Blue JELLYFISH in my 24 gal Nano

[Irvine Man]

Hey here is my new addition to the 24 gallon, he is sick to watch, very delicate and i dont know how they are in captivity. So yeah nyone with any info/suggestions about what type it is or care for it let me know.
The local fish store had about 5 of them. here is my blue jellyfish

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/77304JellyFish.JPG

[z-r0]

that might be the titest thing ive ever seen

[Irvine Man]

thats what i said, so i got it, haha, and if it works out, im buying mroe cause they looked amazing in a group.

[tjdarla]

I had 2 of them they are very cool. but I had to end up removing everything from my 29 gal just to keep them no fish and no rock put screen around the filters so the dont get sucked in. they lived about 7 months
good luck with him

[Irvine Man]

Yeah he has gotten stuck up by the intake, so i put a rock over it. Do they ever take a break from moving or "pulsating"? Just so i know. any other tips on what they like????? or need???

[tjdarla]

they pulsate all the time I think you should feed zooplankton if i remember right and alot of it with alot of water changes.
go to home depot and get some eggcrate cut it the same size as the back of the tank and set it in about 1" away from the filters so they dont get sucked in.
like I said good luck and let us know how everything goes with him
later Tom

[Meisen]

Hmmm quite a challenge there with that jelly. I have kept a few outside of the home aquarium setting and consulted with many public aquariums that keep them as well. The general consensus is that they are very hard to keep alive for long, especially not knowing the diet/conditions that a particular species favors. As most species are effectively planktonic, they are often found far from where they thrive (ie washed up on beaches, in shallows etc).

here are a few more thoughts anyway since you are asking. I am speaking in general terms as I am not familiar with the species you have there (not a common one that aquariums I have worked with keep).

Most jellies need a lot of food in the form of enriched zooplankton. The tank has to be literally saturated with food as they are passive feeders (they need the food items to bump into their tentacles in order to feed). Lots of cyclopleeze is a good start for most jellies though they may need more than that for long-term survival. Selcon has been used to enrich cyclopleeze by some, with uncertain effects. I have seen seemingly healthy jellies die with full stomaches of cyclopleeze so there may be something missing from the equation.

Jellies are very delicate and a tank with enough flow for tthem invaribly poses a risk with them getting sucked into the intakes (as you have already seen). These injuries are pretty hard on the animals and one or two such impacts on an already stressed animal could be fatal. Most specialists keep them in species tanks called Kreissels which are carefully constructed to move water without presenting any intake hazards. There may be info on RC about them or just do a google search and you will find plans for making a cheap one (the larger commercial units run $10,000s).

I would make sure at least that I isolated the jelly from the rest of the tank inhabitants as their sting can be deadly (or at least annoying) to corals and some fishes.

Jellies need incredible filtration as their food needs are so high. Running a dedicated skimmer or two is recommended. Larger tanks are key here too with most aquariums that are successful keeping tanks in the 1000-5000 gal. TSV range. Obviously not practical for you but maybe a 50 breeder or something?

Well, hope this helps you out a little bit.

[Irvine Man]

ok cool thanks, yeah im gunna see how he does and if things look good then I'll probably make my old freswater tank into a species tank for he and some friends of his.

Also more pics are my the Gallery.

[CodyD]

where'd u get that bad boy?

[Irvine Man]

Fountain Valley, Pacific Reef

[Meisen]

Dang Californians....you guys get first shot at all the cool stuff!! ;)

[Daemonfly]

Can't remember what TV show I saw it on, but someone kept a few jellies in a large outdoor "pool". They target fed them by using a turkey baster and injecting the food directly into the stomach through the "mouth" opening. Don't know exact makeup of the food, but this technique kept them very healthy.

[SHOmuchFUN]

I saw it too!

I forget what it was also, but it was definitely a rescue mission. They did inject the food directly towards the head from the bottom of the jelly.

[Irvine Man]

Well, he made it through the morning. still cruising around.

I'll update when i get home from Golfing today.

[cj_basser]

how much was that lil' beauty?

[Irvine Man]

28 bucks and he is doing ok right now. After reading about him i think a different tank would be best for him. Although no matter what he will end up in a tank, atleast it isnt the 4 inch tank he was in at the store....

[dznuts007]

How's the jellyfish doing?

[doody]

that things gotta face

[Irvine Man]

sorry i didnt post on this forum, u missed the big ethical up roar in the reef disscusion forum, look for it in there, it was very funny what people said.
I took him back three days later and traded him for a devils hand. Some guy picked up the jelly because he bought the other two it was with. supposeadly he had a tank for them.

[Meisen]

Hey that was a smart move......its a bummer sometimes about what we can and can't keep in (most of) our tanks but better to err on the side of caution and not risk losing things....new additions or longterm captives.

[reefing102]

did you get another one?

[Cyclone123]

Dude that is so cool. What do you feed him? Are you moving him into another tank.

[mister crabs]

he took it back....read before you post!

[FishyLover]

How much did ya pay for him?

[FishyLover]

Haha.... n/m. $28? That's way cheap! But I wouldn't even know what to do with it. Don't they kinda have to be in their own tank with only jellyfish?

[dangpride]

smart decision though!

[AngeloM3]

Yah jellyfish are very hard to keep.........

I've heard they have short lifespans too.... like an octopus