Tag: tank

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. 

The Jelly Jig, A Dance of Nerve Damage

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in Sick Jellyfish?

You may notice your jellies starting to curl up and move their bells in an erratic, clockwise or counter-clockwise rippling fashion instead of a normal pulse. We like to call this symptom “the Jellyfish Jig” and it indicates trouble in your tank.

 

The cause is linked to nerve damage in your jelly, which can arise is several ways.

-Your tank pH spiked suddenly: If you’re having pH problems in your tank, you have to adjust the chemistry slowly. If you add a ton of buffer or change too much carbon all at once, it may bring your pH up too quickly. Jellies always need to be acclimated to new conditions, even within the same system, so even though your goal is a pH of 8.0-8.2, you don’t want to get it there in a few minutes.

-Your jellies experienced sudden temperature change: If you took your jellies out of your tank for a major cleaning and dumped them right back in, or if you did your weekly change with some water from your refrigerator, that can have serious consequences for your jellies. Again, they require stable conditions to be happy and healthy. Always be mindful of temperature when your jellies are going to experience changes in their water.

-Your jellies’ food is too acidic: If you use shelf-stable jellyfish food, or you allow your frozen or refrigerated food to spoil, it can be highly toxic to your jellies. Live food is always best, frozen enriched food is a close second, but using anything below that in quality poses the risk of poisoning your system.

-Your jellies were stuck to the bottom or side of your tank for too long: If your tank flow is dialed down too low or your jellies are getting too big for their system, you may see them start to get stuck to the walls of their space like a suction cup. When this happens, they can no longer exchange nutrients and gases with their environment, so they will start to degrade. Not to mention, they will continue attempting to bell, which can lead to them pulling out their own oral arms. If you see them stuck to the sides or bottom, gently squirt some water at them with a clean turkey baster from a diagonal position to try and lift them off (be sure not to squirt all the water out because that can create problematic air bubbles). If that won’t work, gently nudge the edge of their bell with the end of the baster or another clean, rounded object.

In most cases, your jellies won’t be able to recover from this condition, but you can at least prevent it from happening to future jellies or any survivors.

 

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.

Having Trouble with Low pH?

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in Keeping a Healthy Tank

Low pH can have adverse effects on moon jellyfish over time, especially when it drops below 7.6. This problem is common in aquariums with filtration systems that don’t allow for adequate aeration or disturbance of water.

IMG_2337.JPG

The optimal pH for moon jellyfish is 8.0-8.2. As pH lowers below this range, the water becomes more acidic and harbors excess carbon dioxide (CO₂). If prolonged, the lower-than-optimal pH can cause pitting in the bell, eversion, and bell shrinkage in jellies. Although moon jellyfish are commonly described as being “hardy” and “tolerant” of extreme water quality levels, too extreme can and will eventually cause them damage.

Screen Shot 2018-06-15 at 3.23.26 PM.png
A damaged jellyfish after living in <7.6 water. Photo from our Cubic Orbit 20 Aeration video.

 

Filters that allow for splashing and rapid movement of water through them introduces oxygen to the system, keeping the pH up by steadily off-gassing that harmful CO₂. When filters are completely submerged in water, the rate at which the water is moving through them is little to none and can negatively affect both the water quality of your aquarium and the beneficial bacteria that you’ve worked so hard to grow during cycling. If the water isn’t moving through the filters, then the filters are doing nothing to clean the water. Adequate and efficient water flow through the filters is necessary for both the water quality and beneficial bacteria to stay in tip-top shape.

Luckily, this is an easy fix!

There’s all kinds of water conditioners, additives, and buffers on the market today that are specifically made to raise pH… for normal fish tanks, however. Since jellyfish are 96% water, they are a bit more sensitive to the chemical makeup of water than normal saltwater fish. So, adding in a bunch of chemical powders and liquids, especially into a small desktop jellyfish aquarium with less than 10 gallons of volume, isn’t always the best idea and can cause more harm than good! So, don’t do it!

