LiveAquaria Orbi Jellyfish Tank

[Sharkbait19]

So I suppose it was the time of year for me to make a stupid impulse buy. For a long time I’ve always wanted to do a proper jellyfish setup. During the summertime small jellies are found throughout the bay by me, so all I needed was a proper tank. The only issue is that correct setups seem to be crazy expensive. Then I came across LiveAquaria’s Orbi aquarium, a 4-gallon all-in-one system, very similar in appearance to the more popular Jellyfish Orbit 20 system.

What I found immediately strange was how there are hardly any videos, forums, or really anything about these tanks on the internet, outside of the limited information on LiveAquaria’s website. Although I was definitely skeptical of the quality, given that they were on sale for only $99, I’d say it was worth a shot.
The tank arrived about three weeks ago and I’ve been cycling it since. It seems to run pretty well considering the price. I was worried it’d be a cheap knockoff of some of the more common brands, but the lighting, filtration, and media all seem up to par with what I’d expect from a jellyfish tank.
I plan on collecting the jellies over the next few days. I would’ve done so sooner but hurricane erin messed with the currents and so there haven’t been many jellies by me until very recently. Usually they’re most abundant from mid August to early September, and thankfully they’ve finally started popping up some more. And while moon jellies are the more ideal ones for me, it seems that their season by me is largely over and instead it’s mostly bay nettles, which I’ve done research on and found that their care requirements are largely the same.
I’ll be sure to post updates when the jellyfish are added, and I’ll see whether the LiveAquaria tank truly makes for a good budget build. I’m definitely excited to try this out!

 

[jimk60]

Looks like a cool project! I too see them by the thousands in the Chesapeake Bay. What do you plan to feed them?

 

[Üter]

$99 is very inexpensive for one. most are several hundreds of dollars. can't wait to see how you do. how are you planning to keep the water cool? 65-75F is optimal for most.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Looks like a cool project! I too see them by the thousands in the Chesapeake Bay. What do you plan to feed them?

I plan on feeding live baby brine shrimp as well as the jellyfish art food. I’ve also heard that reef roids, which I already have, can potentially make decent food, but I’d rather stick to a more jellyfish-specific diet

 

[Sharkbait19]

$99 is very inexpensive for one. most are several hundreds of dollars. can't wait to see how you do. how are you planning to keep the water cool? 65-75F is optimal for most.

Most tanks that I keep without a heater sit around 72F, but if I feel that the water should be cooler, the liveaquaria tank thankfully has the option to add a chiller accessory.
The low price definitely surprised me too. I’m shocked that I hadn’t heard of these tanks before, as so far it seems to be a really good low-price alternative.

 

[jimk60]

$99 is very inexpensive for one. most are several hundreds of dollars. can't wait to see how you do. how are you planning to keep the water cool? 65-75F is optimal for most.

The jellys he's planning on collecting regularly live in 80 to 85 degree water. At least in the Chesapeake.

 

[Üter]

Most tanks that I keep without a heater sit around 72F, but if I feel that the water should be cooler, the liveaquaria tank thankfully has the option to add a chiller accessory.

Petco also sells moon jellies if you want to order. I think life cycles though are only 6 months or so. they also sell Violets but not sure how big a tank you need for those. good luck.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Petco also sells moon jellies if you want to order. I think life cycles though are only 6 months or so. they also sell Violets but not sure how big a tank you need for those. good luck.

Interesting! That must be recent because I don’t think I’ve seen those on their website before

 

[Üter]

Interesting! That must be recent because I don’t think I’ve seen those on their website before

they even have the tanks online.

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/default-product-name-4626879

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/default-product-name-4626908
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...tre-tmc-kreisel-for-aquatics-10-liter-4607563

 

[Sharkbait19]

Added the jellies! While I aim for only about three, I got more than I needed, accounting for potential poor adjustments to acclimation and die-off. I also added two ctenophores in there. Unfortunately the jellies thought they would make pretty good snacks- something I figured as a possibility. I read mixed things on putting jellyfish with ctenophores, seeing that they have similar requirements but ctenophores don’t have any major defenses against stinging cells.
They appear to be bay nettle jellies, though one of the smaller ones might actually be a moon jellyfish.
Seeing the jellies in the tank, I would say that the flow is a bit stronger than I’d expect, and while the output is adjustable, the pump gets much louder the more you tighten the output. The flow is definitely calm enough for the jellyfish to control their movement though.

 

[tbrown]

One of my LFS has some of these tanks for sale and they frequently sell jellies as well. The tanks are significantly higher in price than on LA. I've considered a LA tank as well.

 

[petcellar]

This is something that I have been very interested in but really didnt know much about.

Following along!

 

[Nano_Man]

Following along always fancied keeping the jelly fish .

 

[smitten with ocean life]

this is amazing! i might have to dabble in this too. (checks wallet) keep us updated! so beautiful!

 

[twentyleagues]

Can you get a video? That looks really cool!

 

[Carson.moran]

Would you please show pictures of the inlet and outlet, do you know what size the fittings are? I’m wondering if I can plumb one into my puget sound biotope? Thanks for sharing, I’m hoping I can make this work!

 

[Sharkbait19]

Can you get a video? That looks really cool!

Sure! Here’s a couple videos under different lightings:

 

[Sharkbait19]

Can you get a video? That looks really cool!

Sure! Here’s a couple videos under different lightings:

 

[Sharkbait19]

Would you please show pictures of the inlet and outlet, do you know what size the fittings are? I’m wondering if I can plumb one into my puget sound biotope? Thanks for sharing, I’m hoping I can make this work!

Sure, here’s a picture of the intake (the holes at the bottom), and the output (black bar on the top) - I’m not entirely sure what the fitting size is as the tank curiously didn’t come with any instructions or parts list. The pump itself is a small 74 gph pump and the tube looks to be about 20 mm in diameter.

 

[Carson.moran]

Sure, here’s a picture of the intake (the holes at the bottom), and the output (black bar on the top) - I’m not entirely sure what the fitting size is as the tank curiously didn’t come with any instructions or parts list. The pump itself is a small 74 gph pump and the tube looks to be about 20 mm in diameter.

Awesome, I’m going to give one a go! I’ll see if I can contribute any more info when I get my hands on one…