Upside Down Jellyfish at LFS??????

[Tybond]

I saw a jelly fish today at one of my LFS'S and am curious. Can a jellyfish survive in a captive setting??
It was neat, about the size of a half dollar.

Of course it was hanging out in a tank with about 20 various Nudi's, a sea apple, 12 flame scallops, 7 cleaner wrasses, 8 mandarins, a few Gonioporas and a banded shark egg that was suction cupped to the glass so I really have faith its a sure thing when I ask

ty

 

[DRT]

The only jelly fish I've ever seen in a captive setting was at the Monterey Aquarium. I don't think they would do well in a reef as they really need to move around and would probably get sucked into a PH or overflow. I do remember seeing Jelly fish upside down when snorkling in the Keys, this was in a small lagoon and the bottom was blanketed with thousands of 4" jelly fish. I wouldn't buy this, it only encourages more dumb & futile imports.

 

[esmithiii]

They have a tank full in the aquarium in Gatlinburg, but it is a HUGE tank (couple thousand gal+) with very specific requirements on lighting, temp and water flow.

E

 

[danmhippo]

Well, upside down jelly fish that I used to have is brown-tan color. Biggest mine ever grow is about a dime size. I used to have hundreds, if not thousands of these and take many many many to the LFS on weekly basis.

Where did they come from? I don't know, most likely hitchhiked from shipments of caulerpa rocks. Because I was ordering caulerpa to grow them in M-Mud. And a week later found these creatues swimming about my M-Mud sump. Pretty soon, they reproduced. Funny thing is I have never observe their reproduction. My tank temp at then was 80F, high NO3 (50) and Moderate PO4 (2). Many jellyfish finds its way back to the main tank, and was test tasted by wrass, puffer, and trigger.......Soon everyone learned not to touch those stuff.

When I start seeing its number diminishing was when the Mud nutrient getting depleted, and toward their recommended "1/3 replacement time". Caulerpa, for some reason unkonw has stopped growing, and some has gone sexual and died. It's about that time I see the jelly fish number diminishing and one day couldn't be found no more.

 

[MattM]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Tybond:
<strong>Of course it was hanging out in a tank with ...</strong><hr></blockquote>

At least they group all the doomed animals together!

 

[morepunkthanewe]

From what I know, the upside down jellyfish (Casseopia sp.) are the only jellyfish that can be successfully kept (at least practically), because they have zooxathellae like anemones do. THe are usually a tan color, because of this zooxanthellae. Of course you'll need sufficient light. I wouldn't recommend them in a reef tank because they will move around and sting things. They will also probably kill small fish and shrimp etc. They would do best in a refugium set up, but I bet they will reduce your pod population, which defeats the point of having a refugium in the first place. THey gets these jellyfish from the Florida Keys where they can be seen by the tens of thousands in sheltered lagoon and grass flat areas.

 

[Tybond]

darn! I thought for sure this would be a great addition. Hmm, I better tell them that if they leave it in there with all those other "hardy" creatures it it may cause them to reproduce.
Bet they'd believe it.

Seriously, Thanks folks, I just wanted an outside opinion to see if there was a chance something worth while had been sent to the store.

ty