So... Exhale & I are giving the biOrb Jellyfish tank a try. Since a lot of people seem to be interested in the process and whether or not it is really possible to keep Jellyfish alive for more than 3min in a biOrb tank we're documenting the process here.

Here's what we've done so far, purchased the following:
1) Mega biOrb tank from PETCO
2) Glass Gems
3) 50watt Aquarium Heater.

More to come...

This is a continuation from this: previous thread.

This should be fun...

Interesting/Great idea. Good luck.

Monterey Bay Aquarium has jellies on exhibit with the same idea as ya'll are doing, albeit on a much bigger scale. Two pics below of two of their tanks from my last visit.

Keep us informed how it goes.

Yeah, the shedd has this same thing to.

Here are a few pictures so far.

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biOrb setup on the shelf. Filter assembly in place with included rocks. Still needs the glass marbles/gems.

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Can't wait to see this progress!

hey guys, do you have any plans to extend the bubble tube? I read that the water level should be even to prevent bubbles from getting trapped in the jellies. maybe you could buy a bubble tube for the 16g biorb and trim it to size if it's too big. just a thought, not speaking from any experience.

Edit: DOH! I see that you DO have the 16g biorb. I was thinking it was 8 gallons.

good luck to you!

aww! thats so cute!

Well,

We've started the cycle with good ole cockroaches of the sea... Damsels. We are making sure the tank has some sort of cycle to it before we go and put a few hundred dollars of jellyfish in it.

Also we were at the Fish Den in Denver today and they do carry jellyfish but they looked really sad and about dead. So we are going to risk it with an online supplier. The bioOrb is an old school system of an undergravel filter system and really I think the filter material it uses is concrete from some back parking lot chipped to smaller pieces. We've also extended the tube section so no bubbles can get under the jellyfish. One less turkey baster tube in the house.

On to more fun things, feeding the crayfish I got to the hitchhiker mantis shrimp which has grown from the size of a knuckle of your pinky finger to the size of a twinkie lol.

We should have jelly fish in a week or so between the chem cycle and the live fish cycle it should be well on it's way for the test. If not we have a REALLY $$$$ Goldfish bowl.

Definitely excited about this...keep us posted!

Yeah, sounds like the bubbles can be a real problem. The going plan is to cut a turkey baster down to the desired length and stick it in the end of the bubble tube to extend it. We found a baster that is roughly the same diameter. See picture Don't know if this will be a permeant solution but it works.

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you guys ordering off of jellyfishart.com?

Latest pictures of the tank:
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Yeah, most likely... Trying to see if a local fish supplier can special order them for me any cheeper.

So what do you all think for Jelly fish?

Moon - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB08qtLSdGI

Or
Blue = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puL0PBfAht4

i have a question isnt that heater a potential snag hazard wouldnt it be better to use some kind of exernal heat source like heat tape used for reptile enclusures and have it hooked to a temp controler that you could stick in the bubble tube to keep it out of the way of the jellies. now unless you can get to the bottom of the "bowl" to place the heat tape it wont be the prettiest thing but i think it would be alot safer for the jellies

oohh yea and i vote for blue

I'd personally get the moon jellies. I PM'd you guys about a slightly cheaper supplier I found. $30 for 3-4" inchers.

I found a poster on youtube who owns a jelly tank. I've asked him to join the forum so hopefully he'll come share some knowledge!

try the smallest you can get at first....small specimens of most inverts are hardier than the larger ones...not sure how it works with jellies. Just excited so I wanted to post.

Go for the blue ones!!!! I <3 those jellies.
this should be interesting.. def. bookmarking this thread.

Also, like mustangboy said... I feel like that heater could be a hazard to the jellyfish (rips and burns) but then again.... you're the one who did the research so what do I know.

Heater, if we go with Moon's we do not need a heater being they need to be kept at 55 - 60. But we are also looking at other ways to heat the orb.

Thanks for everyone's well wishes!

