Moving The Blog!!!

Hello!!!!'
Please visit: jellykeeping.wordpress.com The blog has been moved and now has 2 editors!!!

We plan to promote the new blog with advertising, and give it its own domain name!!!!

EDIT

On second though... I may still update this blog!

Little Update

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Hello!

I'm just making a quick update! The tank is cycling. I will be cycling through next week. I'm keeping the tank at 82°F to raise the metabolism of the bacteria colonies and help them reproduce more quickly. Next week, I will be done cycling. The week after, I will slowly lower the temperature down to 63°F, and when I'm there, I'll be able to buy three 2" moon jellies!

I'll keep you posted!!!

Schedule!!!

Check out my blog for future updates:

Late April - Early May: I plan to have my chiller!
Late June - early July: I plan to have three moon jellies!

Next year: A Spotted Lagoon and Upside Down Jellyfish tank.

Keep checking in to see my progress!

I have just bought the chiller. I'm a little ahead of schedule!
It's a JBJ Arctica Titanium 1/10 horsepower Chiller

500 visitors so far!!!

If I am able to allow my moon jellies to thrive, I will build a sea nettle tank. It will probably not be too large (maybe 45 gallons at most). I believe that jellyfishart.com would be able to supply me with some pacific sea nettles, but I much prefer the atlantic sea nettles (chrysaora quinquecirrah). I love how they are white with subtile brown stripes. I haven't made up my mind, and plus this is far into the future. Who knows if my moon jellies will be successful. I am also thinking that the tank will possibly be made completely out of acrylic by an aquarium manufacturer. However, I will probably end up making it with a glass tank.

I plan on getting my moon jellies very soon!!!

"Slight" change in plans

I have decided to do cold water moons instead of warm water moons. The reason being that warm water makes jellies grow at a much quicker rate, however I suspect it will shorten their lifespan and possibly make them more susceptible to disease. By the end of April, I should have the money to buy myself a small chiller. I am planning on getting the JBJ Mini-Arcticta Chiller. This chiller is discontinued and was $400 when it was for sale. I have found someone selling surplus for $300. I'm going to connect it to the plumbing in my tank, and then have it return water to the pump chamber in the tank. I have decided not to do the refugium in my tank and just make that compartment a "reservoir" for the heater and any other additional things that I want to add to the tank. I returned the light and mud for the refugium, and now I have $100 more for the chiller

Because the chiller is rated for up to 40 gallons, I can add another 25 gallons onto it. That means I will probably be adding a 24" x 24" x 8" tank to the system in the future to hold larger jellies. (considering i am successful with the tank I have now)

Also, Sunset Marine Labs sells coldwater moons (3"-4") for $30 a piece. If I am not able to obtain some jellies from the public aquarium, I will definitely go with these.

If you are not planning on keeping strong life support systems and being very serious with this hobby, you should go with warm water moons in a cheap jellyfishart tank. You'll spend a fraction of the money and time, even if it means replacing lost jellies a few times.

Since I'm not doing the refugium, the jellyfish tankmates article will have to wait a little longer than expected. I need to get some Cassiopeia, Catostylus, or Mastigia jellies to do some experimenting with.

Setting Up the Tank Again!!!

Hello!!!
So I've decided to set up my tank again. This time it will not be used for breeding though. I'll keep grown jellies in it.

So far, I've spray painted the whole thing black so it will be better as a display.

The pseudo-kreisel will be used for moon jellies. I'm going to get a Multi-Color E27 LED Light Bulb with Remote to put in the goose neck lamp above the tank.

Then, what used to be my polyp chamber will become a refugium. I've already got a T5 fixture for the refugium. It has two 10,000K daylight bulbs in it for now. Do you think I should put an actinic bulb in there?

I will keep a few macroalgaes, a snail or two, and some small upside down jellies in it. I will start off with the macroalgaes while the tank is cycling and maybe a piece of live rock. Then I will add some hermits and snails to make sure the tank can hold animals without killing them.
Then I'm going to get two upside down jellies to make sure the bio-filter is jelly safe.

Later, in a month or two, I'll add one moon jelly to make sure the pseudo-kreisel is moon jelly safe. Then if he does fine, I'll add two more.

Here are some pictures of the tank all painted up!

Front of the Tank

Filter Side

Refugium Side

And I know I was promising an article on Jellyfish Tankmates, I've just got to get a little more experience so I have no false info. Hang in there!

I regret building my own jellyfish aquarium. I do not yet know if it will work, but the siliconed edges aren't as nice as I would like them. If I could go back, I would have bought the P-E combo system from Jelliquarium.com as a starter tank. I spent about the same amount on my tank that I would have on the P-E combo tank, or maybe a little less. It's better to start off with a perfect tank, so you don't end up disapointed with the flaws in your DIY tank.

New System

Here's my new system. It's the most basic thing I could think of.

The light helps me see the polyps and ephyra better.

There is a jar with slow moving bubbles for the ephyra and a dish with a slow bubbler for the polyps

The ephyra jar with frozen rotifers in it. There are three epyhra in it.

The polyp dish has an acrylic slide that I scratched up with sandpaper so that they could attach better.

I'll be upgrading this with glass petri dishes and v-shaped beakers as soon as I order them.

Doing things right.

I've decided to keep my jellies the right way. For almost a year (or around six months) I've been failing at keeping the ephyra alive. It's because I'm trying to keep them my way. Clearly my way doesn't work. I'm going to have a chat with Jellyfishart.com so they can give me some tips (Thanks Alex!). I'm going find a method of raising jellies that works! So stay tuned. Soon, I'll have a system that works and perhaps some of you may try also.
And I'm losing my polyps for some reason.
There is a thick brown algae growing around them and they are disappearing.
I hope I can pick up this slack!