# Who keeps octopus or unusual sea creatures?



## snakes123 (Dec 24, 2011)

I though of getting a blue ringged octopus. Dont think ill be allowed tho :/ But im wondering how many people actually keep octopus, or any other strange water/sea creatures?


----------



## snakeman478 (Dec 24, 2011)

i used to keep blue ringed octopus when i was younger. Easy to keep but only live for around 2 years in a tank. That was my experiences anyway.


----------



## Trench (Dec 24, 2011)

snakes123 said:


> But im wondering how many people actually keep strange water/sea creatures?



yep, I have a whole family of those, lol


----------



## Chicken (Dec 24, 2011)

Ive seen sting rays for sale at Amazing amazon, and seen some pretty exotic fish but never personally kept any


----------



## Pado2087 (Dec 24, 2011)

would love to get stringrays or a little shark it would be soo cool


----------



## snakes123 (Dec 24, 2011)

Yeah my uncle was talking about getting a small shark. Snakeman are they hard and expencive to look after?


----------



## Southside Morelia (Dec 24, 2011)

LMAO I tell you a story which is quite funny.
Before I got into reptiles, I used to keep and breed cichlids and then progressed to marines and then to mini-reef systems. I used to import all my stuff from Germany as we didnt have the cutting edge technology in Oz at the time. I was the first in Australia to my knowledge and advice that I was given at the time, to culture my own phytoplankton and zoo plankton which the CSIRO in Tasmania used to ship to me by the vial to feed my corals. I had moon lights and wave makers and mimicked the sun and moon phases with lighting to get both the fish and corals to spawn, I even had mangrove trees under lights in my refugium to filter the water, the system in my big tank was out of control, but a site to see and in a few magazines back then.
So this being the background right...I always wanted an octopus as they are amazing creatures. I knew my local aquarium like family and asked them to get me an octopus..it took ages and they finally got one in a piece of live rock or coral and called me and said, scott we have an octopus for you. SWEET, I was stoked and went there that day to pick it up. I took this amazing looking animal the size of a blue-ringed home, acclimatised him to the big display tank, let him out with anticipation of seeing it fish and feeding it by hand..he darted off into the coral/live rock and I NEVER saw it again. lol Literally 2 seconds of seeing it in my amazing display. 
Lesson kiddies, if you want to keep cephlapods be mindful that they will blend in and stay away from the attention. Another story and just as funny were when I kept pistol shrimps.. lol

I had sharks and looked after an aquarium with black tip reef sharks that we had a license to keep in a popular hotel in sydney. You can get little bamboo sharks etc for hobby aquariums but the others you need a special license for.


----------



## Amazing Amazon (Dec 24, 2011)

Keeping small sharks are easy its the setup that cost the big $$$$. Octopus can be really tricky because they ink when under stress which any filter will struggle to deal with. I have also found that most Octopus when caught are pregnant and they will die in a tank once they give birth. Blue Rings are probably best as they are very small. Stingrays are not easy either as they can be tricky feeders. Although they are more expensive the Freshwater stingrays are a much better option, but as with most stingrays they get very large. Cuttlefish are another cool creature I have had, but once again can be tricky to keep and to set them up is not cheap. Marine (saltwater) tanks need specific filtration and water quality and just setting up like a freshwater tank with a canister filter will end up with lots of $$ being wasted.


----------



## Southside Morelia (Dec 24, 2011)

The reason I got into herps as I was ALWAYS dipping my hand into the pocket to keep marines...


----------



## snakes123 (Dec 24, 2011)

Ahaha that sucks! I was thinking it would end in you getting stung by hand feeding or something like that, or it ate everything in the enclosure Do you have any pics of the tank?


----------



## Amazing Amazon (Dec 24, 2011)

Herps are much easier and cheaper than marines. Curious to know what is the license requirements you are talking about in Sydney as in Melbourne we can keep anything we want from the sea with no license.
Paul


----------



## snakes123 (Dec 24, 2011)

Yeah i would like to know about licencing, and if we are allowed to collect from the wild. But anyway i dont think id be allowed. But i might be able to convince my uncle to get one, or maybe just a small shark he was talking about wanting one for a while.

Anyway keep telling me what strange things everyone has owned.


