# Please welcome Tattoo our new mimic octopus!



## I_heart_Fraggles (Jun 27, 2011)

OK so the aquarium guy just left after delivering our new friend. He warned us not to go picture crazy for a few days as Tattoo needs time to settle in. He must learn to associate us with his food and not with flashing lights. But with that sad I did manage to get a photo to share before he dashed into his cave. Tonight we will give him some food and hope he eats it. He is perfectly healthy and our tank is healthy enough to keep seahorses in so says aquarium guy. Oh someone did ask me what kind of filter we were using, its a "ReefÂ OctopusÂ BHÂ Â 
Â Protein SkimmerÂ FilterÂ System" ya its shiny. So here is his tank. The little purple things attached to the walls are a breed of live coral that clear out toxins. 









Please welcome Tattoo, he is 7 inches long at 14 weeks old. He will be 22 inches when fully grown. 




Personally I think he looks like he is saying "GET OFF MY LAWN". He kinda reminds me of my father in law...Enjoy everyone! More pics to come.


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## Watermelons (Jun 27, 2011)

Can I request more pictures of the tank? Maybe a photobucket link to them so they can be bigger for blind people like me  Gosh I love saltwater tanks.... Stunning!

A good flat surface to rest your camera on while taking the pictures will keep it nice and steady and allow you to take pictures with the flash off so you dont disturb Mr squishy (tattoo)!!!

Dare I ask how much its total has come to so far? , live rock, fishies, and all? $$$


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## I_heart_Fraggles (Jun 27, 2011)

I will certainly upload so more detailed pics of the tank. Thanks for the advice on taking photo's. Its actually kind of tough figuring out how to take pictures of Tattoo. So far the tank plus Tattoo and his whole set up has been close to 3 grand. The fish are going to have to go in a separate tank in a couple of months as Tattoo will eat them lol.


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## fuzz16 (Jun 27, 2011)

the stuff on the walls is coraline algae, grows in healthy, well lit tanks. but just hard algae  watchfor sponges, a great sign your tank is healthy!!

and watch out that damsel leaves the royal gramma and firefish alone and doesnt stress him to death. mean suckers...octopus may end up eating them all anyways though. 

since you cant have inverts due to the octopus eating them, do you have something to sift the sand to avoid the gas bubbles? dk bout the sand sifters...idk whats safe to live with octopus. prob nothing.  

and i know you had this set up by a professional, but just wondering...did he put the rock down before the sand?? if not i would kinda worry about the octopus digging around the rocks, it could all collapse pretty easily. 

you should invest in some pretty polyps and mushrooms!!! I have collected some beautiful blues and greens over the years...if I could send you some I would! Dont know if I would trust my mailing abilities though!!! the torch should get some nice color with time too! their neat to watc eat, sticking out their tentacles and all  will kill any coral around them though

looks great though!!! 
did the guy recomend any suppliments? 
what do you feed to octopus?


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## I_heart_Fraggles (Jun 27, 2011)

LOL Jason thought it was some kind of coral . 
The fish will be leaving the tank in about 2 to 3 weeks. We only got the fish cause there survival was a for sure sign that the tank was maturing properly. Tattoo will eat them eventually lol. Right now he is on a diet of little crab's, reef shrimp and other shell fish. Yes the rock was placed before the sand. As for sand sifter's, nothing can safely live with a fully grown Octopus so the sand must be professionally done every six weeks.


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## Nancy McClelland (Jun 27, 2011)

Looks great, but gold fish are more my speed.


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## I_heart_Fraggles (Jun 27, 2011)

Nobody has said anything about Tattoo looking like a cranky old man yet


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## degrassi (Jun 28, 2011)

Really cool! The tank looks really nice and Tattoo is awesome! Congrats!


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## I_heart_Fraggles (Jun 28, 2011)

Thank you  I still think he looks like a cranky old man lol.


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## JadeIcing (Jun 28, 2011)

LOL he does look like a cranky old man.


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## Azerane (Jun 28, 2011)

Awesome, absolutely love it! Saltwater tanks are so interesting. What a beautiful creature!