We have asked Jellyfish Art Direct to help us out and send us some jellyfish to show it works to all the members of the Nano-Reef Community. We will let you know what they say.

- A

Hey guys, picked up a biube today! hopefully I'll have this bad boy cycling soon. just want to make sure I'm %100 clear on everything first. It's my first tank! (wish me luck)

If at all possible, do you think you could measure your bubble tube for me?

allow me to think out loud for a second...
16g life = 25" tall
12g life = 23" tall
16g biorb = 20.5" tall
Biube = 18" tall

I expect that the taller tanks will have longer bubble tubes, but I can't find any dimensions online. These longer tubes could be a pretty clean solution for our needs. I've emailed a few suppliers about exact dimensions so hopefully I'll get some replies soon.

I'll measure my biube's tube when I take it out of the box later. just for reference

Edit: took some rough measurements before work today.
tube is about 11", with a 1.5" gap to the bottom of the light. It doesn't look terrible, but could probably stand to come up a bit. The tank will be seen at a slightly upward angle from the couch so I want to make sure it looks full, and of course give the jellies some extra room.
anyways, it doesn't look too bad so I think I'll start cycling while I'm working out the small stuff. gotta go buy some water.

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment(pardon the mess)

My high school has started doing nano reefs in all the science rooms. One science teacher wanted jellyfishes but found them too hard to keep. This topic could definetley open up a new window. Good luck to you guys, I will definetly follow this forum it is very interesting.

The jellyfish we're looking at seem to be a specific warm water breed. The recommend temp is 77 degrees. The ones that are native to colder waters, as Andy said 55 - 60 degrees are more difficult and expensive to keep since they require a chiller. We're not going to go there lol - At least as long as i'm paying for this project ;-)

As far as a snag hazard - That seems to be a legitimate point, at least in my mind. I haven't gotten a definitive answer on how much a risk it could pose to the jellies. jellyfishart.com seems to use a very simular heater to what we're using. We've been in contact with them about this project, and I believe they are following this thread. I will get in contact with them specifically about the heater snag risk and any mitigation techniques.

-Bryan




Looks good. I'll try to get you a measurement tomorrow on our bubble tube. As I said in a previous post we just stuck a turkey baster tube that was cut down to the desired length in the end of our bubble tube... It's not the most elegant solution but it works & honestly to the casual observer you can barely tell it's been modified.

is the base removeable from the orb? iff so you could easily hide the heat tape like used for reptile cages on the bottom of the orb and then use a temp controller to turn it on and off and you could hid the temp controller sensor in the bubble tube im betting.

there was a member on this forum who recently used reptile heat tape stuff for his small pico tank with great results

The bubble tube & filter chamber is removable - but it would probably be difficult to route anything thru the bubble tube, down thru the filter chamber and into the base of tank the way all the components come together and lock into the bottom of the tank.

My guess is that since the heater is smooth and has all rounded corners it wont present much of a risk to the jellies. The biggest risk seems to be air bubbles and the extremely course rock that comes with the BiOrb.

Will let you know what feedback I get from jellyfistart.com

-Bryan

For everyone who is patiently awaiting for the jellyfish to arrive.... The going plan is to let the tank continue to cycle this week. Will probably purchase the jellies next Monday 2/22 receiving them overnight. So hopefully a week from today i'll be posting pictures of my new roommates :-D

We are still trying to select a supplier for the jellyfish. The top of the list is jellyfishart.com who we've been in email contact with concerning this project. I've also spoken with a local fish supplier to see if they are able to order them with their normal incoming supply to save me some money on shipping.

-Bryan

thanks man, and no rush. I'm just going to move forward, and if it bothers me down the road, then I'll worry about it. I've still got time, plus your solution looks good to me.
I think I'm just nitpicking the details because I'm excited lol.

looking forward to your feedback from jellyfishart.

http://www.jellyfishart.com/ProductDetails...mp;Redirected=Y

I wonder if we could make these (or something similar) work with our biorbs.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11946
It's got less watts than the stock halogen so I think we're safe.

maybe jellyfishart can comment since I'm sure they've played with the idea.
and I'll ask a few electronic gurus that I know. (and lurk the lighting forum)
otherwise an external lamp with a color-changing led bulb will be a must!

