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Well everyone, It's time I finally get some jellyfish going, I've gotten some polyps of cold water moon jellyfish and have begun setting up a polyp culture. The polyps are acclimating at the moment and we'll see how this goes. I'm still figuring out posting images, so bear with me. :) This thread will follow any progress I make and tips or tricks for these gelatinous critters are much appreciated.

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I'm going to try my hand at decapsulating some brine shrimp eggs, It's better than separating the hatched bbs out due to the embryos having more energy and no fouling organisms like hydroids. (fairly sure the culture came with some, but I'll work around them for now as I'm still getting the hang of it) 

 

Side note, Has anyone had an upside down jellyfish? I'm curious if polyps appeared for you.

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Hatching the brine shrimp and using a light to separate them from the eggs husks proved to be a resounding success. I made way too many, and used a flash light to lead the brine shrimp around the container. By using the light I could lure them into the polyp's mouth. The polyps are now very orange and happy, and my clown gets the scraps. The water in the container is stagnant, so the egg husks float to the surface and I can do a 50% water change afterwards to keep the water chemistry as close to perfect as I can get. I'm changing 100% of the water every 2 days. 

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The polyps are Aurelia aurita , and are seemingly very resistant to ammonia, it was near 4ppm without any issues. I replaced the water (this was before feeding) and they got a little larger, but otherwise seem to be indifferent. Once they settle in a bit more I'll see if I can get them to strobilate.  they are around 67*, which is higher than this species is used to, but they don't seem to mind much.

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Here's a close up of the polyps. It took a day and a bit to get them some food as the eggs take time to hatch, but they went from white and a little limp to full and much larger. I've also noticed that they are much more aggressive in their feeding and movement. sorry for the poor quality, My camera is an old IPhone and the glass distorts things.

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Around ten polyps have separated from the tube, and either turned into little balls or reattached to the glass on the bottom. It may have been the ammonia, or an odd reaction to the food. I separated the fallen polyps and have them in a Tupperware tray in the hope that they will recover.

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The container I had them in were fouling really quite quickly, so I went out and got a 2.5 gallon tank and put my main culture into the tank. The polyps extended and look much more happy in this new home. I also built a more permanent brine shrimp hatchery, which was surprisingly easy. we had an old coffee maker and the glass pot was going out so I removed the handle and it fit the soda bottle perfectly.  

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The increased volume is really working quite well, the brine shrimp last longer and the water takes so much longer to foul. I've noticed the polyps ability to sting way more brine than they would ever eat. I've also noticed some polyps have split and there are more polyps in the reserve.

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As I feed them more, the polyps are growing larger with a greater number of tentacles. They also continue to split and make more polyps. Still no stobilation though, so we'll see if I can get these to start making ephrya soon by holding off on a water change and then doing a 100% after heavily feeding. There were some odd hydroid like things in another culture jar that seemed to just disappear, so if they were a pest that's good. I'm hoping I didn't have some kind of other jelly polyps, as it would be fun to have two species. 

jellyfish polyps more developed.jpeg

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I'm hesitant to raise the temperature and/ or add iodine, as that could result in disaster if it doesn't go well. If anyone knows of other ways to do it, that would be very helpful. The raising pet jellyfish blog remarks that if the polyps are in a tank, you could wind up with hundreds, so I am a little unsure of how to proceed without causing a mass strobilation event, or if it's possible to have only a few do so.

 

minor update, I'm going to try lowering the salinity for a week and then bring it back up quickly. Polyps will apparently go into strobilation on their own, but only during specific times. Mentors are awesome.

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RayWhisperer

I’m liking this thread. Honestly, I wish I could join in, however, I have absolutely no knowledge on this subject. I’m just quietly following along. I figured I’d just post this so you don’t get frustrated by a lack of traffic in your thread. You are kinda paving a new road here on N-R, so keep it up.

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It's awesome to see people interested in the nitty gritty of jellyfish :) .This is entirely my first rodeo, and I've had a couple of really cool and very knowledgeable people help me through this. I've had one stable(ish) tank, a 10gallon I bought at a thrift store and kept it alive for 3 almost 4 years now, as well as a couple side jars of macroalgaes. I've kept a couple of weird organisms, and thought it would be awesome to try jellyfish.  Jellyfish have a lot of different life cycle stages, and all need different things. Below is a picture from the web about the different stages, right now I'm stuck at the polyp stage. If I can get them to strobilation (budding polyp), about 6-12 baby jellyfish(ephrya) will be released. The reason jellyfish are seasonal is because they require changing chemistry and temperatures to induce strobilation. Keep feeding them and eventually they will become the adult Medusa. Adult jellyfish can release thousands of planula larva ( like jellyfish seeds). Those seeds land and can produce polyps that either make more polyps by splitting like an anemone or send out baby jellyfish. In order for me to finish my project on time, I need to get the polyps to send out ephyra soonish. 

jellyfish life cycle.jpg

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Another stage jellyfish can have are protocysts. They look like little white balls clinging to a surface. Planula land and become protocysts sometimes when it isn't a good idea to be a polyp, or polyps can become protocycts if conditions are bad. I've got about 12-13 protocysts in a jar that fell off the main culture.

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Minor update, instead of strobilation, a few of the polyps have grown smaller mouths and weirdly thick tentacles, as well as lengthening the stalk. I've got no idea why or what they are doing, but it's interesting to watch. Hopefully this is either the polyps splitting to make more, or the early stages of them preparing for ephrya.

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I was digging around in the back of the fridge for brine shrimp eggs and I found an old project I had forgotten about. It might even still be alive.

 

 

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This is a photo of what it will look like If I grow it correctly: 

 

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Update on the polyps: my culture suffered a little bit when I missed a day of feeding, they got small and very white quickly, but kept their longer tentacles. I fed them today and they got a little larger and seemed to be doing much better.On the glowing mushrooms, they are a new foray into the realm bioluenesciense for me, and I've been looking for ways to incorporate some glowing life into my reef, and I think I found the answer. There is a species of brittle star that's native off the coast and tide pools of California that glows very brightly when disturbed or when it feeds, The dwarf brittlestar Amphipholis squamata is awesome,locally available, and can handle temps from 65-85 degrees F. As soon as I feel like I've got a stable system with everything in order, I'd love to see If I can collect one or two. I sterilized some jars by boiling them and using some strong rubbing alcohol, and found some substrate for the mushrooms to grow on. The plugs the mycelium comes on actually began to glow faintly :)

 

 

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After I fed the polyps, a couple that had the weird growths moved around and left little bits behind, I've now got more tiny polyps. I'll try to feed them everyday now as opposed to once every two days.

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