My new pet octopus - Abdopus aculeatus aka algae octopus

[Jan]

Edited December 28, 2014 by Jans Natural Reef Foods

[MBVette]

That's pretty cool. How hard is it going to be to keep

[LCDRDATA]

Cool! I just hope that tank's got a really tight lid - wouldn't want him taking any unsupervised excursions! 

[Jan]

We shall see. I've only had it 2 whole days. I don't think it will be too difficult.

I purchased 3 dozen ghost shrimp that I'm acclimating to SW and feeding spirulina flakes to so I'll have a constant food supply for it. I've also added 1 dozen small hermit crabs to its tank. This octopus is very very small, 6" from tentacle to tentacle with a head about the size of a quarter, maybe even smaller.

The tank I have it in has a glass cover that sits on 4 tabs. I've glued astrturf all around the lid because apparently octopus don't like the feel or can't grip onto astroturf and carpet. Whatever the case it doesn't like it so when it touches the astroturf it backs off. It has scoped out the place and tried to get out through the intake so I also added a piece of egg crate and placed a huge clump of cheato to it. the openings are too small for it to fit through. So all possible escapes are secured.  

I've added a small plastic spice jar to the tank with a lid, some pvc pipe and a glass dome so it occupies itself. I'll be picking up some legos for it to. they like to play and are very curious. 

It has lots of macro algae to hide under. these octopus like to hide under and in macroalgae. They are also fairly new to the hobby and highly sought after because they are very active.

I'll check water several times a week to see how nitrate levels are so I can gauge water changes. 

Edited December 28, 2014 by Jans Natural Reef Foods

[L8 2 RISE]

Cool! I've heard good things about aculeatus in aquariums! Sounds like a perfect size to get it too, where did you get him/her from? More info on the tank and other inhabitants/filtration? Really looking forward to following this!

[Coral Hind]

Very cool Jan! I don't know if your tank is big enough to witness this but I've seen videos of these guys walking on two arms. When feeding it, I used to make my Octopus aegina work to get the food by putting it up inside curved PVC pipe or inside a bottle. Keep us posted on how it does. 

[elbowdeep88]

So awesome. Where did you get it?