moon jellies

[Gwalker]

Well everyones been asking when are we getting our jelly display going. I don't have the cylinder display set up yet but I do have some moon jellies doing well in the back of the shop and thought you guys might like the pics. These guys are about 3 to 4" across but will get to be about the size of a large dinner plate soon. This group is going to live in the holding tank for a few months and hopefully will seed some polyps in the tank so I can start raising cultures of these jellies in the future. The orange you see in the tissue of the jellies is newly hatched brine shrimp, which is their main diet.

enjoy!

Gary

 

[djc1026]

Very cool.

Dave

 

[captbunzo]

Do you gut load the brine with Cyclopeeze before feeding?

 

[dugg]

Now that is cool. How big of a system do you need to keep jellies? What type of overflow and return do you use? What is the flow rate for the tank?

 

[Gwalker]

Well I feed nauplii, which is newly hatched brine shrimp. If the nauplii is harvested 24hrs after setting the eggs in saltwater, the naups will still have an eggyolk attached for added nutrition. If older than 24hrs you will need to add super selco to add an amino acid nutritional supplement.

As far as how to have a tank to hold jellies, well thats a long decsription. Heres a link that covers most issues....

http://jellieszone.com/captivejellies.htm

Heres a link that explains the propagation process a bit..

http://jellieszone.com/scyphomedusae.htm

I am obtaining some Chrysaora colorata or purple stripe jelly pretty soon, pics listed here... http://jellieszone.com/pelagia.htm
as well as some Chrysaora fuscescens or Pacific sea nettle listed here.... http://jellieszone.com/chrysaora.htm

I will have to get the moons propagating well before obtaining the other species because moons jellies are on their menu. So I will have to have a constant replinshable supply of moons for a food source.

Gary

 

[Donjc]

Thats why cool

 

[Donjc]

Sorry I meant thats way cool

 

[garvondavis14]

that's awesome gary, any updates on how it's going? or a larger pic of your system...I have always wanted to start a jelly tank, but I've gotta wait till i get out and get my own house and some $

 

[Mike.B]

O man, thats cool!

 

[MyMonkey]

Wow, they are growing fast. Just a few weeks ago they were fairly small. Nice pics Gary.

 

[Russ Braaten]

Gary,

Would they glow with different colors if they were put under actinic or blacklights (for a short time)?

Russ

 

[captbunzo]

Yes, they are clear and will take on the colors behind them, etc.

That right, Gary?

 

[kpk]

If anyone hasn't went into Gary's and checked these babies out you need too. They are really cool, and has tons of offspring growing.

 

[Gwalker]

Well all the jellies are doing great, here's some shots with some actinic acsents taken right after they've gorged themselves on some nauplii. If you compare these pics to the ones at the start of the thread you can see how quickly they grow with proper diet and aquarium husbandry. Funny thing happened today. We found some Cassiopea jellies or upside down jellies in my 125 gallon coral display. They are small ephyrae at this point and a little too small to get a good picture. After closer inspection of the live rock in that tank we found numerous Cassiopea polyps. These jellies are very common and very easy to raise. We have been putting left over nauplii in the coral tank since we started raising moons, I thought it would be a nice boost for the corals. Well I belive the Cassiopea polyps have been feeding nicely on the naups and are spreading quickly. They usually don't get going well unless there's a good food source. So while I've been concentrating on raising jellies in the back room, my coral tank has taken off on its own jelly propagation! I will probably set up a rearing tank for the Cassiopeas and use them as a food source for my growing purple stripe jellies.

To check out what Cassiopea ephyrae and medusas look like, check this thread out....

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=855645&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

Enjoy the pics!

 

[captbunzo]

Wow. These are some AMAZING pics.

 

[captbunzo]

A question: What is the food source for Cassiopea jellyfish? And how would these fair in a tank with corals, fish, etc? Could they possibly maintain enough polyps to keep a breeding population going? Would they harm anything?

I think it would be neat to mix these in with a tank, if possible...

 

[Gwalker]

Cassiopea's need to be in a tank of their own. They will get torn up on anything that would be in the tank. They need a good light source for their symbiotic algae. They can be supplimented with nauplii and cyclopees as well.

 

[DizziDezi2]

Gonionemus- Phylum Cnidaria- Class Shcyphozoa-
On my test today.

 

[DizziDezi2]

oops Aurelia not gonio

 

[Gwalker]

Yep, also closely related to the sub species Aurelia aurita labiata.



Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum - Cnidaria
Class - Scyphozoa
Order - Semaeostomeae
Family - Ulmaridae
Genus - Aurelia
species - aurita

Or just moon for short...