Category: EON Tips and Tricks

Quick tips for owners of the world’s best jellyfish tank, brought to you by the world’s best jellyfish farmers who designed it!

Weekly Upkeep for the EON Shortie

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in EON Tips and Tricks
img_3295
 

Once a week, you will change 1 gallon of saltwater and the mechanical filter. You will also clean the interior surfaces with a small acrylic cleaning magnet (Time: 15 minutes).

Every other week, you will also exchange one of the three carbon filters (Time: an additional 5 minutes).

Every three months, you will clean out the spray bar holes and the drain screen, along with the pump and check valve (Time: an additional 15 minutes).

The built in wet/dry filter will maintain your chemical & biological filtration and therefore, water quality and clarity on a daily basis.  Such a stable environment is exactly what the jellies need to thrive.

Competing for Food & Space: The Life and Times of Your Pet Jellyfish

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in EON Tips and Tricks, Five Must Reads When Considering Jellyfish as Pets, Keeping a Healthy Tank
Screen Shot 2019-03-05 at 11.51.24 AM
Grahem B.

In aquariums, jellies will grow according to the superiority of the animals. When keeping several jellies in a closed system, like an aquarium, the strongest jellies will emerge in the first two months and begin to get larger, while the others may grow more slowly or even start to get smaller. It doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong in keeping them, it is simply a normal result of natural selection. Therefore, purchasing jellies that are significantly different in size makes for an uneven playing field when it comes to feeding.  The larger animals you purchased will immediately outcompete the smaller ones, even though the smaller ones were originally just as strong.

Jellyfish in captivity, when maintained properly, will have a normal life expectancy of one year from start to finish. That being said, if you have a jelly that is 2” in diameter, it is already about 3 months old, so you will be able to enjoy it for about 9 more months. A jelly that is 3” in diameter is about 4 months old, and you will enjoy it for about 8 months, and so on. One year is one year—from the time of strobilation (the event where a jelly is “born”) to the time that it grows old and dies. So if you received it in January, let’s say, it is already 3 or 4 months old and will only live for another 8 or 9 months until September or October—not until the following January.

We always recommend initially purchasing jellies that are about the same size—within 1″ in diameter of each other. When jellies are more than 1″ apart in size, these competition problems can start to affect the smaller jellies.

If you start to notice a few of your jellies are shrinking, do not overfeed in an attempt to get them growing again. Feeding them more may seem like a solution, but it is not. The strongest animals will still win out over the weaker ones: the only thing you will be doing is compromising your water quality and the overall health of your setup. Please read more on our blog post about feeding and see some good examples of how much to feed. The best thing to do is simply let nature take its course and enjoy your jellies. Even though the strongest ones get bigger, the smaller ones will be just fine and simply exist “as is” in your system and give your tank some size diversity over time.

I Finally Have My New EON Jellyfish Aquarium… Now What?

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in EON Tips and Tricks, Five Must Reads When Considering Jellyfish as Pets

Here’s a quick list of things to do or check for once you have your new EON in your hands to ensure your jellies live a happy and healthy life!

Before Adding Jellyfish

Cycle Your Aquarium

n₂

We can’t say this enough: cycling is the most important step in setting up a new aquarium and keeping animals healthy. This isn’t a jellyfish-specific task and is required for all new saltwater aquariums. New aquariums need to be “seasoned” with beneficial bacteria that handle the organic waste created from daily feedings. An aquarium can quickly become toxic once animals and food are introduced without cycling it.

Everything you need to know about cycling can be found in this previous blog post.

Position The Drip Tray Correctly

The drip tray is the top layer of the filter box that collects drain water and evenly disperses it across the filters. This even dispersment of water is essential to achieve optimal filtration and to keep your EON in a biologically stable state (i.e. properly cycled). If the drip tray is unevenly collecting water and moving it through only a small area of the filters, the rest of the filter box will be dry and beneficial bacteria won’t grow there during cycling. This has now created a weak biological filter because there aren’t as many beneficial bacteria established as possible—meaning, there’s a higher chance of an ammonia spike and the entire aquarium cycling all over again.

 To prevent this from happening, make sure your drip tray is pushed all the way towards the drain, flush underneath it. Then watch to see how more evenly it collects water.

