does anyone keep any sort of cephalopod?

Question

what kind? how big is your tank? any neat stories/experiences to tell?

Answer 1

I had cuttlefish.

Actually I didn't buy them there were eggs in live rock which I bought and one day little cuttle fish started pouring out. At the time my tank was only a 30 gallon. No skimmer, the rock was new to a tank that was more than 15 years old. I ended up with over 40 little ones. I kept a few and raised them and gave the rest to my LFS (I am close with them so that was cool) They were neat little cridders. Curious and friendly. They would come to the side of the tank when you got close or were watching TV. Almost a circus if you didn't feed or pay attention to them. Almost equal to the dwarf puffers in character. I loved having them and kept them for many years until they passed one by one over the years I had them.

If I could find one small enough, I would get another. They do have requirement s that my tanks now would not work with. Since I have so many, I have no room for another at this point. Perhaps in the future. I would have cuttles again.

Answer 2

I haven't kept any personally, but one of my former students had some experience working with them while working as an intern at Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. As a whole, they're rather intelligent animals and can have distinct personalities. Octopi are the most common to keep and are very intelligent - they like having toys to play with, even something as simple as a ball. If you don't find ways to entertain them, they'll find their own entertainment - which usually means trouble for them and their owner. They're great escape artists, so that's one of the first things they do when they're bored - test the limits of the tank - and they're strong enough to pop most lids you'd try to put on the tank. And despite their apparent size, they can squeeze into cracks that seem an impossible escape route. Many species are nocturnal, so these don't make the most interesting of pets.

Cephalopods in general are rather difficult to keep in a home aquarium. For one, they're not commonly available, and those that are availble are usually wild-caught. Considering that these have short life spans of one to two years at best, you may only have one for a few months to a year before it dies. The only cephalopod I've ever personally seen for sale was a blue-ringed octopus - which is poisonous, and shouldn't be kept in a home aquarium - which is rather irresponsible of the store personel for ordering one.

The tank size required for octopi range from 55 gallons up, depending on the species. Because they are aggressive, they have to be kept by themselves in the tank - otherwise their tankmates become food.

Anyway, you were asking about keeping them - there are several accounts by owners published on the web. If you're thinking about getting one, you can see from their experiences what owning one would be like.

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=78
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=130148
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/invert.htm

Answer 3

Which stock should be next? What if the meds don't work? How the heck am I going to take care of my sister? Man, is it hot! I should have had something to drink? How many hours till I have to get up?