Conundrum.
 

So I needed to get this out, and now since I have two stories, all the better.

So ill leave names out of it, and stores. But I had a serious headshaking moment recently.

I was at my LFS shop of choice. I was near the back where the tanks I enjoy are at. I’m looking around, and one of the shop hands comes up and joking says "if ya see anything squishy, don’t poke it!" Needless to say, I tend not to poke such things, but I still ask why? Here was my answer.

"A octopus escaped, just happened to be a blue ring octopus hehehehe"

WTF!!! Why on earth would someone for starters want a blue ring octopus! 17minutes from time of sting(which you don’t feel cause its potent enough that it instantly numbs the area) till you die!!! Like dead, like no more! It kills you through paralysis of the lungs. There is no anti-venom known on the planet!! Its 1000 times more lethal than cyanide!!! One golf ball sized little oct carries enough venom to kill between 20-30 full grown adults! Next! They are ugly unless they are ****ed off! When you see blue, get lost, that’s what it means! The only way to survive is artificially pumping your lungs till it wears off! Creation of anti-venom is essentially putting in to a horse or other creature that can combat the venom and taking the antibodies to create something that can combat the venom. So.. reason would state, if there is no known anti-venom. That means nothing survives it naturally! So why have one!

ok.. phew.. got that out. I mean I own a stonefish, but keeping a Bluering is retarded in my opinion. No one should keep them. Its like going to a shooting range with a nuclear device! Don’t worry boys, just given the ol'bomb a test run, see if its still ticking!

Oyy.... that was a frustrating day at the store.. and to think, the tank wasn’t even locked down, they just closed the sliding tops.. ya, cause that stops cephalopods from escaping every time!!

Ok, now my amusing conundrum!

So I haven’t put anything into my tank since June. I suddenly have flatworms and aptasia around my tank and apparently it just popped up out of no where.. so if it wasn’t invite, it must get evicted.. so I naturally go to remove it all.. first squirt all the aps, then feed stone and eel, then proceed to do flatworm death additives!

After all this, im looking around my tank, thinking damn this looks good. Then I see it. The one thing that will bug me till I figure out how best to kill it. 1 Last piece of aptastia. I might mention, its growing on the back of my stonefish. Not just the back, but right by venom spines 3&4. How do you kill that little aps bugger when its there!!

I have to think on that one for a few days..

Very carefully:wink:

Did you actually see this blue ring?

"everyone lies"

There is no way an animal like that would be legal to import let alone sell

I don't think that it is illegal to import blue ringed octopus.
I know I have seen them for sale on my wholesaler's list of available livestock.
Personally, I dont see the point of bring anything in that can kill me and is such a hard fish to keep alive.
Neal

Octo's are not fish. :wink:

"Hey honey, comme pet my new octopus--he's friendly, don't worry! Uh... officer, I told her not to touch it..."

Hey, I refered to them as a cephalopod! Haha, and they are entirely legal to order in, but my understanding is, the guy just wanted the more expensive octopus. Likely didnt know what he was getting into. Even the store didnt know how poisonous they are! They thought it was like lionfish bad! But what bugged me was the lack of respect for it, they fact they didnt put more effort in ensuring that it couldnt escape.


As for my conundrum!

Yes.. very carefully! haha

Not sure if the laws have been updated, but I've seen a couple blue rings for sale in town here many years back..

One of the local stores here got a blue ring in. I was absolutely appalled, little kids came into that store all the time and had their fingers everywhere. I realize the odds are really low of getting nailed as the octos seemed very reclusive but jeez!! They usually died within a couple weeks of arriving though. Didn't stop them from ordering another one, eventually they just got regular octos in and finally stopped after about the 5th or 6th one died :neutral:

Good luck with that last aiptasia. Yikes! :eek:

The octo thing isn't really something to joke around about, pretty scary to think of it being loose in the store and they don't know where it went to :sad:

As for the aiptasia I wouldn't go there personally, good luck to you!

Haha, thanks! Its the last place I wanted one, its the last place I expected one.. but murphy's law states.. if you think you can be screwed 7 ways to Sunday, chances are life will find 8 ways

How long would a peppermint shrimp last in that tank?

Just how mobile is an octopus when it has escaped? Is it like a hamster that hides behind the deep freezer? Haha

I used to maintain the cold water tanks at the local college years ago, and the octopus would continually escape. They're really mobile :)

I know they're crafty escape artists but I meant more like how far from the enclosure do they go without water?

From what ive read in the past, and my understanding, they can move very far. Rumors have it some aquariums they will move from tank to tank during the night for extra feeding, which could be as far as crossing a office, then a up a hall, around a corner, through another office, into that tank. They dont need to be in water, they can actually just be splashed with it and be able to cope as they absorb water through their skin and transport it to their gills. Ive read in more than a few articals that they even know right and wrong, and when they sneak into tanks they will hide shells of what they eat, and when fed, leave the shells out. To me, some of the most amazing creatures, but I still vote better left in the ocean!

And shrimp will last as long as it takes for my guys to get hungry. It would more than likely be the eel that got the shrimp. So... 10 minutes!

Wow, I would have reported that LFS to Fish and Wildlife explaining the astounding danger of that octopus. I can't believe they didn't evacuate the store and close it down until the octopus was found. With the future of captive reef fish up in the air lately, the last thing we need is a octopus killing a browsing customer.

I came across this earlier today. It probably wasnt a Petco you were visiting, but i thought it might apply anyways.

http://blog.aquanerd.com/2011/10/ple...rom-petco.html

I always buy as much product from the little guys as I can. Even if the hardware costs a little more, you probably end up getting it back in free frags etc. once you get to know them personally.

Would you even be able to use an aiptasia killing chemical if its on the back of the stone (would it hurt his skin? I'm guessing he doesnt shed his skin), if you could could you use one of the really long turkey basters (the ones that extend)?

Ours would be a long ways away, down the hall, around the corner is some class room. They travel well on land.

Thats been my fear. What effect will it have on him, cause some is liable to spill, and when it does, will it effect him.. they dont really mention that on the case or instructions at all.

What about copper banded butterfly or file fish (my brother had a file fish and it didnt do anything), but would they stand more of a chance than the shrimps (or you could have a decorated stonefish, and hope he doesn't make it spore too much?)

Hehe, ya.. I think its going to come down to hoping it falls off, I find it and kill it. I dont really want to chance losing him over aptasia. He is simply too awesome to chance that :D

but so far looks like I got them all. I dont see any flatworms or aptastia around the tank. Fish are all happy. They get a new filtersock tommorow and a water change. So they have to be happy about that.