Bleed Air From The Spray Bar Lines

When first filling your EON with water, air is going to be stuck throughout the plumbing lines (the clear tubing) and spray bars. After it’s filled and the pump is turned on, you will see some air being pushed out, creating bubbles, but it won’t all exit the lines. So, you have to manually do it using the two green spray bar valves in the sump. “Bleeding the air” refers to repeatedly opening and closing these valves to force the air outward. 

ezgif-5-c9881b1eaa58When looking into the sump, the furthest valve moves water to the bottom spray bar and the valve closest to you moves it to the top spray bar. Close one valve 100% and open the other 100%. You will see more air coming out of the open spray bar. Then do the opposite to get air moving out of the other valve. Do this repeatedly, back and forth, until there are no more bubbles flying out of the spray bars. This helps ensure that air bubbles won’t exit into the main exhibit area while you have jellyfish in there — PSA: jellyfish + bubbles = no fun! 

Double Checking Your Water Quality

Before introducing your first jellyfish, you should double check that the water quality is optimal after cycling has finished. Here’s what we recommend your water quality be for moon jellyfish: 

  • Temperature = 62-78°F 
  • Salinity = 31-33 ppt (1.022-1.024 Specific Gravity)
  • Ammonia = 0 ppm
  • Nitrite = 0 ppm
  • Nitrate = <40 ppm

After Adding Jellyfish

Watch Your Jellyfish

After you’ve acclimated your new jellyfish, watch and observe them for a bit as they move about their new home. They should be belling evenly with their tentacles out and untangled. Check out the video below to see how open and active your jellies should be after proper acclimation. 

Fine Tune The Flow

Now that your jellies are in their new home, you need to fine tune the flow rate to accommodate their needs. Your EON will most likely be at 100% open when it’s done cycling, but depending on the quantity and size of your jellies, you may need to turn it slightly up or down to keep them happy. 

Your jellies shouldn’t be moving around like a washing machine, but they also shouldn’t be floating in the same spot for too long. You want the flow to gently sweep them from spray bar to spray bar, as you can see in the video above.

If the flow is too low, the jellies won’t be motivated to bell causing irregularities in their body shape and how they eat, ultimately leading to weak and shrinking jellies. This can also lead to other issues like tentacle balls on the jellies and slow filtration, affecting water quality. If the flow is too high, they won’t be able to properly capture food and will also lead to weak and thin jellies. 

Keep An Eye On Water Quality

untitled-design-11.png

It’s always good practice to keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite for a few days after adding the first jellyfish. Your biological filters are still fresh from cycling, so the newly established beneficial bacteria in those filters can be sensitive — meaning if the introductory bio load (the combination of anything that creates waste: food + animals) is too much from the get-go, the beneficial bacteria can go into shock. The bacteria can no longer handle the ammonia produced from the excess bio load and this causes an ammonia spike. 

Feeding your new jellyfish on the lighter side for 1-2 days after cycling can help prevent an ammonia spike. This allows your beneficial bacteria to slowly ease into the new bio load. Once comfortable (when there hasn’t been an ammonia spike for 2-3 days after), then you can bump the feeding up to regular doses. 

Where Do I Put My EON Jellyfish Tank?

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in EON Tips and Tricks, FAQs

Eon on a table

Jellyfish tanks are a beautiful addition to any interior space, but like any work of three-dimensional art, it’s important to consider which part of the room can best accentuate its features. In the case of your tank, placement is also an issue of utility.

First off, your tank’s flow is powered by an electric pump, and the display is illuminated by LED light strips, each of which require their own power supply. So make sure you have a spot in mind with an empty power outlet or a power strip with at least two open plugs nearby.

The second thing to consider is the surface underneath your tank. The system will weigh roughly 85 lbs. once it’s full of water, so it needs to be kept on a table or counter that can bear that kind of load. It’s also critical that your surface is completely level; even a small degree of tilt could interfere with the function of your system and spray bars, which will create air bubbles in the tank that can hurt your jellies.

Last but not least is the position of your tank within the room. Though you might your little friends to have a nice view of the outside world, you should never place your tank anywhere near a window, especially if that window gets direct sunlight during the day. Sun exposure can cause your system’s temperature to fluctuate to dangerous extremes for your jellies, and it leads to unappealing amounts of algae buildup.

So, the quick recap:

Keep the tank on a sturdy, level table or countertop, make sure it’s not too close to any windows or in the path of direct sunlight, and have at least two open plugs nearby.

My EON Jellyfish Tank Isn’t Level. So What?

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in EON Tips and Tricks

 

Your jelly friends are in danger, that’s what!

