Upside Down Jelly

[subman]

I just saw some at a local store and was wondering if anyone has any experience or opinions of them.http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/%7Emostert/Underwater%20photography/underwaterphotography/invertebrates/upsidedownjellyfish.jpg
Thanks

[noirsphynx]

I know where you saw those, lol. They're pretty cool. Don't know anything about them though except low flow, these guys don't need the special tank setup like others & they're poisonous.

[Jeff_]

Saw quite a few of them when I was down in Florida, they are photosynthetic. I was told they move around to adjust their lighting. Really neat creatures.

[justinl]

they have a mild sting compared to other jellies... not really that poisonous at all really. they are really cool animals but not many keep them in home aquaria for some reason; probably just because they aren't shipped often although they are really easy to collect and are abundant where they occur. They don't ship well because they're fragile though, so make sure the one(s) you buy are healthy. I've actually been meaning to try my hand at these guys one day.

I talked to the Vera Cruz aquarium curator and they actually keep these in brackish water; they'll do fine in full salt though. just a thought if you want to save on the cost of salt. you would have to acclimate for over a month to change tank salinity though... the slower the better. The guy says they're super easy to keep given the right conditions (see below) and actually has them reproducing quite often.

Set ups don't have to be super specialized but upside down jellies are soft bodied and mobile so cover any grates/intakes with filter floss or sponge to avoid ending up with sushi. low flow. mobility+stinging cells = non-reef safe; no corals, but they can co exist fine with others of the same species (if your store has multiple specimens). You *might* get away with the most peaceful of corals like green star polyps or zoos though. photosynthetic so halides are a MUST; the brighter the better since they'll be on the bottom of the tank most of the time but get most of their nutrition through photosynthesis. they do appreciate occasional feedings though. Needs a fairly large open soft (oolitic) sandy bottom; no crushed coral.

[fishoholic]

they have a mild sting compared to other jellies... not really that poisonous at all really. they are really cool animals but not many keep them in home aquaria for some reason; probably just because they aren't shipped often although they are really easy to collect and are abundant where they occur. They don't ship well because they're fragile though, so make sure the one(s) you buy are healthy. I've actually been meaning to try my hand at these guys one day.

I talked to the Vera Cruz aquarium curator and they actually keep these in brackish water; they'll do fine in full salt though. just a thought if you want to save on the cost of salt. you would have to acclimate for over a month to change tank salinity though... the slower the better. The guy says they're super easy to keep given the right conditions (see below) and actually has them reproducing quite often.

Set ups don't have to be super specialized but upside down jellies are soft bodied and mobile so cover any grates/intakes with filter floss or sponge to avoid ending up with sushi. low flow. mobility+stinging cells = non-reef safe; no corals, but they can co exist fine with others of the same species (if your store has multiple specimens). You *might* get away with the most peaceful of corals like green star polyps or zoos though. photosynthetic so halides are a MUST; the brighter the better since they'll be on the bottom of the tank most of the time but get most of their nutrition through photosynthesis. they do appreciate occasional feedings though. Needs a fairly large open soft (oolitic) sandy bottom; no crushed coral.

Great info.

I would think they would need their own tank, or would they be ok with other fish? Just curious.

[reeferious]

i have kept one alive for close to 4 months in a gallon size icecream bucket under t5s. outlet pipe waterflow from display tank would flow over bucket top to create a somewhat gentle flow, enough to stir up its tentacles. i belief using cornerless container is what allowed me to keep it alive and undamaged for as long as i did. anyway quite a fascinating oddity.

[justinl]

reeferious, got any pictures of said set up and animal? The method sounds a bit ghetto, but obviously it gets the job done right.

For pelagic jellies, cornerless tanks like kreisels are necessary because corners tend to be dead spots. If a pelagic jelly gets stuck in a corner, it has a hard time getting out and ends up abrading itself on the tank wall/bottom. My belief is that upside down jellies, being benthic by nature, should have a much tougher and more resistant bell. They live top down on the sand after all. I would imagine they'd be fine in a standard tank... mind you I have little real experience with jellies. this is mostly just theory on my part.

fishoholic, i have no idea. certainly no big fish like tangs, nothing that bites out of curiosity like angels triggers and puffers, no big swimmers like tangs, nothing that sleeps in the sand like big wrasses (small ones under 4 inches might be okay), nothing aggressive like damsels, nothing that would try to host the thing like a clown... mind you I am very conservative. Here, I encourage experimentation considering this is a bit of an unknown field. As far as I know, upside down jellies are not piscivorous; i just worry on behalf of the jelly... the jelly is the fragile one, not the fish. Im certain it would be fine with small peaceful column dewlling fish like firefish or anthias. then I might try gobies or blennies which i suspect would be fine too. im not sure if i would venture beyond that level... or what direction i would go if I did.

on a related note, I might also be careful with my invert selection... nothing with pincers (crabs/hermits), big spikes (all urchins, some stars), nothing known to eat cnidarians (some shrimp, stars and fish). Im sure snails would be fine, even the sand dwellers like nassarius.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

A couple of years ago, I got one for Irene that was actually quite hardy and stayed alive for 6 months +. It would have lived longer but Irene kept feeling sorry for it & insisted on putting it in the reef tank where the flow would dash it on the rocks & damage its delicate body. I'll probably set up another Casseopia jellyfish tank in the future.

[justinl]

probably should mention why we keep stressing low flow and light being vital. Casseopeia sp. generally only occur in very low flow shallow marine/brackish waters like lagoons and mangrove flats. Ive been told by a friend that if you look off a given dock in Florida, you will likely see large amounts of these jellies littering the sand bottom. again, docks are usually made in shallow areas with low flow.

reeferious & anthony, what was the lighting type/wattage you guys kept your jellies under? And do you guys know where to find these things in vancouver?

subman, I apologize if i'm hijacking. i think it's relevant to your question though.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Picked mine up from King Ed's. Mine was in a 5 gallon nano with a tiny mixing powerhead and a 27 watt CFL Phillips daylight light overhead. When in Irene's reef tank, it was under a 175w MH.

If I do it again, I will set up a 15g with sand bottom and prolifera caulerpa, lit by a 150w 14000k MH and with one or two tiny mixing powerheads for flow. The only Live Rock I would put in would be rounded pieces with no sharp edges.

I had actually set up a 25g rimless casseopia tank, but the jellies that came in on my last special order were not the upside down ones, so they didn't do well. Needed a special true jelly tank, not the refugium type setup I had for upside down jellies.

Anthony

[reeferious]

you hit it right on nailhead. it was a ghetto setup(icecream bucket with numerous holes drilled from inside plunked into sump/refugium under 2x54 t5. i also bought it from kinged pets which seems to be only place that occasionally offer it for sale.