Jelly Tank?

[link81]

looking at setting up a new tank at the house, Kid is working on convincing me to get a jelly tank. Does anyone here have any experience with them?
Looking at a tank either from jellyfishart or cubic aquarium systems.
I really like that the cubic ones have external connections, so i can possibly integrate it with my main system to stabilize it out.

Really just looking for opinions/advice/reading material.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I have no personal experience with jellyfish tanks, however:
I know 2 people who were into salt water aquariums before and still have them set up jellyfish tanks and after a year or so tore them down and sold them. Reasons, boring to look at after a while and jellyfish don't live long in tanks.

 

[kjmsmith]

I have 2 blue blubbers in a 8g Starfire tank for 6 months. Knowing now what I didn't know then, I would go tall and cylindrical rather than cube. They are cool to look at but definitely not as interesting as my mixed reef. I set it up so that they have a constant supply of live bbs which is definitely better than the dry food mix which makes a mess of the tank in no time. If you have any questions, happy to share my limited experience.
Kevin

 

[joseserrano]

They will require special food, cold water, clean water, and servicing the tank is quite difficult. If you hit them or bump them, they will tear, they are as soft as wet toilet paper. They also have a 1-2 year life span if I recall.

 

[link81]

@kjmsmith yes, please.....
any issues that you can think of with tying the tank into the main reef?

@joseserrano cold water... interesting. how cold?

 

[hart24601]

I had the cubic 20, it's pretty solid although I don't think they would like being hooked to the main tank due to temp. I just kept mine at room temp and used the connections to a canister filter. I had mine quite a while and the jellies did ok, it's just a lot of work as I found they didn't really do well on commercial food except expensive frozen baby brine shrimp, which left a lot of ugly mess on the bottom compared to fresh hatched, and I got tired of hatching baby brine everyday, but they do work if you are willing to put the time in.

 

[Sallstrom]

@kjmsmith yes, please.....
any issues that you can think of with tying the tank into the main reef?

@joseserrano cold water... interesting. how cold?

If you mean a tropical species, I think many fear the risk of getting jellyfish polyps(their bentic phase) into other tanks makes them prefer not to connect the jellyfish tank to say a reef tank. We (public aquarium) don't have our current jellyfish (Cassiopea spp) connected to our reef tanks, even if the temp etc is the same. Sometimes there are lots of polyps in a jellyfish tank, sometimes not. But I don't want to take the risk getting them into other tanks.

As for temperatur, that depends on the species. Aurelia aurita is common, and prefer temp 12-18 degrees Celcius I think. But there are other ones, like Phyllorhitza punctata, that lives in warmer water (eg you won't need a chiller).

We have had 5-6 species and I can see why people find the jellyfish tanks cool. But it's a lot of work keeping them well fed, getting the flow and water quality good and to clean the tank

 

[ZoWhat]

you trying to get a MIGRAINE? LOL.

one thing I know about kids is when they really want smthg....then they get it....within 2 weeks they're bored with it.

my 12yr old daughter was THRILLED with her new phone. then asked on the 2nd month when Sprint offers a free upgrade.

driving me to drink....

kids under the age of 16, i pray for their generation..... they dart from one immediate gratification to another, at lightspeed. Lord help us all when they hit their career strides





.

 

[link81]

LOL!! No, not even the slightest, but thank you for assuming that you know how i raise my kids. He's 11, just as much into the hobby as I am, and is considering a career in marine biology. The tank would be for the family, but it would be "his" reward for making the honor roll at school at the end of a difficult year for him and I.

But hey, i'm glad you stopped by to impart your vast amount of jellyfish knowledge.

you trying to get a MIGRAINE? LOL.

one thing I know about kids is when they really want smthg....then they get it....within 2 weeks they're bored with it.

my 12yr old daughter was THRILLED with her new phone. then asked on the 2nd month when Sprint offers a free upgrade.

driving me to drink....

kids under the age of 16, i pray for their generation..... they dart from one immediate gratification to another, at lightspeed. Lord help us all when they hit their career strides
.

 

[link81]

Thank you @Sallstrom I was hoping to keep Aurelia aurita but it sounds like i'd need a chiller to get down to that temperature. The other species seem to be much more to get ahold of. the Cassiopea spp are definitely interesting, not what you think of when you think jelly, we saw a whole tank of them at the aquarium when we went a month ago. neat species.

 

[ZoWhat]

oh ok. from what I know from talking to my local Public aquarium caretaker.....

jellyfish have to:

* be in constant motion by a circular gentle water flow

* water flow has to be pumped with zero chance of being sucked into a propeller

* sw has to be ultra clean

* you need a high end chiller to keep sw very cool. cooler than your ambient air in your house

* and after all that, the lifespan in captivity is about 6mos max.

IMO, it's a dumpster fire waiting to happen... but that's just me

 

[hart24601]

oh ok. from what I know from talking to my local Public aquarium caretaker.....

jellyfish have to:

* be in constant motion by a circular gentle water flow

* water flow has to be pumped with zero chance of being sucked into a propeller

* sw has to be ultra clean

* you need a high end chiller to keep sw very cool. cooler than your ambient air in your house

* and after all that, the lifespan in captivity is about 6mos max.

