General discussion and questions about my tank because I am noob at this

[Amethyst]

I've never tried it, so I'll defer to those who have:

Storing natural seawater

Just wondering how long you can store nsw ? I did a search before asking this but alot of the threads were years old So thought id ask for a updated answer as ive noticed we learn new ways every day

www.reef2reef.com

epic I can i just checked

 

[death-by-reef]

My cousin has done this successfully by picking up live rock from a beach on Long Island it worked for him but all he ever kept was hermit crabs

 

[death-by-reef]

He had a 2.5g tank w/ a protein skimmer he built himself

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

and also in a few years or less I want an octopus, what creatures can live with it and how big would a tank need to be to hold 1 the size of your hand and also it would probably need a good top so the octopus doesn't crawl up the sides.

Realized I forgot to answer this earlier.

Generally, the recommended tank size for one dwarf octopus (the small species that get about the size of a hand) is 30 gallons (or more - larger is better for these guys, with most people who have kept them before recommending more in the range of 50-75 gallons for one). Very few things can be kept with an octopus, as most things either get killed by the octopus or cause major issues for the octopus - it very strongly advised to never put fish in a tank with an octopus (unless the fish is being added specifically for the octopus to hunt).

That said, here are some things that I've heard may be kept successfully:
- pencil urchins
- brittle stars/serpent stars (not the big, green "serpent star" Ophiarachna incrassata - this one is predatory, and not worth the risk with an octopus)
- most starfish (predatory stars that feed on bivalves like clams and mussels seem to be some of the safest; I'd avoid the reef safe ones/biofilm eaters, as we really can't feed them like they need to be fed at this point and they usually just slowly starve to death in our tanks) - I have heard of an instance of Chocolate Chip Sea Stars eating a couple of octopuses (I can't verify the account, but the poster mentioned their friend who watching their tank witnessed it), so I'd personally avoid them too.
- leather corals and most softies, including gorgonians (I'd avoid the highly toxic softies like zoas, palys, and gonis with octos though, and most gorgonians are pretty fragile and should be placed out of an area where the octo is likely to go)
- non-ricordia mushroom corals

And, here's one that could probably be kept successfully that I haven't heard of anyone trying:
- detritus feeding sea cucumbers; this one may or may not work, but given that most other echinoderms can be kept safely, I'd assume these ones would probably be alright too. I would personally avoid the filter feeding sea cucumbers, as they tend to be more toxic and more likely eject their poison into a tank if scared/attacked (and octopuses - being highly intelligent and playful - tend to "attack" things, even when they're just playing with them; I've heard of octopuses throwing hermit crabs across the tank just for fun, and I wouldn't want to risk it with a highly toxic cucumber).

Your tank needs to be escape proof, and should not have any holes in it, as octopuses can fit through any hole they can fit their beak through - and their beaks are typically super tiny compared to the rest of their bodies. The lid on the tank also needs to be held down in some way - I've heard of people using duct tape for this, but some kind of latch/lock system would work too as long as the lid is held firmly in place and isn't able to be pushed up enough for the octopus to escape.

Also, two things to keep in mind with octopuses:
1 ) They typically are very short lived (most dwarf octopuses live for about 6-10 months, with 6-8 being more typical from what I've seen), and if you get an adult, you may only have it for a few weeks before it dies.
2 ) Be wary of which octopus you buy - the dwarf species (such as Octopus mercatoris, O. joubini, etc.) are fine, but others like the Blue-Ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena spp.) are lethally venomous (i.e. they could literally kill you).

If you have serious questions about keeping octopuses, the site linked below is a great resource, and there are a handful of people either on that site or on here (or both, in some cases) who would likely be able to help answer those questions for you:

https://tonmo.com/articles/octopus-pet-checklist-before-you-get-an-octopus-as-a-pet.3/

 

[Amethyst]

"Diving Polymath. Blue-ringed octopus is not found of the California Coast, two-spot on the other hand is." "California Two-Spot Octopus" That is what I found online about blue ringed octopuses online and the 2 octopuses I caught had 1 spot on each side of their head. The big octopus had 2 blue rings with black in the middle on either of it's sides as if it were pretending to be a blue ringed octopus to scare predators.

 

[Amethyst]

ADDED some seachem amguard

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

"Diving Polymath. Blue-ringed octopus is not found of the California Coast, two-spot on the other hand is." "California Two-Spot Octopus" That is what I found online about blue ringed octopuses online and the 2 octopuses I caught had 1 spot on each side of their head. The big octopus had 2 blue rings with black in the middle on either of it's sides as if it were pretending to be a blue ringed octopus to scare predators.

Ah, yeah, if you’re catching it then the main thing to watch out for is size, as some octopus species get huge. If the blue rings with black in the center had black around the outside of the blue too, then you probably caught a “bimac” (either Octopus bimaculoides or Octopus bimaculatus). These guys are mid-sized.

