It was so long ago and the hobby was really primitive. No one kept coral, conches, hahahaha. I collected nem's, snails, the octopus, crabs, off the coast. My tanks were temperate, so no heater, but got 6-8 hours of sunlight so I had lots of algae. It was a 55 gallon tank and I ran a diatom filter, flourescent light shinning in the back of the tank with a plywood lid held down with bricks. It escaped once. I was a teenager working in a fish store (the only book out was Saltwater Aquarium in the Home by RObert Straughn (sp?) so I had access to some decent equipment and IO salt for cheap. All we tested for was PH and Nitrates.
I'd think you'll have to do major water changes, run very blue bulbs and a couple reactors with gfo/pellets etc.
Thanks. I found this article about the blue ringed octopus that I saw at my LFS. I guess I am not getting it. It is venomous. Too bad. It is a beauty though. Read This:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...&gl=us&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com
Venom
Blue-ringed octopus from New South Wales, Australia
The blue-ringed octopus is 12 to 20 cm (5 to 8 inches), but its venom is powerful enough to kill humans. There is no blue-ringed octopus antivenom available.
The octopus produces venom that contains tetrodotoxin, 5-hydroxytryptamine, hyaluronidase, tyramine, histamine, tryptamine, octopamine, taurine, acetylcholine, and dopamine. The major neurotoxin component of blue-ringed octopus venom was originally known as maculotoxin but was later found to be identical to tetrodotoxin,[4] a neurotoxin which is also found in pufferfish and cone snails that is 10,000 times more toxic than cyanide. Tetrodotoxin blocks sodium channels, causing motor paralysis and respiratory arrest within minutes of exposure, leading to cardiac arrest due to a lack of oxygen. The toxin is produced by bacteria in the salivary glands of the octopus.
Treatment
First aid treatment is pressure on the wound and artificial respiration once the paralysis has disabled the victim's respiratory muscles, which often occurs within minutes of being bitten. Tetrodotoxin causes severe and often total body paralysis; the victim remains conscious and alert in a manner similar to curare or pancuronium bromide. This effect, however, is temporary and will fade over a period of hours as the tetrodotoxin is metabolized and excreted by the body. It is thus essential that rescue breathing be continued without pause until the paralysis subsides and the victim regains the ability to breathe on their own. This is a daunting physical prospect for a single individual, but use of a bag valve mask respirator reduces fatigue to sustainable levels until help can arrive.
Definitive hospital treatment involves placing the patient on a medical ventilator until the toxin is neutralized by the body. The symptoms vary in severity, with children being the most at risk because of their small body size. Because the venom primarily kills through paralysis, victims are frequently saved if artificial respiration is started and maintained before marked cyanosis and hypotension develop. Victims who live through the first 24 hours generally go on to make a complete recovery.
It is essential that efforts continue even if the victim appears not to be responding. Tetrodotoxin poisoning can result in the victim being fully aware of his surroundings but unable to breathe. Because of the paralysis that occurs they have no way of signaling for help or any way of indicating distress. Respiratory support, together with reassurance, until medical assistance arrives ensures that the victim will generally recover well.
The blue-ringed octopus, despite its small size, carries enough venom to kill 26 adult humans within minutes. Furthermore, their bites are tiny and often painless, with many victims not realizing they have been envenomated until respiratory depression and paralysis start to set in.
