Octopus Aquarium

March 2016

Sharks, jellyfish, seahorses and why not octopi… There is a high demand for keeping fascinating and unusual aquatic creatures, especially something out of ordinary. While keeping these creatures in a home aquarium is not as difficult as it once was, the privilege of caring for such unique sea animals comes with great responsibility and it requires specialist knowledge of how to create a healthy and happy environment for them.

Take the octopus for example. These captivating and naturally inquisitive creatures can be kept in a home aquarium but they are definitely not the easiest to look after.

Their appearance as well as their behaviour make octopuses very interesting and desirable. However, one of the downsides of keeping octopi is that they will try to escape the tank and are intelligent enough to actually do it. They are able to squeeze through very small openings (2.5 centimetre) and are surprisingly strong, even able to break the glass of a normal aquarium.

Octopi made headlines numerous times for their attempts to escape their tanks. One story tells that when fish kept disappearing from one of the tanks late at night the owner put up cameras to find out what was happening to them. He discovered that his octopus would climb out of its tank go across the room to the other aquarium and eat the fish kept in there. The octopus then discreetly and intelligently crawl back to its own tank.

When you decide to keep an octopus it is best to understand that ideally they should be kept alone in an aquarium, as they do not play well with others. They will eat small fish and can be intimidated by large fish, should they not consider them suitable prey.

Another consideration is that these types of set ups are quite expensive to maintain, being carnivores they have a diet of meaty foods such as shrimps and crabs. In the long term this can be quite costly not to mention the time to clean a tank of a creature with such a large appetite.

Probably the biggest downfall is that they have a relatively short lifespan, which depending on species is naturally 1-2 years. You must be emotionally prepared that your new best friend won’t be with you for the long term.

But don’t be deterred by all of the above, they are the downsides but there are also many positives to keeping such animals, as it can be very rewarding keeping one in a home aquarium.

As we said octopuses are very smart and active and they need to be entertained so that they do not get bored. We would suggest that you invest in a lot of safe plastic toys for them to play with, just make sure they are safe and safely secured.

In time, they can become very tame and can even be hand fed. Actually for those who keep these animals, they will tell you that the hand of its keeper is also a toy for the octopus. They have the ability to interact with humans, recognise their owner, looking forward to seeing them at regular times each day. We all remember the famous octopus in Germany who could predict the World Cup results, they really are that clever (ok maybe that was a little lucky but still..).

In addition to their intriguing and inquisitive behaviours, they exhibit an incredible body shape and have colour-changing abilities making them almost invisible in the wild when threatened by danger.

Our knowledgeable and experienced team is happy to answer any questions you have about keeping an octopus aquarium and can be contacted here.