So, I've been looking around and studying the bay and have found out that Bolinopsis vitrea lives in the bay and can bioluminesce which I think would be pretty cool. The max size on this lil guy is around 3 - 4 cm and they eat mainly copepods and other types of zooplankton. A minimum tank requirement is around 5 gallons, so I'm thinking about switching my FW 20g long into a 10g since I barely have anything in it right now and use that as the tank instead of buying a 54g corner. A Koralia Nano is enough water movement for the ctenophore and for filtration, I would need another small HOB with a sponge on the intake so that the lil guy won't get sucked up into the intake tube. If that were to happen, all would be fine as they can regenerate 75% of their body very rapidly including their vital organs. Feeding would be easy, just get a cup or 2 of bay water and pour it into the tank once every 4 days or so. Lighting doesn't really apply to this tank, but you can use a UV light to stimulate them to luminesce if you wanted to. Supposed to be kept in a species only tank and can be kept with others. A report from earlier this year said that divers in the UK have found around 600 individuals in a cubic meter of water!!! That's a LOT!!! Anyhow, here's how I'm going to setup the tank:

20g long with 12" UV light on timer for 4 hours a day
2 inch sand bed
3 Bolinopsis vitrea
20g of bay water
1 Koralia Nano
10g HOB filter with sponge on intake tube
1 measuring cup for feeding


Let me know what you think. I'll post pics in about 2 weeks when I get all the stuff I need.
Then I'll collect sand and water and let sit till cycling is done and params are good.

-Kenny

OMG I HATE YOU


edit...gratuitous ctenophore pic

Why do you say that??? And is that a picture of a ctenophore that you own? Or is that something you found on the internet? Another thing: Do you think my plans are adequate? Also, I made up my mind about my FW tan and Im going to sell the fish and plants back to LFS and use the money for my first reef tank! B-day money is oging on chain and sprockets for my dirt bike, money onto my amp,
and whats left if going towards fish tanks.

-Kenny

Sounds nice..I can't wait for pics.

I know your talking about protecting them but a koralia sound like jelly blender. I have no idea for sure just sayin. Sounds like a cool plan, I like da combjellies, lol.

cause i wish i could get ctenos

I took the pic, it's from the invert house at the National Zoo in DC.

I have to agree with nanoty though. Cteno's will get sucked into any small filtration area that you have. You're gonna have to find a way of removing any "sucking" action from the tank while still getting flow. Have a look at "jelliquarium" designs and see if you can set up a simple version of that

Most jelly tanks are round in shape, have no sand or rocks, and prevent the jelly/cteno from getting sucked into the filtration through some fairly elaborate flow methods. Anything different, and you're just asking for jelly soup in the tank.

You know how a sponge filter on a powerhead works? Well that's what I'll put on the intake tube of my HOB so that the jelly won't get sucked into the filter and killed. As for the Koralia, you know StevieT's media rack made of egg crate? Well I can just make a small 1/4" mesh enclosure around the Koralia so the jelly wont get chopped up. The small mesh will still allow for flow. I'll take a look at "jelliquariums" though. Trust me on this, I've been thinking about doing this for almost a year and a half! And nice picture btw, do you have anymore like that? And how come you can't get any cteno's? No access to them?

Thanks for the comments and info guys. I'll keep ya updated.

I know that this is usually looked down on, but what about a ugf?

That would probably work pretty good since ctenophores only swim up and down. Thanks for that great idea of yours man! Didnt think about that, especially when i have LOTS of ugf's!!! Haha, on our 20g high in our living room, we use that as a feeder tank and use an undergravel filter. The cool part is we use a big powerhead with reverse flow connected to the top of the uplift tube for "super sucking power"!
Yeah, i know that sounds like a.....tornado! Haha, thought I was gonna say somethin dirty, huh? lol
Anyhoo, that ugf with powerhead works so good! We also have a tube connected to the output for added oxygen.

you could also build a simple uplift tube out of PVC with a powerful air pump driving it. very gentle intake with a pretty decent output. just get a piece of 3/4" pvc, a 90 degree elbow, and a small piece of pvc or acrylic sheeting. cut a big notch out of the pvc towards the bottom, mount it on the pvc sheet, drill a hole in the 90 to run air tubing through and mount the 90 on top.

Can I just use something like a diy surface skimmer plexi-glassed into the tank with a sponge filter inside?

or section of a piece of the tank like Sandeep's 5.5? I'm still collecting all the stuff for the tank that I need and kinda want. so far i have 2 different sized power heads, some different U-tubes, a 90. elbow, some other tubes, aquarium silicone, 20g long tank, light/hood, and something else that i forgot.

+1 that is probably the best way to put flow in you tank with out making these guys turn in to jelly soup