Ooooo yeah that looks cool... I've been thinking about the same thing. I figure once I get the jellies settled in i'll start looking at other lighting options. Let me know what you find out.

So what do you guys plan on feeding the jellies?

a mix of live and frozen baby brine. We will also supplement with supplier food but baby brine is the plan.

thanks for keeping us posted. did you try home depot for the bubble extender?

The folks at Jellyfish art are sending us a new modded one. I am still unclear what the difference between them are but they are helping us out with the tube.

good to hear! I'm sure the modded biocube means a longer bubble tube and possibly reduced/increased flow (whichever would be needed) as I don't see much else you could do to the tank

cool! try to take a quick measurement of that new tube if you can. I'll also check out the hardware store in a few days while I'm picking up some buckets. hopefully I'll have the tank rinsed out tonight, and start cycling within the next few days.

as for lights, I found a few more. when I get some time I'll try to measure the dimensions of the socket to make sure they'll fit. going to hang out with some electronic gurus tonight so I'll ask them about using these lower watt bulbs. I don't suspect it'll be a problem.
http://www.ledlightsworld.com/remote-contr...1x5w-p-125.html
http://www.uxsight.com/product/7157/mr16-r...t-bulb-12v.html

also, I had an idea for the heater/heat tape. I wonder if I could put some heat tape under the substrate, then use aquarium sealant to run the wire up the aquarium wall. making a somewhat smooth "molding-like" solution, or even just dabs to hold it to the tank wall. Of course it'll be a pain should I need to replace the heater down the road. but I'm just throwing out ideas. Mustang boy, it'd be great if you could find the other thread where they used heat tape. but I'll most likely just go with a regular tube heater since I'm not terribly worried about it posing a problem. plus it'll be easier

oh good to hear! they should have you up and running. It is probably built to fit seamlessly, not just as an extender.

We will be placing an order for Blue Jellyfish today or tomorrow so we will have some new pics soon. Lord help us haha. We will soon find out for everyone if this is worth doing or if we have have a nice new goldfish bowl lol.

Tagging along, this is so cool!!!!!

So... On the eve of purchasing the jellies here's a breakdown of cost so far:

$197.50 for the 16g biOrb tank
$50 in gems for the bottom of the tank
$35 heater
$239 for 4 2in blue jellyfish from jellyfishart.com (haven't ordered yet)... It's $156 for the jellies and $79 for shipping.
----------------------
$521 total so far, probably +/- $60 in other stuff i'm not thinking about.

The plan is to order an additional 4 jellies once these are doing well. So... that will bring the project to around $760 with 8 jellyfish.

Why not order from your lfs. I've seen mine have a few moon jellyfish (if thats what your after, I have not read all of this thread) for like $29.99.

dayum. thats getting spensive. i thought the biorb kit from jellyfishart.com came with some jellies? seems to have been worth the extra $50

I am totally following this one! I love jellies. they are so cool lookin but I would never try to have one in a tank! LOL good luck. Hope they make it.

wow!!!!! I need to get into the fake gem business....

no kidding! they're pretty damn proud of those gems.
added a few damsels to my biube yesterday. I'm looking forward to your progress fellas!

any jellies yet?

Well before we ordered a LFS had one so we are right now in the process of slow dripping him / it into the tank. We want to make sure it lives before we do a big order.



Better pics soon.




Well the orb on the site is 8 gallon. We did the larger 16 gallon, there is a lot of filter material to cover. Yeah yay 50 bucks in glass beads.

looks cool! I must get stung by a hundred of jellies each year and I think they are still sweet. Thanks for all the updates!

Hmm so can I try to keep any jelly fish I find ?
Sometimes I see them, usually after they sting me.
I'd like to try one sometime for the heck of it.
They are somewhat rare out here,
man of war are more common.