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## Luv Buns (Jun 28, 2011)

Ooo I love the tank. lol. Tattoo is cool too, but all the colors.. so bright and pretty.. ooo.. lol.


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## MiniLopHop (Jun 28, 2011)

Beautiful tank and tatoo is awesome! He reminds me of squidward from Sponge Bob Square Pants. I can just hear that grumpy, nasaly voice coming from him LOL "You kids get off my lawn!"


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## Must_Love_Pets (Jun 28, 2011)

Soooo cool!!!! I love salt water tanks and all the beautiful color. I always had huge fresh water tanks that we would build lots of caves for our chilids. Making it look like an underwater stream fortress. Makes for a good community tank with the right chilids. Salt water is so hard if you are taking care of it on your own. Lucky to have a pro do it for you.

LOVE TATTOO, he is sooooo cute!!!!


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## I_heart_Fraggles (Jun 28, 2011)

Thanks everyone. He does look so grumpy. We did not see much of him yesterday but last night we were on the couch and he came out. He "walked"around his tank and was touching things as he went. He looked very cranky lol. We missed part of our movie watching him. We fed him before bed and were rewarded with empty shells in the morning so he ate. Everything is excellent.


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## plasticbunny (Jun 28, 2011)

So funny, I was just watching a documentary on octopuses last night! Apparently they're crazy smart. In the documentary, they were doing all sorts of experiments to prove how smart they really were. One of them involved giving an octopus his crab lunch in a screwtop jar, something he would never know from his experiences in the wild. And he figured out how to unscrew it in 5 minutes!

There were all sorts of other ones, too, but this was my favourite . But the conclusion was, that octopuses learn, problem solve, and are self aware.

I think they're smarter than rabbits, lol. But don't thell Fraggles I said that!


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## I_heart_Fraggles (Jun 28, 2011)

Octopi I very smart. That is what's creepy about them lol. Imagine if they learned to breath air! Rabbits are smart in a "different" way lol. Fraggles is planning to take over the world after all. Maybe she will get idea's from Tattoo.


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## slavetoabunny (Jun 28, 2011)

Just beautiful! Before long Tattoo will learn to use the camera and send pictures of you to his friends.


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## MiniLopHop (Jun 28, 2011)

I'm just greatful that Houdini and Fraggles don't play together. I think if they put their minds to the same purpose the world would be in real trouble! It took me 7 months to come up with an enclosure that would contain that boy over night!


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## DandelionHollow (Jun 28, 2011)

Amazing! What a beautiful tank and Tattoo is really something! Congrats


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## Brittany85 (Jul 15, 2011)

Wow I never knew octopi could be kept as pets! How interesting. I will definitely research them, I was not aware they were that smart and that they watch people! Weird!


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## missyscove (Jul 24, 2011)

Have you seen the new XKCD?
http://xkcd.com/928/


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## jcottonl02 (Jul 24, 2011)

MORE piccies of Tattoo please! He is just precious!!!!!!

Jen


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## mistyjr (Jul 24, 2011)

Very Nice, I love salt water fish tanks too! :biggrin::hearts


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## I_heart_Fraggles (Jul 24, 2011)

I just posted a new topic in the "bunnies only" section. There are Tattoo pics there.


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## Anaira (Jul 24, 2011)

missyscove wrote:


> Have you seen the new XKCD?
> http://xkcd.com/928/


Ahahahahahaha!


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## gemgnir (Aug 17, 2011)

Holy Schnikees! I'm in love! This is one gorgeous set up, and I'm in love with Tattoo! I wonder if he could figure out how to open a jar with his food inside?! Eeeeek! So creepy and amazing!  I wish I could agree with you regarding his looking like an old man but... I can't figure out what's what in his picture. *sigh*. I must NEED an Octopus. For sure.


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## Little Cow (Aug 17, 2011)

Wow! That's like snorkeling without getting wet! Well done!


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## jeanluc_pippen_merry (Aug 22, 2011)

Such an awesome looking tank and octopus! I've never seen a fish tank so bright and colourful before. Makes me want to get one, but it sounds like there's a lot more work in keeping it going than im willing to put into it. >.< Can we see more pictures? Possibly linked so we can see full size pics of the tank? =D


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