missing fish

ricordianut · Jan 28, 2007

ok well for the last 2 weeks i have been loosing fish at first i thought thier was something wrong with my tank checked all the parameters and everything was right were it schould be i was getting so ticked because i lost mt 2 black onxy clowns and then my powder blue tang well i got up reall early today and come to find i have a octopus in my tank i saw his or her arms sneaking out from it little cave i have no idea how it got thier but it is really cool i tried getting pics but i cant fro the angle were he is it has blue spots on it. my tank has been up for over 5 years and never had a issue with loosing fish have not added any new rock or anything to the tank my only thing i can thinkl of is that i use to have all big fish in my tank and he or she has been thier from the get go and never bothered them but since i went with small fish now he can eat them well found a picture of what the guy looks like so here it is

Azurel · Jan 28, 2007

Keep your hands out of the tank...You get bit by that octo you will die in a matter of minutes. Look up blue ring octopus.....Not good!

ricordianut · Jan 28, 2007

oh i did i want to get him out of my tank i know he is hight venomous so im taking apart the reef today to get him out i will bevery carefull about this im if i can get the rock he is in im bringing him to my local aquarrium for them to keep he is a beauty but just to risky for me to keep

twon8 · Jan 28, 2007

are you serious? you have a blue ring octopus in your tank? i thought they only stayed really small? how big is he?

plaz · Jan 28, 2007

I know you have studied it - but I seriously think you should let the aquarium help you and use some sort of tools to get the rocks out.

I'm sure you saw this - it can penetrate a wet suit! -
"The bite of the blue-ringed octopus may be painless but it is definetly deadly. Its venom contains some maculotoxin which is more violent than any animals found on land. This poisen is 10,000 times more potent that cyanide. Upon being bitten, the victom's nerve conduction is stopped and paralysis sets in after a few minutes. Paralysis is then followed by death. Some symtoms are as follows:

*Nausea

*Blindness

*Loss of all other senses

If you do see someone get bit you should immediatly call 911, and then apply compresion to the wound as if it was a snake bite. Artificial respiration should also be started as soon as possible. The only way to survive is hours of heart massage and artificial respiration until the poisin has worked its way out of the system. There is no anit-venom to date.

Quick Facts

The blue rings are only visible when the Blue-ringed octopus is about to atack
It has a tiny, parrot like, beak that can bite through your wetsuit
The Blue-ringed octopus is only the size of a golf ball but still carries enough poisin to kill 26 humans in minutes
The poisin is not injected but comes from it's saliva
They are found in shallow coral and rock pools in Australia"

Best of luck!

ricordianut · Jan 28, 2007

cant get a good pic of him but his head is not big i can only really see the legs so i cant tell how big he actually is i will try to get him out today but i have remoce 200 lbs of live rock because of cours its the very last rock on the bottom in the middle its the main rock on the botton of my reef

JGoslee · Jan 28, 2007

Call the state aqaurium. They will come get him. Most state aquariums have tanks with blue ring octos on display.

ricordianut · Jan 28, 2007

well im not going to but my hands in the tank im using large palstic forks to pic this rock up so no hands i made a tub with the water ready to go so alls im doing is taking each rock out with those forks and then placing the rock he is in in thier and off to the aquarium i go i nkw im going to loose alot of my price corals because of this with moving all of the rock i have even thought of draining the whole tank and moving stuff over to my other tank for now
damm this going to be fusturating

ricordianut · Jan 28, 2007

actuallly i am on the phone with them now the are sending some one over to get him out some specialist or something like that

ricordianut · Jan 28, 2007

im still ticked because i still have no idea how this guy got in my tank and for years i have had this tank set up im so lucky im not dead right now i did get some live rock from california when i set up my tank

plaz · Jan 28, 2007

I'm very you called them and that they will take care of it for you! Maybe they will be able to trap him with no damage to your reef.

It is definately bizarre! Your theory of eggs or a baby in the rock makes the most sense to me (it must be getting old now because that article said they usually live more than a couple of years). I'm sure the aquarium specialist will shed some light on it.

I'm sure it is very upsetting. However, count your blessing too!!! Congratulations, you are a survivor of the newly discovered and dreaded "Blue-Ring Octopus in the Tank" syndrome!!!

Keep us posted!

ricordianut · Jan 28, 2007

i will well they are here now since the aquarium is only 10 minutes from my house they have a trap and are adding some food to see if he comes out i will keep u posted and see if i get some pics when the little guy comes out they said this is the best way so he dosent ink my tank they also said im very lucky im that i didnt get bitten and it it possible that he was a very small baby when i got him and could of been in the rock when i got it they also said that they will add it to one of thier small tanks for him and put a plaque up said donated by me
in glad i csn give back to the public for everyone to see him

twon8 · Jan 28, 2007

you should take some pics of them catching it.

i'll consider myself lucky to only have a big fireworm in my tank and not a deadly octo

ricordianut · Jan 28, 2007

ok still no luck yet on them catching him but we are going to turn off thr lights to see if thast helps he peaked out a bit but went right back in side

vetteman · Jan 28, 2007

twon8 said:
you should take some pics of them catching it.

:nopic:

Smarsh · Jan 28, 2007

WOW, that is scary. You know, I love my tank but I have always been a bit leary of putting my hands in it. When I first ordered my rock (tampa bay saltwater rock) I was very afraid to grab the rocks and put them in my tank for fear of a mantis or urchin. This would totally freak me out!!

I hope he is the only one and that they can safely remove him.

Get the carbon ready just in case.

Sandy

ricordianut · Jan 28, 2007

yeah thats what they sugested incase he inks

JGoslee · Jan 28, 2007

I still can't believe you have a blue ring octo in your tank! Please try and get some pics of them catching it.

Azurel · Jan 28, 2007

One thing can be said though at least it wasn't a newbie persons tank, I mean you have the experience to know as soon as you saw it what it was and what to do.....Thank God that you didn't get bit over the past years that you had your tank up.....I would contact the people that you got some of your stuff from there is no way that this should have happened unintentionally......Well as far as I'm concerned anyway.