anyone sucessfully keep jelly fish?
- Thread starter viodea
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xJake
Active member
I volunteer at the Toledo Zoo, and they keep and breed moon jellies. Feeding is probably the easiest part. All you need to do is squirt some cyclop-eeze or other invertebrate (small particulate) food onto their tentacles every day using a turkey baster or pipette. Breeding is the more difficult part. Jellies don't live for long, and unless you plan on buying new ones every time they die then you need to breed them in yet another tank. Moon jellies require chilled water (55F, I believe), so getting your hands on two "kreisel" tanks and two chillers is going to get expensive. Jay (JHemdal) or Brad (KingDiamond) from the Toledo Zoo might be able to help you out with the exact logistics of their setup. See this article http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/4/lines/ or Jay's book Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques for more info.
Depending on the source of the jellies, you might not need a chiller. For instance, moon jellies in my neck of the Ocean are most abundant during the summer months when water temps are in the high 60's to 70, so a cool basement would work. I've also seen back room (pubic aquaria) rearing set ups that are at room temperature.
xJake
Active member
Here's another article. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/7/aafeature2
I second the recommendation on the book that Gresham mentioned above.
The easiest jellyfish to keep are Cassiopeia sp. They require a set-up/care similar to that of the corals we keep in the hobby, and do not need to be fed as often as many of the others (they have photosymbionts). Any hobbyist that can keep corals successfully could probably have luck with these with the right set-up.
Moons are probably the easiest planktonic jellies to keep. Because they need to be kept suspended in the water column they require a much different set-up than a coral system. People typically provide them with a kreisal, pseudokreisal, tumbler or similar set-up with just the right water flow to keep them suspended without tearing them up. Most people typically provide them with 55 degree water or so as mentioned. The basis of their diet is typically live brine shrimp nauplii, although most will offer other food such as black worms, blood worms, mysis, and krill. Alot of people have stopped feeding cyclops to jellies although certain people still do as part of the diet without any noticeable detrimental effects.
Beyond these two genera you will likely get into more difficult to keep jellies and much harder ones to acquire.
The easiest jellyfish to keep are Cassiopeia sp. They require a set-up/care similar to that of the corals we keep in the hobby, and do not need to be fed as often as many of the others (they have photosymbionts). Any hobbyist that can keep corals successfully could probably have luck with these with the right set-up.
Moons are probably the easiest planktonic jellies to keep. Because they need to be kept suspended in the water column they require a much different set-up than a coral system. People typically provide them with a kreisal, pseudokreisal, tumbler or similar set-up with just the right water flow to keep them suspended without tearing them up. Most people typically provide them with 55 degree water or so as mentioned. The basis of their diet is typically live brine shrimp nauplii, although most will offer other food such as black worms, blood worms, mysis, and krill. Alot of people have stopped feeding cyclops to jellies although certain people still do as part of the diet without any noticeable detrimental effects.
Beyond these two genera you will likely get into more difficult to keep jellies and much harder ones to acquire.
