Anyone keeping jellyfish?

[Shadowbass]

Does anyone on here keep jellyfish and if so share it! Upside downs, moons, sea nettpes im just curious if theyre all that popular (expensive kreisel tank aside)

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I kept them for a bit. A strict maintenance schedule (no missing a day here or there) is absolutely critical for a jellyfish tank. At least that was my experience. I kept moon jellies.

 

[dreamsr]

I kept them for a bit. A strict maintenance schedule (no missing a day here or there) is absolutely critical for a jellyfish tank. At least that was my experience. I kept moon jellies.

Did you have them in a special, rounded Kreisel (a German word for circular) tank, or with other creatures? I’d love to have some, but not just a column with a few jellies. I’m thinking soft coral, anemones, brine shrimp & probably a couple snails to clean up after them, in a 50 gal tank. Does that make sense?

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Did you have them in a special, rounded Kreisel (a German word for circular) tank, or with other creatures? I’d love to have some, but not just a column with a few jellies. I’m thinking soft coral, anemones, brine shrimp & probably a couple snails to clean up after them, in a 50 gal tank. Does that make sense?

Mine was a special made circular tank. My understanding is that they don't do well in a regular tank

 

[dreamsr]

Mine was a special made circular tank. My understanding is that they don't do well in a regular tank

I’ve seen the explanations given by a couple of the companies that make those tanks. It’s hard to know where the line between sound information and advertising lies. I did see in another r2r thread that an experienced reefer who had considered getting one for his wife decided not to, because he thought it was a slick gimmick. Did you think that that kind of tank made a difference?

 

[Rispa]

If you want to go cheaper tank wise you could try a hex

 

[Carterfish]

Did you have them in a special, rounded Kreisel (a German word for circular) tank, or with other creatures? I’d love to have some, but not just a column with a few jellies. I’m thinking soft coral, anemones, brine shrimp & probably a couple snails to clean up after them, in a 50 gal tank. Does that make sense?

I️ would advice not to put a jelly in a reef tank. I’ve never seen or heard this done but my knowledge is that they generally just go in the direction of the flow so in a reef tank they could end up not circulating enough and die. Jelly tanks are made circular for a reason. Jellies should also on be held in specific species only tanks.

 

[Rispa]

I️ would advice not to put a jelly in a reef tank. I’ve never seen or heard this done but my knowledge is that they generally just go in the direction of the flow so in a reef tank they could end up not circulating enough and die. Jelly tanks are made circular for a reason. Jellies should also on be held in specific species only tanks.

Oh if you want to do a mix with a jelly without mixing you could do a shallow square tank with a cylindrical/hex jelly tank that sits in the middle. If you drill the jelly tank in the middle and have rock work going up the side from the shallow surrounding tank you could hide equipment.

 

[Sallstrom]

We've kept a couple of jellyfish species at work, nowadays only Cassiopea sp(upside down) because of time limitations.
It's my colleague who did most of the work with them, but we work a lot together(small public aquarium) so I think I've pick up some husbandry knowledge as well :)

Among public aquariums the jellyfish tanks seems to be popular, but I also know some who stopped because of the work and time it requires. We for example had 3 or 4 species going at the same time at one moment, and that was a lot of work(even if they weren't very large or super clean tanks).

All tanks I've seen is jellyfish only(no rock, no other animals etc). Except for Cassiopea sp of course, they can survive and thrive in a low flow tank with corals and fish(we have a tank like that now).
Another thing is most of the public aquariums I know of who keeps jellyfish either breed them or are located next to the ocean and collects. Jellyfish don't live that long(maybe around one year if they are in a large tank and are healthy). So that's why many are breeding them and replacing the ones in the display now and then.

I haven't seen many hobbyists that keeps jellyfish. I think it's because it takes a lot of work to keep the jellyfish healthy(hatching artemia, breeding rotifers etc) and to keep the tank and water in good condition.
The jellyfish can die and disappear in a day if they are unhappy, they can get misshaped if they get the wrong food or flow, and so on. It takes some reading and good husbandry to get a good looking jellyqarium :)

There is a great book I recommend if you are interested in keeping jellyfish. Check out "How to keep Jellyfish in aquariums " by Chad L Widmer.