----------



## Southside Morelia (Dec 24, 2011)

I'm going back some years now, but NPWS would not allow anyone to keep sharks ie ocean dwelling predators without the required permit/license. We were the only place aside from Sydney Aquarium to have Black tipped reef sharks among other animals and as a requirement of this licensing, we had to have the marine biologist from Sydney Aquarium (hello Sebastian if you read this), come and take samples etc to ensure the tank complied as per that licensing requirement.
I used to climb on top of the aquarium to maintain/clean it, change lighting, get beer bottles and the like from the top (it had an enclosed top) and the sharks used to try and go me...was a funny scene for the tourist. lol


----------



## snakes123 (Dec 24, 2011)

That would be so cool to keep a shark like that. Well im scared of sharks :/ But thats only like the big ones out when im surfing


----------



## snakeman478 (Dec 24, 2011)

Nah not hard to look after and as for cost, i never paid for any of them. we used to just go and catch them at coochimudlo island, they were abundant there 10-15 years ago. Not sure about now though. As SouthsideMorelia said they love to hide. I learnt that after getting the first one so after that i used to have bits of PVC pipe cut to different lengths on the floor of the tank and that was it. Not very pleasing to the eye but very effective and easy to get the octopus out of without upsetting them too much. I never had any issues with them inking, not even when we caught them (we used nets). i dont think people realise how small they are either.


----------



## RSPcrazy (Dec 24, 2011)

My dad used to keep octopuses, he said they were good to look at, except every time you walked past the tank to quickly, they would ink and you would have to clean out the tank.


----------



## snakes123 (Dec 24, 2011)

Thats so cool! Black Tipped reef sharks and a few blueringed octopus to the want list. Ohh santa suprise me this year please


----------



## snakeman478 (Dec 24, 2011)

Another thing i learnt. You cant keep more than one blue ringed per tank.


----------



## Southside Morelia (Dec 24, 2011)

mantis shrimp and pistol shrimp are amazing animals as well. I am always tempted to get another again. These animals to me are so intelligent and the way they smash their prey is awe inspiring. I do have stories as well when I had a pet lion fish, who we called "Big Gay Al" after the Simpsons character and he looked like something out of the Mardi_gras.. I was home one night and he was fully trained to eat out of my hand and when I wa feeding the tank and waving his food in front of him, I was watching TV as you do and when waving the food, I hit one of his spines and was invenomated. I had had a couple of beers and the missus and kids were out that night, so I freaked thinking I was going to die! lol I rang the local hosp[ital who knew nothing about what to do and advised the poisons information service...I rang them thinking I have only 15mins of life left and they said, "how do you feel, people only die if they have an allergic reaction like bee stings to the venom" Needless to say I had numbness up to my shoulder for a few hours then it passed...lol I got stung about 2 more times by Big Gay Al over his many years of life...



snakeman478 said:


> Nah not hard to look after and as for cost, i never paid for any of them. we used to just go and catch them at coochimudlo island, they were abundant there 10-15 years ago. Not sure about now though. As SouthsideMorelia said they love to hide. I learnt that after getting the first one so after that i used to have bits of PVC pipe cut to different lengths on the floor of the tank and that was it. Not very pleasing to the eye but very effective and easy to get the octopus out of without upsetting them too much. I never had any issues with them inking, not even when we caught them (we used nets). i dont think people realise how small they are either.


Yeah definately....they are small and get smaller and as you say the only way to keep them is with less furnishings in the tank keep it minimal, which to me is a shame as its not how they live. But if you want to see them, thats what u need to do.


----------



## Aussie-Pride (Dec 24, 2011)

fresh setup- 2 Barra about 3-4ft long,saratoga,mangrove jack,motoro stingray 
marine setup- Lion fish,snowflake eel, live rock.. 

Iv been trying to get my hands on a blacktip pup for a year or so now only thing i can come across are bottom feeders port jacks, etc if anyone knows where to get black tip pups PM me i'm willing to pay whatever.. 

Cheers


----------



## snakeman478 (Dec 24, 2011)

Yeah i look back on the way i kept them now and think to myself it was probably a bit mean and was purely for my own enjoyment. Especially considering how intelligent they are. I certainly wouldnt keep them like that now but as you say you would never see them otherwise, so theres not point in keeping them really.


----------



## snakes123 (Dec 24, 2011)

Aus Pride do you need any licences? And how do you get them, does it have to be from a breeder, or can you catch them?



snakeman478 said:


> Yeah i look back on the way i kept them now and think to myself it was probably a bit mean and was purely for my own enjoyment. Especially considering how intelligent they are. I certainly wouldnt keep them like that now but as you say you would never see them otherwise, so theres not point in keeping them really.




But then whats the point of us keeping reptiles, really all they do is sit in a corner or hide for the whole day? Really its all for our own enjoyment. But if we can take care of them and make them feel safe then its all ok.


----------



## SteveNT (Dec 24, 2011)

I have put several blue ringies (they are much bigger up here) in my tanks but the fish ripped into them and killed and ate every one of 

I have tried keeping other types but they are excellent escapers and you end up finding them sliming across the kitchen floor at 3am! All cephalopods have a very short life span.