Let me start by saying this video and post were inspired by a real customer of ours, and the tank pictured is his real system. He was doing everything right to cycle his tank before he ordered his jellies, but for some reason the bacteria just weren’t doing what they were supposed to and his tank’s ammonia levels wouldn’t go down.

As we can see in the video, his tank was not quite level on its stand, and that was forcing the water to trickle unevenly over one side of the drip tray and bypass the other side. While that might not sound like such a big deal, it’s actually a recipe for disaster.

When your tank is leaning to one side, most of the water will obviously tend to flow that way, which means that all of your system water is flowing through only a very small part of your filter media. So not only will that water not be filtered properly, but the bacteria on the dry side of the filter media won’t be able to survive well enough to cycle your system and keep it healthy. Beyond that, keeping your tank on uneven surfaces can create uneven flow from the spray bars, cause a full sump to overflow and create troublesome air bubbles.

So what happens if you notice your tank isn’t quite level? Don’t panic! Just do what this customer did: wedge something underneath the low side of your system and adjust it until the drip tray gets proper flow! A simple fix like this can be the difference between a healthy system and toxic water, so keep an eye out!

Flow Control: A Matter of Life and DEATH

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in EON Tips and Tricks

valves

Okay, it might not be that dramatic, but the amount of flow in your tank does have a huge impact on the health of your jellies.

Jellies are considered planktonic, which means they cannot swim freely against a current and therefore rely on some sort of flow to stay afloat. However, this doesn’t mean they need to be propelled through your system at mach 3. When you make your jellies race each other, nobody wins!

When the valves in the behind your EON jellyfish tank are fully open, like the one on the left side of the picture above, the your jellies will move so fast that they won’t be able to catch their food efficiently, nor will they be able to hold onto it if they do capture some. It’s almost like they’re getting motion sickness on the tilt-a-whirl at a carnival… forever. Understandably, they won’t react well to starvation and will stop belling and start shrinking until they die.

Instead, keep your valves at about 50% flow like the picture on the right. This gives them enough circulation to stay off the bottom of the tank while still giving them enough freedom to bell around and hold down their lunch.

Just remember: if the flow is too high, jellies die, moderate flow, good to go!

EON Instructional Video Series! “Part 3: Acclimating Your New Jellyfish”

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in EON Tips and Tricks

Now that your EON Jellyfish System is completely cycled, it’s ready for jellyfish! Watch Part 3 in our EON Instructional Video Series to learn about optimal water quality parameters for moon jellyfish and how to properly acclimate your new jellyfish once they’ve arrived at your doorstep.

SCRIPT.

Part 3: Acclimating Your New Jellyfish Opening sequence.

–

“It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for! Your tank is cycled and you’ve placed your very first order for jellyfish! Now wait one business day for delivery…”

–

“In the meantime, why don’t you double check to be sure your system water is suitable for new friends?”

–

“Your pH checks out.”

–

“Oh no, looks like your salinity is a little too high. You’ll need to bring it down by adding reverse osmosis or distilled water.”

–

“You can add freshwater to two places in your tank: the main viewing area or the sump.”

–

“NEVER add freshwater into your filter box.”

–

“This can kill all of the tiny bacteria you’ve worked so hard to grow!”

–

“Excellent, it looks like your tank is ready for jellies.”

–

“Well what are you waiting for? Let’s get them into their new home!”

–

“Don’t forget to take a look in the bag first to make sure they arrived safely.”

–

“Cut the bag below the metal bracket, then pull the tab to release the rubber band—No, no, no! Didn’t you read the sticker on the box?”

–

“You have to acclimate them first.”

–

“Take out a little water and slowly place the bag in your tank to float for 15 minutes to acclimate them to the water temperature.”

–

“Gently transfer your jellies with a ladle into a small cup full of water from the bag.”

–

“Carefully perform small water changes in the cup every 20 minutes for one hour to acclimate them to your tank’s water chemistry.”

–

“Now your jellies are ready to be released into your tank. Just look at those little guys go.”

–

Closing sequence.

EON Instructional Video Series! “Part 2: Cycling Your EON”

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in EON Tips and Tricks

After setting up your new EON Jellyfish System, you’ll need to cycle it before introducing jellyfish! Cycling is one of the most important steps in setting up any saltwater aquarium. Watch Part 2 of our EON Instructional Video Series to see how to properly cycle your new jellyfish aquarium.

 

SCRIPT.

Part 2: Cycling Your EON Opening sequence.

