I got a decent video of her opening up this plastic container :


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## J-P (Feb 27, 2011)

excellent video and images... 

You are welcome for the correction.. I have a feeling that I will have to live vicariously through your posts. 

You are one lucky keeper. I still envy you


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## ecoleshill (Jan 22, 2009)

She's really growing fast too.


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## Kweli (Jun 2, 2010)

Can we get some pictures of the enclosure? want to see how you octoprotect a tank

Also, ever get ink?


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

I think those picks are just the best!


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## itsru (Oct 15, 2011)

just read through the 5pgs .. and wow has she grown fast! .. how big is she now arm to arm? - sad how short lived they are. where did you get her?


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## corpusse (Jan 3, 2011)

Haven't checked this thread in a while. Not sure She is a He  He is probably 30 inches arm to arm or close to it. Got him at big al's of all places. I was not looking for a new Octopus but this one was in perfect condition and the right age so no regrets. Although...

5 days ago I became the first person to record a bite from an Octopus Briareus! As soon as he broke the skin I started moving around until I could get him to release me.

Initially I didn't think it was a big deal, however about 12hrs later in the shower there was a mild to moderate burn. It swelled up, but still very minor. By the next day I did not feel it at all, but now 5 days later there is a tiny mark.

Yesterday I decided I better clean the front glass since I went to the extra expensive of buying a starfire front. I'm really trying to reboot my tanks after several months of neglect. The octo tank is the only one that doesn't really require much, empty the skimmer cup once in a while and a quick water change. Since there are no corals and low light, I don't get excessive algae growth and never test the water.

Anyway here are the bite pictures and then some new photos of the Octopus.

















\

Again the bite overall was nothing. Less of a sting then a lionfish or bee.

After a few flash pics he decided to ink so I took the rest without the flash


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