You need a huge set up for sharks and rays. We have small tank suitable sharks and blue spot rays but really they are not terribly communal.


----------



## snakeman478 (Dec 24, 2011)

I see what youre saying Snakes123, but most animals in the reptile community are captive bred and not yanked out of their natural environment into an enclosed, mostly unnatural environment. I was young and stupid. Just wanted to be COOL i guess. LOL

I learnt that the hard way too Steve. I had one get out and die in the lounge room behind a massive bookcase and boy did it stink.


----------



## snakes123 (Dec 24, 2011)

True. Its kind of the same with geckos, like your told 2 hides and some water and other furnishing but i dont like using other stuff because the roaches find places to hide so the geckos dont get their feed. So i just get them out everyday and let them have a wonder, which i think they really enjoy! But then again im not sure how i would do this with a blue ringed or a shark


----------



## Southside Morelia (Dec 24, 2011)

SteveNT said:


> I have put several blue ringies (they are much bigger up here) in my tanks but the fish ripped into them and killed and ate every one of
> 
> I have tried keeping other types but they are excellent escapers and you end up finding them sliming across the kitchen floor at 3am! All cephalopods have a very short life span.
> 
> You need a huge set up for sharks and rays. We have small tank suitable sharks and blue spot rays but really they are not terribly communal.



Ditto that, that is great advice, they will escape out of anything unless it has NO cracks and is weighted down so the panels cant be lifted.


----------



## dihsmaj (Dec 24, 2011)

My marine wishlist?
Either:
Dwarf Lionfish sp. (eg a Fuzzy, Fu Manchu, Zebra)
Snowflake Moray
Mantis Shrimp


----------



## snakes123 (Dec 24, 2011)

But are you allowed to keep them snakeluvver3?


----------



## dihsmaj (Dec 24, 2011)

Yeah, I'm actually gonna get one when I decide. I've got a 4ft tank.


----------



## moosenoose (Dec 24, 2011)

I kept a blue ringed octopus for a week, then took it back to the bay So really I hardly "kept it". Regardless, they are a truly fascinating creature! And supposedly a master escape artist!


----------



## snakes123 (Dec 25, 2011)

Ahh thanks everyone.
So no one has kept the Lock Ness Monster?


----------



## black_headed_mon (Dec 25, 2011)

snakes123 said:


> Ahh thanks everyone.
> So no one has kept the Lock Ness Monster?



i've only heard of sightings!!!


----------



## Radar (Dec 25, 2011)

SteveNT said:


> I have tried keeping other types but they are excellent escapers and you end up finding them sliming across the kitchen floor at 3am! All cephalopods have a very short life span.



If you line the top section of the tank (out of water) with astroturf (walls, roof, etc) they can't sucker on to it and climb out. Makes them a fair bit easier to keep in


----------



## Aussie-Pride (Dec 25, 2011)

snakes123 said:


> Aus Pride do you need any licences? And how do you get them, does it have to be from a breeder, or can you catch them?
> 
> No mate no licenses required..


----------



## SteveNT (Dec 25, 2011)

In the mid 70s they realised that blue ringies were poisonous when a sailor put one on his wrist, was bitten and died 10 minutes later.

There was a big rush to work out the venom and we got $5 each from the local uni, good money for a young bloke who could find 30-40 in a morning!

Then some bugger from Victoria started supplying them for 50 cents each. End of story.

My favourite marine critter at the moment is a red and grey pencil urchin. Had him for 2 years now, it's amazing to watch him fold his spines and fit through tiny holes in the reef. Crinoids (feather stars are cool also.)

Crinoid





Urch




Some of the gang


----------



## dihsmaj (Dec 25, 2011)

Steve is it legal to collect fish and inverts?


----------



## SteveNT (Dec 25, 2011)

Snakeluvver3 said:


> Steve is it legal to collect fish and inverts?



As long as your purpose is not commercial it is open slather. There is a monster low tide today and usually we would be out having a look but there is also a cyclone on our doorstep. The low pressure lifts the water and you dont get such a big low tide.


----------



## PilbaraPythons (Dec 25, 2011)

My experience with keeping a blueringed Octopus was the opposite of Morelias as the one I had was very active and far from shy.
It was a fasinating creature to keep and I used to throw in live crabs for it to prey upon, amazing battles with them sometimes.
A very entertaining creature to keep in my opinion.
Be warned though their toxin at times can be in a small tank, hazardous to other fish ( but only very temporally) but possibly to yourself.


----------