IMO, it's a dumpster fire waiting to happen... but that's just me

The new tanks out now can keep moon jellyfish pretty well, and I know a few people that kept them alive over a year. Mine were about that old when I sold the tank. It's really about hatching live food every day that is exhausting for what I kept or if feeding frozen removing the uneaten food or water quality takes a dive.

 

[link81]

I was actually looking into doing it for my main tank as well, so it wouldn't be any more work.
I wonder if i could feed them grindal worms.... i'm already cultivating them, and they're about the same size as bbs.

The new tanks out now can keep moon jellyfish pretty well, and I know a few people that kept them alive over a year. Mine were about that old when I sold the tank. It's really about hatching live food every day that is exhausting for what I kept or if feeding frozen removing the uneaten food or water quality takes a dive.

 

[Sallstrom]

Thank you @Sallstrom I was hoping to keep Aurelia aurita but it sounds like i'd need a chiller to get down to that temperature. The other species seem to be much more to get ahold of. the Cassiopea spp are definitely interesting, not what you think of when you think jelly, we saw a whole tank of them at the aquarium when we went a month ago. neat species.

I think there might be an Aurelia moon jelly that lives in water water too. Might be a Pacific species, but I don't remember for sure.

I understand, Cassiopea isn't the typical jellyfish tank jellyfish. But they are super easy to care for and breed(about the same level as Aiptasia), so if you just need a cool jellyfish I recommend those

If you really get into jellyfish I think you should breed them. Many of them are quite easy to breed. Talk to a public aquarium and ask if you could get some polyps. They're often very hardy and can the live for many years.
From there you can try different ways to get them to release ephyra, the first jellyfish stage.
The reason why I recommend breeding them is that jellyfish are like some corals, sometimes they just give up. They even can dissolve over night. So instead of buying expensive adult jellyfish, try raise them yourself.

Okey, easiest might be to collect them yourself But then you need to live close to the sea..

About flow and specially made tanks, there are species that don't need that much special flow and swim pretty well. I don't have the names in my head but I can check with my colleagues tomorrow.

Often live newly hatched artemia are used as food for jellyfish. But I have read a fun article where they tested lots of different foods for jellyfish. Peanut butter gave the best growth in that experiment if I remember correctly
So I don't think they are that picky, but then you also have to think of the water quality.

 

[ReeferReefer]

you trying to get a MIGRAINE? LOL.

one thing I know about kids is when they really want smthg....then they get it....within 2 weeks they're bored with it.

my 12yr old daughter was THRILLED with her new phone. then asked on the 2nd month when Sprint offers a free upgrade.

driving me to drink....

kids under the age of 16, i pray for their generation..... they dart from one immediate gratification to another, at lightspeed. Lord help us all when they hit their career strides





.

They said the same thing about millennials but plenty of us have careers. Hard to keep a reef tank without one lol.

 

[kjmsmith]

@kjmsmith yes, please.....
any issues that you can think of with tying the tank into the main reef?

Other than what was mentioned on here about temp and possible cross contamination between the 2 tanks, no real issues. I am away from home this week but can send you a pic of my basic setup when I get home. For food I use a Tom’s Hatch n Feed that sits right inside the tank and provides a continuous supply of fresh artemia. Of my 2, one has grown very well while the other has remained small. Hard to tell of their health by way of food consumption as eating is more passive (they come in contact with food) rather than active (a fish pursues food), but I must be doing something right that they are 9 months old as LFS got them last October and I’ve had them since December. I understand one year max for the blue blubbers so we’ll see...

 

[link81]

@kjmsmith definitely send a pic when you get a chance. Seeing a working setup would be very helpful.

 

[kjmsmith]

@link81 I’m so sorry this has taken so long. After getting home from being away I had a number of things to take care of and completely forgot to send you some images. I have uploaded a short video of my setup in the Media section of this site but I’m not sure how to link it to this post. Let me know if you cant find it and I’ll upload it to Youtube or something. In the video you will see how I have the Tom’s Hatch n Feed in the tank to supply an endless source of fresh artemia. I do a 75% H2O change every week and thats about it. Let me know if you have any questions and again I’m sorry to have forgotten.

 

[link81]

that is wicked cool.
the sand doesn't bother them at all?
how do you have the flow set up?

so many questions.....

 

[kjmsmith]

Here are a few more pics of the return from the reservoir. We had to play with the return nozzle to get the best angle that creates a circular flow - something that is probably more natural in a proper cylindrical tank than a rectangular lol. As for substrate we did start with smooth clear glass beads but found these dirtied very quickly and didn't give the cuc much opportunity to sift and get at debris. The substrate we use now is small smooth and rounded - not sure of brand or type as my lfs just gave me a partial bag but can find out what it is if you like. You can’t use a course sand or rock as it may tear the jelly but the stuff I have seems perfectly fine.