JellyFish

[exile415]

I went to my LFS today and they were selling JELLYFISH. They always come up with one way to attract people ! heh. I was wondering if there even safe for SW. I mean there the size of a lil bottle cap. Just wondering. seems cool and not that high of a price either.

 

[greatfullreefer]

Will not work in a reef tank as there is way too much flow. They need a round tank as they dont do so well in corners. Without plenty of research of their specific needs then i would advise against getting one. They are cool to watch though

 

[darknes]

The water also has to be at pristine conditions. Since they are almost completely composed of water, any slight changes will kill them.
They are best left to experts, IMO.

 

[ophiura]

It is always sad to see them for sale. Most are doomed to be short lived. The only one's that stand some chance would be the upside down jellies that don't really swim. But those that do get beaten and torn up unless in very specially constructed circular tanks that have a specialized flow in them. Do not buy them!

 

[knots]

Originally Posted by ophiura
It is always sad to see them for sale. Most are doomed to be short lived. The only one's that stand some chance would be the upside down jellies that don't really swim. But those that do get beaten and torn up unless in very specially constructed circular tanks that have a specialized flow in them. Do not buy them!

ophiura, I have a circular tank and was wondering what type of flow they need. It's a 35 gal. and about 28" deep. I have thought about jellies but have not researched them. What else can you say about them? Can they be with other fish or inverts? Or is it just a real bad idea? Thanks for any info.

 

[ophiura]

By circular I mean a a very specific type of tank called a Kreisel tank (google search time !) with a specialized laminar flow. They must be kept in a species tank. No other animals, no sand, no rocks...no corners. Not something that can generally be done in a standard tank found at home

 

[malounsbury]

Yah, when I worked at the aquarium here, after the seahorses went away they thought about bringing back the jellies but I think the final answer was no because of all the specialized equipment and all they would need to bring in for them, and they were in the middle of the big expansion which was tying up a lot of their money also.

 

[knots]

Thanks for the info ophiura. I researched and you are right again. There are plenty of other fish in the sea, so I'll pass on the jellies. I'll just have to get to Monterey more often.

 

[ophiura]

Also I'll throw in that while cool to look at in an exhibit at an aquarium, they are a pain in the rear to care for, IME. I was siphoning goop out with just airline tubing...and you would still catch a piece of one. Once they get a bit torn up they are no longer so pretty and there is more than a bit of guilt involved.

 

[snipe]

They are neat looking but can you imagen trying to put your hand in the tank with something floating at the top of the water just waiting to sting something lol.

 

[harlequin]

The only thing I can say about keeping them is at least it gets them out of the ocean so please have fun. With the huge decline in sea turtles, specifically leatherbacks, jelly fish are going crazy reproducing. And yes, the loss of leatherbacks is that bad and thats just one of the repercussions scientists are noting. We could easily take the same amount of jellyfish that fish are taken for the aquarium trade and Asian pirate fisheries and still not make a dent in the current jellyfish populations.
I made a half hearted attempt just to keep Ctenophores in one of my tanks since they are so common around here. What I learned just from that attempt broke any idea I had of ever keeping them again. Filtration and flow are just plain silly to the point I quit trying to figure it out, cant do overflows, cant have powerheads. The only thing I can think of that might could work is a low powered UGF and then you have water quality issues.
On another note I saw a tank of a guy in Augusta GA, who had a thriving population of micro jellyfish in his refugium. He didnt know how they got there and every now and then one would get sucked into the main tank and his flame angel would munch it down immediatly. Kind of odd.