Any experience with Jellyfish?

[newbysalt]

Hey all,

I have always found jellyfish to be quite fasinating and each visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium seems to increase that interest. recently I saw an advertisement and a web site offering jellyfish systems, called the Jelliquarium www.jelliquarium.com and tank raised Moon jellyfish.

Has anyone set up one of these systems yet ? They look attractive and seem to have all the right items included.

How easy is it to take care of the tank and its inhabitants ?

Any thoughts ?

 

[M68]

Here's a good read. One thing that I don't think they mention is that moon jellyfish need temperatures between 55 to 65.

 

[iCam]

I haven't seen any hobbyists really keeping them. It's mostly city aquariums, businesses, or labs. Kreisel tanks are costly, as the site you presented suggests, and it can be quite arduous to keep them, having to provide live food everyday, and run a chiller.

There are other jellyfish that some hobbyists keep, but they're not really your "typical" jellyfish (swim upside down on the substrate mostly).

I remember seeing a thread with a photo of a mangrove style tank that had jellyfish, although I don't rememebr what kind. I don't remember if it was a hobbyist tank or not, since it was an older thread.

And by the way:

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

 

[newbysalt]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6607439#post6607439 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nihonjin_anemone
I haven't seen any hobbyists really keeping them. It's mostly city aquariums, businesses, or labs. Kreisel tanks are costly, as the site you presented suggests, and it can be quite arduous to keep them, having to provide live food everyday, and run a chiller.

Thanks for the reply.

I agree that the initial cost may be high, but if you analyze the initial cost outlay for a nicely equipped and well stocked reef, I think the cost of a reef is substantially more. But I think it's a moot point nevertheless, because the two displays are quite different from one another. A reef is very beautiful in it's own right, there's no denying that. But a display of a jellyfish or several jellyfish in a darkened room is quite breathtaking as well. It would be like trying to compare the merrits of a pick-up truck to those of a motorcycle. Both are wonderful machines, but each has a different purpose.

As far as your point of being "quite arduous to keep", I always thought a full reef could be considered quite arduous as well. I have read some things on this forum that would frighten a plumber or electrician into a new line of work!

Also, the folks who are keeping reefs (and there seems to be one or two here) are feeding the organisms live food also, no? And they are running a chiller to keep the water temperature within a certain parameter too. Aren't they?

The big difference, I see between a jelly tank and a reef containing photosynthetic animals, is the jelly tank doesn't require copious amounts of precise spectrum lighting. So in my mind, a jelly tank could very well be less expensive over a given time period of say, 5 years. Less or equal initial cost, less cost to stock, less energy cost, less equipment to maintain and replace, etc.

I only make the comparison to a reef tank as a point of reference.
Please help me understand what I'm missing.

Regards,
Robert

 

[bertoni]

You would probably want to find some tropical jellyfish, since chillers are exorbitantly expensive to run, from what I can tel. Perhaps some Cassiopeia would work. A search should turn up some information. I don't really know much about jellyfish.

 

[romunov]

Or some freshwater jellies.