/ David

 

[dreamsr]

We've kept a couple of jellyfish species at work, nowadays only Cassiopea sp(upside down) because of time limitations.
It's my colleague who did most of the work with them, but we work a lot together(small public aquarium) so I think I've pick up some husbandry knowledge as well :)

Among public aquariums the jellyfish tanks seems to be popular, but I also know some who stopped because of the work and time it requires. We for example had 3 or 4 species going at the same time at one moment, and that was a lot of work(even if they weren't very large or super clean tanks).

All tanks I've seen is jellyfish only(no rock, no other animals etc). Except for Cassiopea sp of course, they can survive and thrive in a low flow tank with corals and fish(we have a tank like that now).
Another thing is most of the public aquariums I know of who keeps jellyfish either breed them or are located next to the ocean and collects. Jellyfish don't live that long(maybe around one year if they are in a large tank and are healthy). So that's why many are breeding them and replacing the ones in the display now and then.

I haven't seen many hobbyists that keeps jellyfish. I think it's because it takes a lot of work to keep the jellyfish healthy(hatching artemia, breeding rotifers etc) and to keep the tank and water in good condition.
The jellyfish can die and disappear in a day if they are unhappy, they can get misshaped if they get the wrong food or flow, and so on. It takes some reading and good husbandry to get a good looking jellyqarium :)

There is a great book I recommend if you are interested in keeping jellyfish. Check out "How to keep Jellyfish in aquariums " by Chad L Widmer.

/ David

I will check out that book, thanks! I’m also on the lookout for info on tumbler currents, as used in these tanks.
https://www.moonjellyfish.com/pages/jellyfish-faq#tumblertank
https://moonjellyfishblog.com/2016/03/22/these-jellyfish-are-just-clowning-around-in-their-pjs/

Jellyfish would be the pinnacle for me. After a year of their finicky care, I might not even want to replace them when they go. For now, I’m collecting information on them. I will use that to guide me in setting up my tank and selecting neighbors. If I can get it stabilized at jelly conditions, and have the right kind of current going, then I’ll take the step for jellies. That will probably be a couple years from now. For the time being, keeping their parameters in mind is a way to narrow my choices and have a goal.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I’ve seen the explanations given by a couple of the companies that make those tanks. It’s hard to know where the line between sound information and advertising lies. I did see in another r2r thread that an experienced reefer who had considered getting one for his wife decided not to, because he thought it was a slick gimmick. Did you think that that kind of tank made a difference?

The tank definitely worked as advertised, and the rationale given for it made perfect sense to me. The flow in the tank was circular and the design was such that there weren't any places where a jelly could get stuck.

 

[SnakeCharmer]

I keep a small 6 gallon cylindrical tank with some Moons. I change about 80% of the water weekly. They live 12-14 months if cared for properly. I cannot stress how hardy they are. They are tolerant of a wide range of temps and waste levels and they readily reproduce. The adults will eat the babies so they must be kept apart. They are extremely fragile though. I have damaged them several times over the past year while I was doing the weekly service. They almost always heal up rapidly if they were healthy before but it does shorten their life span. They are simple yet fascinating creatures that haven't changed since before the age of dinosaurs. I'd call that perfection!

 

[Rispa]

I keep a small 6 gallon cylindrical tank with some Moons. I change about 80% of the water weekly. They live 12-14 months if cared for properly. I cannot stress how hardy they are. They are tolerant of a wide range of temps and waste levels and they readily reproduce. The adults will eat the babies so they must be kept apart. They are extremely fragile though. I have damaged them several times over the past year while I was doing the weekly service. They almost always heal up rapidly if they were healthy before but it does shorten their life span. They are simple yet fascinating creatures that haven't changed since before the age of dinosaurs. I'd call that perfection!

I wonder what mechanism causes healing from damage to shorten grout lifespan. Also does the severity of the injury make a difference in how much shorter the lifespan is?

 

[SnakeCharmer]

I wonder what mechanism causes healing from damage to shorten grout lifespan. Also does the severity of the injury make a difference in how much shorter the lifespan is?

Starvation. The jelly do not feed while it is healing and all though they do heal rapidly, they are smaller than before once healed and I have yet to see one regain its prior size afterward.