–

“So now you’ve unpacked your new EON jellyfish system as explained in part one of this series— Whoa whoa, hold your horses there, partner! Your tank isn’t ready for animals yet! Your system has to cycle first! Cycling is one of the most important steps in the whole process.”

–

“No, no, no. NITROGEN cycling.”

–

“Your system needs to establish stable nitrogen levels in the water! Establishing a stable community of helpful bacteria in your tank is essential to the health of both your system and your jellies.”

–

“All you need is:

  • bacteria source,
  • saltwater test kit, and
  • ammonia source (in this case, shrimp)”

–

“First, place a pea-sized piece of the shrimp on the top of your mechanical filter pad underneath the drip tray.”

–

“Give your bacteria a good shake and pour about 3 ounces down the filter box and let the cycling begin!”

–

“This is where your test kit comes in handy. You’ll need to check your water chemistry every week to monitor your system’s progress. Hmm… maybe this would be more helpful in color. Ah, that’s better. After one week, there won’t be much of a change.”

–

“By week two, we should see a spike in ammonia.”

–

“During the third week we see the ammonia start to fall while the nitrite begins to spike.”

–

“And finally after about four weeks your system’s bacteria have eaten up all the ammonia and nitrite.”

–

“So, congratulations! Your tank is ready for jellies.”

–

“If you’d like some help with the process, visit sunsetmarinelab.com and click the black banner to signup for our Fish-less Cycling Program©. If you successfully cycle your tank through our program, you’ll receive three jellies!”

–

“Our customer service team is standing by to help you through the process step-by-step.”

–

CLOSING SEQUENCE.

EON Instructional Video Series! “Part 1: Your EON & You”

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in EON Tips and Tricks

Introducing our EON Instructional Video Series – a new and improved video series to show you how to set up, maintain, and care for jellies in your new EON Jellyfish System from start to finish.

We made this series last year as a better way to actually show new and prospective EON owners what it takes to get one up and running with moon jellyfish (and how simple it is to do so!). We’ll be posting each video from the five-part series every week.

Below you’ll find the video and a follow-along script.

 

SCRIPT.

Part 1: Your EON & You Opening sequence.

“So, the day has finally come, your very own Sunset Marine Labs EON jellyfish tank has arrived at your door! Now what are you going to do?”

–

“Well, take it out!”

–

“But wait, do you have a proper surface in mind?”

–

“Well, is that surface level?”

–

“Can it hold more than 85 lbs.?”

–

“Excellent! Your EON jellyfish system should also be situated away from direct sunlight and nearby an available power source!”

–

“NOW would you like to see what’s inside?”

–

“In addition to your EON jellyfish tank, you’ll find:

  • shelves for the filter box,
  • the remote,
  • power supply and instructions for your tank lights,
  • mechanical filters,
  • carbon filters, and
  • bio balls.”

–

“Now, let’s add your premixed salt water, plug in the pump and put it all together!”

–

“First, place a shelf at the bottom of your filter box and add in the bio balls in an even layer…”

–

“…Then add a shelf…”

***please note: the micron pad is no longer included with EONs***

–

“…And place the three carbon bags on top, adjusting them so they completely fill the space for optimum filtration…”

–

“…Then add the thick mechanical filter pad…”

–

“…And place the drip tray flush to the inside just below the drain.”

Closing sequence.

Tip: The Drip Tray: Determining if Your Tank is Level or Not

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in EON Tips and Tricks

eon filter 5 25 15

Are you having repeated issues with ammonia spikes even after cycling your aquarium? Does your filter box look like this?

EASY FIX!

Level your tank!

You can see from the picture that only a small portion of the filter is being used. This tells us that the water is flowing down the side of the filter box and not over the filter media. The water is bypassing all of your lovely filters!  Therefore, you have no real filtration going on and will have unstable water quality because of it. That drip tray has holes in it so the water draining from the tank will be distributed OVER the filter media.  You want the water to pass through the media in the filter box, not bypass it.  The filters cannot remove any toxic wastes building up in your saltwater (i.e. ammonia, nitrite) if they don’t come in contact with it!

And remember, you will need to level the tank both left to right AND front to back!

Level your Jellyfish Tank      Leveling your jellyfish tank properly       Leveling a Jellyfish Tank

With the lids removed, the level should be placed across the middle of the tank as shown in the pictures.

The bubble in a level needs to be exactly in the MIDDLE of the hash marks.

If you would like to see a video of how the filter box is supposed to look when it’s leveled properly, check out the Videos page on moonjellyfish.com.