Anyone keeping jellyfish?

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CrustaceaCurtis

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Feb 17, 2012
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My local harbor has been swarming with a variety of jellies as of late and I'd love to get an aquarium running for jellies.

Has anyone kept them? I know they require special tank.
 

nerdyrcdriver

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Sep 1, 2011
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That would be cool, but I sure wouldnt do it, in fear of getting stung while cleaning it.

But I imagine you cant have the water flow set too high or they will get pushed around. I dont know if ones that you would be able to keep are strong enough to keep away from filters or not.
 

TL1000RSquid

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Apr 6, 2011
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Extremely sensitive to the slightest shift in water parameters, tank has to be round or atleast rounded corners. I'd imagine ones you'd find near Boston would require a chiller too.

I had some sort of jelly hitchhiker once dunno what species it was, it was small 3" across, either died or got eaten after a day or so.
 

dbosman

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Dec 5, 2010
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"the" book is How to Keep Jellyfish in Aquariums: An Introductory Guide for Maintaining Healthy Jellies [
by Chad L. Widmer

  • Paperback: 212 pages
  • Publisher: Wheatmark (July 16, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 160494126X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1604941265
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces

Keeping Jellies seems to be a matter of keeping food cultures alive.
The book is a fairly fast read, if you aren't reading the culturing articles for use.
 

snapshooterr

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Feb 9, 2010
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I've kept them in the past and am just in the process of setting up a new DIY jellyfish tank. The first thing you should do is find out what type of jellyfish you're dealing with. Some are more suitable to aquarium life than others. Most have a very mild sting or none at all (to us anyway). Some are quite literally... deadly. However, the chance of finding 'deadly' jellyfish around Boston is slim. Chances are highly likely that they are moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) which are relatively harmless to people (who do not have allergies to their stings). All a person might feel after being stung by Aurelia aurita would be a mild irritation if any at all. The only time I've felt anything while handling Aurelia aurita is if the tentacles come in contact with an open cut or sore (not fun). And, they are the most commonly kept (and bred) jellyfish in aquariums. I've kept them and I know of a number of people who have had them in aquariums.

They are not that all that difficult to keep in captivity. Provided that you have a properly set-up aquarium (Google "kreisel aquarium jellyfish" & you'll find plenty of info) and are committed to doing a few minutes of work EVERYDAY. And yes, any jellyfish that you find around Boston will require a chiller. There are no short-cuts there. That's why I spend a good deal of effort hunting around suppliers that are in the tropics and shipping them up here to Canada.

Widmer's book is an excellent resource for anyone thinking of starting to keep jellyfish.

I made a quick video the other day of a water flow test I did when I got confirmation that my jellyfish were being shipped. The test is done with Kleenex as soaked Kleenex is moved around by the flow in the tank in a very similar manner as a jellyfish.

I'm going to make another video of how the tank is put together and how it works once I've got the jellyfish in it. And, another one of the jellyfish.\\

Cheers,
Chris

[video=youtube;lfKUPFVOch4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfKUPFVOch4[/video]
 

snapshooterr

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user_name

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May 23, 2010
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I don't keep any, but there's a ton in Salem Harbor again this year.
 
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