Seahorse & Pipefish Haven

[Domboski]

Dom can I make a suggestion. As i'm sure you know, Octopi die after egglaying. Not so much after laying the eggs but after guarding them until hatching since the mother doesnt go out hunting. Perhaps ( and disclaimer this just a conjecture on my part ) if you take away her eggs, she will resume normal hunting and eating and her life span will be longer.

In theory that seems like a good idea but nothing is going to stop nature from taking its course. This topic has been heavily debated when it comes to medicating dying Octos. For me, prolonging the life of the Octo in an unatural way only increases the chances of suffering. The last thing I want to do is prolong the life of the Octo so when it's organs start failing that it has to suffer through all of the bacterial infections and literally begins to melt (fall apart) alive. I was actually hoping the octo would have a so called "heart attack" and die quickly. I've even looked into humane euthanzing methods.

I'd also argue that the will to live is much stronger when the eggs are present. That is why Tuesday next week I'm going to take the last of the eggs away. It is going to be hard and extremely sad but watching the Octo decompose alive is something I don't want to be responsible for.

 

[Domboski]

BTW, I guesstimated when she laid the eggs and counted off 50 days from that point to decide when to remove the eggs from her.

 

[jejton]

Dom - The only reasons they start to die like you describe is because they are not eating. Many aquaria have kept octopi alive - and healthy - for decently long periods of time by not allowing them to mate and lay eggs. The only question I have is whether it is the egg laying process or the fasting process while guarding the eggs that is ultimately killing them. I believe it is the latter and its worth a try. If you see that she is still dieing than maybe you should look into euthanasia ( or calamari ).

 

[Domboski]

Dom - The only reasons they start to die like you describe is because they are not eating. Many aquaria have kept octopi alive - and healthy - for decently long periods of time by not allowing them to mate and lay eggs.

Sorry jetjon but this statement is inaccurate. Octopuses die in the way I describe because they suffer organ failure due to the natural cycle of their life just like an older human being. Their high metabolism is one of the main reasons they have such a short lifespan. Sometimes their lifespan is cut a little shorter because they refuse to eat during the egg guarding period so many Octopus keepers try hard to feed their Octos while they are watching eggs. If the Octo does eat, they may last several more weeks but inevitably, they still die within a few weeks (sometimes they live well over a month but that is rare) of the time period in which the eggs would normally hatch with few exceptions.

It is impossible to stop female Octos from laying eggs as far as I know and if I'm wrong, I'd love to see someone post reference to scientific proof. I've had my Octo over 8 months. She was tiny when I got her. She did not mate with another Octo and still she laid eggs. They always lay eggs unless they are not healthy and don't live out their lifespan.

Remember, the "melting" I described is from organ failure causing bacterial infections which sometimes remain internal and not visible. Of course over time, these infections start affecting the external portion of the Octo including the skin. Richard Ross (thales) discussed this at the last swap if you happened to catch it.

I understand your thought process and it seems to make logical sense but it just isn't true in this case. However it is true if you can keep the Octo eating while it is watching eggs you increase the chances of keeping it alive several weeks after the eggs hatch (or should hatch). I've talked with someone who gave his Octo ant-bacterials proactively and it lived 13 months. This may be a better area to look to see how to prolong the life but many argue (biologist as well) that all the anti-bacterials do is prolong the suffering period because it is ultimately organ failure that is killing the Octo. See here: Octopus at the end of their lifecycle.

 

[Domboski]

Tank Resident

 

[Domboski]

 

[Domboski]

Exploring

 

[Domboski]

This false stonefish looks like a grumpy guy that I work with

 

[Domboski]

Some coral shots

 

[Domboski]

This is actually my live food holding tank

 

[Josh]

Hey Dom,

Is the Rhinopias new?

 

[Domboski]

Hey Dom,

Is the Rhinopias new?

Fairly new. I've had it for about two months. If you look in some of the older pics you'll see a red blurry fish in the background. That is him. LOL I haven't had much time to take good pics. Everything has been on the run so I finally got a good one of the Rhino yesterday.

 

[Domboski]

Hawkwing Conch

 

[Domboski]

Some of my Rics

Red Gonipora

 

[Domboski]

Plaid? Trumpet Fish

 

[Domboski]

 

[JLAudio]

Im sure this was stated in this thread but couldnt find it, but how often do you have to feed this tank with all those species with specific feeding habits and what are you feeding (I saw feeder tank, so Im assuming a type of shrimp).

Oh and the BTW the tank is absolutely amazing:thrash:

 

[Domboski]

Im sure this was stated in this thread but couldnt find it, but how often do you have to feed this tank with all those species with specific feeding habits and what are you feeding (I saw feeder tank, so Im assuming a type of shrimp).

The tank is fed 2-3 times a day for the fish and 2-3 times a week for the non-photosynthetic gorgs at night. I also have to feed my basket star 2-3 times a week at night.

FISH

I feed a variety of foods through out the week. I am constantly adapting how I feed based on my schedule and what I have available. A typical week I try to feed mysis 2 times a day for the fish. Once a day I feed formula II flakes and sometimes pellets. Once a week I feed selcon soaked mysis. I also add live grass shrimp at least once a week at most twice. I also try and add live feeder fish once a week. I usually catch bait fish on LI. On occasion, I feed feeder minnows from a bait shop or an LFS. Every once in a while I feed some of the fish fresh squid.

Gorgs and Basket Star

I feed my gorgs cyclopeeze 2-3 times a week at night. I also add phyto (culture my own) and BBS on occasion. I feed the basket star Mysis shrimp at least once a week usually twice.

I sometimes use live mysis, gut loaded grass shrimp, Amphipods and fresh mussels. Live crabs are in the mix too but not often since the fish I currently have don't seem interested. I've always tried to provide the most diverse diet I can.

 

[Domboski]

Oh and the BTW the tank is absolutely amazing:thrash:

Thank you

 

[Josh]

What a cool tank.