# Jellyfish tanks



## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

This thread started in the "Freshwater Polyp" thread and since I don't want to hijack the later I'm posting this separate.

About jellyfish... there is a lady in Las Vegas I think that is a marine biologist and is determined to make jellyfish tanks more popular - Moonjellyfish.com .

I talked to her about 1-1/2 years ago and I was impressed by her logical and considerate approach toward popularizing jellyfish tanks. Of course she uses saltwater jellyfish, but only certain kind - one that is suitable for captive life (and are also cold water). I don't remember the exact latin names of the species that she offers but they are on the web site. She breeds the few species of jellyfish that she sells and if I remember correctly she could sell you a jellyfish in any stage of development.

Probably many people know that jellyfish need to be maintained in a constant motion, in a tank that has no dead spots, or tangible suction points. The best tank to provide all that is a specially developed one that is circular tank placed inside a rectangular one - Kreisel tank. The price is about $10K, but the system that Moonjellyfish was developing in early 2003 would sell for about $6K.

At the time I talked to her she was installing jellyfish tanks in casinos, bars, and private homes. She told me that she travels to the cities where her customers are and spends 2-3 weeks with them teaching them how to operate the special tanks and how to keep the jellyfish alive. Her idea is to start the popularization of jellyfish tanks "on the right foot" because as she said having tanks full of dead jellyfish will lead to a general opinion that jellyfish tanks are hard to mantain, ugly, and not worth installing and maintaining.

Another interesting thing that she said is that actually the jellyfish are not hard to keep but there are a few things one needs to know. Brine shrimp (I think) were the food of choice and she said that several jellyfish could clean the tank from the brine shrimp in 10-20 minutes.

Tankmates could be seahorses and small peaceful fish. Decorations are very much out of the question because of the need of free space where the jellyfish must remain in constant motion. Very much the way to make the jellyfish tanks different are the different colors of light - any color one wishes actually - as well as the outside decoration of the tank - examples.

With all these considerations about jellifish keeping jellyfish tanks may seem not that exciting, especially for people with preferences toward freshwater planted tanks. But my observations at the Dallas Aquarium are that the visitors are really drawn to the jellyfish tank and spend a lot of time in front of it. Unfortunatelly during the AGA convention '03 the jellyfish tank at the Dallas Aquarium was not in top shape and the lights were very dim...

The way saltwater jellyfish are kept makes me think that maybe the tiny freshwater jellyfish would need to be maintained in a similar circular tank but a smaller scale one. The single specimen that I saw in one of my tanks was actually moving around by itself with slow pulsating motions. It'd be interesting to experiment with some of these freshwater jellyfish, maybe they could actually be kept in a normal planted tank.

--Nikolay


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## Ghazanfar Ghori (Jan 27, 2004)

Funny you mention this - I'm planning on going collecting this
Sunday to get me some Craspedacusta sowerbyi. From what
I've read of it - it doesn't like too much current at all.


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

Monterey Bay aquarium knows more about raising and breeding Jellyfish and making those tanks than anyone.
I've seen all their set up in detail.
They have a huge HP endowment.

There is a FW jelly that's found in the USA, they get aboput the size of a quarter and last about 2-3 moths i a 10 gal etc tank. They are seasonal and appear in the summer and then are gone for awhile, returning sometimes, sometimes not.

There is only one species of medusae Cnidiarians in the USA. 
A search will pull up a lot.

They would be tough to keep over the long term eve in a special tank.
The SW versions are pretty well known and have a lot of research done on their culture.

MBA has bred every speciesw they have in their systems.
Not bad.

You can still keep the FW in a 10 gal etc. 60$ vs 6000$.
I've seen them once in the wild, in an old rock quarry.

Mark Faulkner with Tenji consulting builds the tanks and also works at MBA as an aquarist, he's also a plantie and SFBAAPs person.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## AndyL (Jun 5, 2004)

Don't suppose anyone might know of a source to obtain some Craspedacusta sowerbii? These guys sound pretty neat, wouldn't mind trying to get my hands on a dozen or so. 

Andy


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## AndyL (Jun 5, 2004)

Well after much searching - nobody is actually selling these guys from what I can see...

http://nsm1.nsm.iup.edu/tpeard/ustates.html

So any body got some diving gear? 

Andy


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

Got to go get them yourself.
They are about quarter size.

I'd love to keep a horde but just don't or have not figured out how. 
Maybe I'll bug Mark and see what he thinks.

We could sell them to folks, not sure they would last more than 2-3 months.
They need planktonic food and seem to be triggered to produce the medusa stage when there are enough critters floating around to activate the polyps to go sexual or perhaps they go sexual due to a decrease in available food. 
Not sure. 
Mark would know better than I.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## AndyL (Jun 5, 2004)

plantbrain said:


> Got to go get them yourself.
> They are about quarter size.
> 
> I'd love to keep a horde but just don't or have not figured out how.
> ...


Unfortunately I'm 100% sure they wouldn't survive in the wild in my neck of the woods - looking at their home ranges, they seem to require much milder temperatures than the mid-arctic region I live in.

Personally, I think they'd be an interesting challenge to keep. Not to mention a gorgeous and shall we say 'different' species tank. Ever seen the SW Jellyfish tanks at the major aquariums?

Filtration is an issue, as apparently even a sponge filter is too much flow for them, but I think after some discussion - there's a solution for that. Take a 6-8" pvc pipe, cut in half, then drill holes (thinking 1/8 - 3/16) to create a grill. Leave the bottom 4-6" free of holes. Install with silicone in a corner. Then add a sponge or corner filter behind. Should provide enough circulation for bio filtration, and keep the jellyfish safe.

Food, Daphnia, green water, BBS and cultured BS (just let them grow out in an aquarium) would be where I started. I'm sure there are a variety of foods these guys could live on.

I think a lowlight (probably mostly actinic lit) tank in the corner of the living room with these guys would be an impressive sight. And not exactly something you'd see anywhere else.

Andy


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