squidwards new 29 gallon biocube

[JRocha]

So my girlfriend bought a 29 gallon biocube from Ocean Treasures a couple of days ago and I took rocks, sand, and water from my 240 gallon to start the tank off. We then went and impulse bought an octopus. he is so tiny. we named him squidward. We felt that it was a great name for our new friend. So far he has eaten an emerald crab the first day and 2 red crabs today. He doesn't seem to find the damsels we put in interesting at all. they are freaked out about him but does not eat them. he jumps on crabs though like it is the thing to do. Yes you might say that it is too soon to put anything like this in a tank so new, but mind you that everything in there came from my 6 year old established 240 gallon reef tank. We did this with her 12 gallon JBJ nano DX and we put in corals and fish the next day after start up and had no problems. That tank is about 6 months old. We take pride in maintaining the little tanks since its so damn easy to do so compared to my 240. What's a 5 gallon or 2 gallon water change every couple days? Really though. Too easy. Anyway all we need is a big yellow sponge and an orange starfish and we will have our very own bikini bottom. here are some pics of the 12 gallon and Squidward in his 29 gallon. oh check out the video of him taking down a red crab. First pic is the 12 gallon. hope everyone enjoys this.

 

[JRocha]

here's more pics of squidward and another video

 

[badbread]

I'm pretty sure an octopus in a 29 gallon tank is a Tang-Police felony... I'm sure Thales and others experienced with them can chime in.

 

[JRocha]

yeah for now the 29 is his home. his head is about an inch in size and 6 inches tentacle to tentacle. If he outgrows the tank he has a good home in my 240. I am not worried about him attacking my critters cause he is so damn cool. I have had a blue ring in the past but he only lasted a month or so. I couldn't get it to eat consistantly. So far squidward is eating like a heffer. I want to try krill instead of live food since its so much more money involved going with live food. I am interested to know what would be a good frozen diet for squidward. By that I mean healthy and that he will like to eat. People also say you can't have anemones in a 12 gallon because it won't be happy but that in itself is not true since we experienced it for ourselves. Ours was extremely healthy and full of color. so the whole you can't keep this and can't keep that because of size of tank doesn't really apply to me cause if and whenever a coral or fish becomes to big for her nanos they get put into my 240 gallon mixed reef.

 

[JRocha]

Also if he was unhappy he wouldn't eat and would be inking like crazy if he wasn't satisfied with his tank. believe me I've seen it. Squidward has not inked at all. even when we put him in he just walked around and scoped everything out. He seems to be quite happy so far. the tank is dedicated to him and unless he shows signs of stress he will remain here in the 29. Don't want to sound rude, but I hate it when people try to tell me that I can't do something like I don't know what I am doing. I have been reef keeping for over 8 years now and did freshwater my whole life. so I don't just make it a habit to go off and buy thing I can't take care of. I research every animal I get so I can accomodate their needs. I just wanted to show people how excited I am about Squidward and show videos of him doing what they do best.

 

[A_Lee]

I would be worried about the octopus finding its way down the overflow.

 

[JRocha]

that was my first thought, but so far so good. lined up the canopy with pieces of artificial turf so he cannot get out of the tank completely. these guys are constantly thinking and you can see them l around and checking to see what is what. he stuck his tentacle in the overflows but that was about it. I saw a thing on discovery channel I believe a few years back how they had two seperate tanks side by side. 1 had an octopus in it and the other had a crab in it. during the day he did nothing. at night you see him escape out of his tank crab the crab and bring him back to his tank. crazy smart creatures. I love him. I see him checking out the 12 gallon and looking at the emeralds and sexy shrimp in there. he's plotting but I am trying to cover all the escape routes with artificial turf. But other than that he seems quite happy in his tank and I have been watching him when the light are out at 3 am or so whenever I wake up and he is just posted on the front glass in the current. I will post picks of his grave yard he's got going. so awesome. Debating on leaving the empty carcass' there or not. he seems to pile them up in the same place.