 

[Amethyst]

Ah, yeah, if you’re catching it then the main thing to watch out for is size, as some octopus species get huge. If the blue rings with black in the center had black around the outside of the blue too, then you probably caught a “bimac” (either Octopus bimaculoides or Octopus bimaculatus). These guys are mid-sized.

oh ok also I bought an ammonia alert that constantly shows ammonia levels in the tank with a delay of at most 4 hours it has been in there a few hours and so far it says ammonia is at 0.05 ppm, would have to wait till tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to be sure though because it said it needs 48 hours to settle I think and show accurate readings. But right now it is showing 0.05 ppm and looks like it is slowly rising and changing color to the higher number

 

[Amethyst]

Also why is 1oz of turbostart 20 dollars lol, having a hard time convincing my dad. He will buy the rocks though

 

[death-by-reef]

I got sum turbostart 4 like 12-14 dollars, idk y it’s so xpensive where u r. And yes, from personal xperience it’s impossible to get your parent to spot u for anything for your reef tank. #teenagereefers idk if ur a teen tho

 

[Amethyst]

I got sum turbostart 4 like 12-14 dollars, idk y it’s so xpensive where u r. And yes, from personal xperience it’s impossible to get your parent to spot u for anything for your reef tank. #teenagereefers idk if ur a teen tho

I am a teen

 

[Amethyst]

It looks like my ammonia levels are sitting at "Alert" (0.05 ppm). I am using 1ml of AmGuard per day. Also I realized that Seachem stability is supposed to be used before you get fish and while u add them but my tank is over crowded. For my tank size it recommends 5ml on first day and 2.5ml every day for a week, but that is for a tank with no fish that is slowly adding fish so what do you recommend I dose for an already overcrowded tank?

 

[Amethyst]

Can I use 2 Nitrifying bacteria bottles at the same time, do they mix? (Seachem Stability, API Marine Quick Start)

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

It looks like my ammonia levels are sitting at "Alert" (0.05 ppm). I am using 1ml of AmGuard per day. Also I realized that Seachem stability is supposed to be used before you get fish and while u add them but my tank is over crowded. For my tank size it recommends 5ml on first day and 2.5ml every day for a week, but that is for a tank with no fish that is slowly adding fish so what do you recommend I dose for an already overcrowded tank?

Can I use 2 Nitrifying bacteria bottles at the same time, do they mix? (Seachem Stability, API Marine Quick Start)

If they're just nitrifying bacteria, then you should be able to mix the two without issue - I'd probably add enough of both to cover a 30 gallon tank as determined by their instructions.

 

[Amethyst]

If they're just nitrifying bacteria, then you should be able to mix the two without issue - I'd probably add enough of both to cover a 30 gallon tank as determined by their instructions.

k I just eyeballed like 30 gallons worth for each and hopefully it will finally cycle my tank

 

[Cyanohater]

why were all of these large species of animals in this small 10 gallon tank? maybe I have been misunderstanding what's going on here but it's not a good idea to catch things from your local ocean and out them in your home aquarium, especially without quarantine. That is why the shrimp died. And all of these really large animals in such a small tank explain the mega algae problem. I just think alot more research needs to be done.

 

[Amethyst]

why were all of these large species of animals in this small 10 gallon tank? maybe I have been misunderstanding what's going on here but it's not a good idea to catch things from your local ocean and out them in your home aquarium, especially without quarantine. That is why the shrimp died. And all of these really large animals in such a small tank explain the mega algae problem. I just think alot more research needs to be done.

The algae is no more, I dont have any more algae and my last surviving shrimp is thriving and my baby crab is also thriving, the things under the sand just feed down there

 

[Amethyst]

My crab loves Coquina clams, after I caught like 20 and put them in there (they are all tiny) I just have to crack one open every few days and my crab loves it, I don't have to look further to find food it likes. I will probably go to the store and feed it a part of a frozen shrimp too to make it eat more than 1 thing, also at the beach there is so much of this 1 species of sea snail and I was wondering if they eat it. Let me describe it then find a picture: it has a wide thin shell, it always is found at about the same size, here is pictures:

this is a snail that died and got eaten by other snails

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

why were all of these large species of animals in this small 10 gallon tank? maybe I have been misunderstanding what's going on here but it's not a good idea to catch things from your local ocean and out them in your home aquarium, especially without quarantine. That is why the shrimp died. And all of these really large animals in such a small tank explain the mega algae problem. I just think alot more research needs to be done.

With regards to quarantine, it is usually a very good idea to quarantine, but QT is generally more for fish than inverts (and when inverts are QT’d, it’s mostly to protect the fish). It’s still a good idea thoigh - I’m not disagreeing. Plus, as mentioned, I’m not an expert on invert diseases, but the shell-splitting on the shrimp sounded more like a water-quality issue related molt (almost certainly caused by keeping too many too large animals in the tank).

That said, these are definitely valid points - you don’t want to keep animals in a tank that’s smaller than what they’ll need long term, you don’t want to have too many animals in one tank (overstocking typically isn’t a good thing), and you do want to research any animals you want to keep before you get them so you can know you can meet their needs.

 

[Amethyst]

NOOOO PLS PLS HELP AHH

MY MANS GUNNA GET FILTERED WHY DOES MY FILTER ATTRACT SNAILS THIS IS THE ONLY SNAIL THAT HAS BEEN TRYING TO ESCAPE HOW DID HE GET UP IN THE FILTER?? bruh this is my new filter

edit: I got him out