Instead, we recommend the following tips to help keep your pH optimal:

  1. Adding a bubbler is an easy and worry-free fix to raise pH. Bubblers (also known as aerators) constantly introduce oxygen to the water via bubbles. Most aerators include a valve or dial to alter the rate of bubbles giving you more control, which is even better.
    • It’s best to place the bubbler in the filter compartment, away from the pump,  and as far down to the bottom of the tank as possible. This way, the bubbles are not being sucked into the pump and have a longer path to reach the surface, releasing a bit more oxygen into the water.
    • We like this singular speed one or this adjustable one, both available from Amazon
    • Note: You do not need an air stone, if one is included. These will only create smaller, erratic bubbles that have a higher chance of getting sucked up by the pump and into the jellyfish area – which you don’t want!
  2. Always make sure your new saltwater has a pH of 8.0-8.2. This will help raise the overall pH of your aquarium and keep it up through weekly water changes.

 

We experienced this problem when working with the 6 gallon Cubic Orbit 20 jellyfish aquarium, as you can see in the video below that we put together some time ago.

 

 

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!

How Long Will My Pet Moon Jellies Stay Alive in my Tank?

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in FAQs

Eon and logo

If you’re looking into getting new pets, it’s always important to consider how long they’ll be with you, especially if you’re going to make the effort to set up a specific living space for them.

In our many years of experience, we’ve found that in small home aquariums, your pet moon jellies will typically live for about one year after their strobilation, or their ‘birth’, from the polyps.

Now that doesn’t mean they will necessarily live a full year in your tank. The distinction here is that we aren’t sending you a set of one-day-old jellies. It takes around 2 months for us to raise them to the 1-inch ‘small’ size, so by the time they get to your tank, they’ll have another 10 months to go. If you get the 2-inch medium size, it’ll probably be closer to 9 months, and so on.

But that’s only an average!

If you keep your jellies happy and fed with a stable water system, healthy bacteria, and constant water chemistry, they could last even longer. It all comes down to how well you maintain your system. And since you’re reading this blog, you’re well on your way to being a true jellyfish master– the sky’s the limit!

 

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.

DOs & DON’Ts of Setting Up and Cycling A New Jellyfish Aquarium

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in Five Must Reads When Considering Jellyfish as Pets

Here’s some quick tips about how to properly set up a new aquarium specifically for jellyfish and things to look out for when your tank is cycling.

dos&amp;donts

  • DO use new saltwater with the following baseline water quality parameters:
    • Temperature = 65-78°F
    • Salinity = 31-33 ppt or 1.023-24 SG
    • pH = 8.0-8.1
    • These are the optimal water quality parameters for keeping moon jellyfish happy and healthy
  • DON’T add any buffers, conditioners, or additives to your aquarium water before, during, or after the cycle
    • These can throw off the water quality and disrupt or inhibit the cycle from starting
  • DO use Instant Ocean Sea Salt mix for your saltwater as it has no buffers, conditioners, or additives [Purchase from Amazon here]
  • DON’T use any salt mix labeled as “reef salt,” “pH balanced,” “probiotic,” or “enriched”
    • These tends to have extra minerals, vitamins, and higher levels of pH specific for corals, anemones, etc. in reef tanks, that jellyfish do not need
  • DO make sure your pump is plugged in, turned on, and working properly before starting the cycling process
  • DON’T keep your tank near windows and/or in direct sunlight to keep algal growth at a minimum
  • DO add distilled/RO water to compensate for evaporation (evaporation causes salinity to rise; adding freshwater helps to bring it back down)
    • Evaporation is noticeable when the water level is lower than where it started
  • DON’T add distilled/RO water near the filters – this can completely wipe out your growing bacteria colonies
    • Only add freshwater to the main viewing area and away from any direct contact with jellyfish
  • DO keep a record of weekly water quality readings, especially when cycling
  • DON’T use test strips as they often give unreliable readings
  • DO start the cycling process with a newly setup aquarium.
    • If your aquarium has been running with saltwater & the bio starter bacteria for longer than a week, you will need to dump the water and start over with all new saltwater & new bacteria.
  • DON’T perform any water or filter changes during cycling
    • This can disturb the growing beneficial bacteria and disrupt the cycle
  • DO keep an eye on the piece of shrimp in your tank when cycling (when using the “fish-less” cycling method)
    • Sometimes it can completely disintegrate before the cycle is over and will need to be replaced to keep the ammonia production up
  • DON’T freak out if your cycle isn’t exactly on track 
    • Every cycle is different and sometimes an aquarium needs an extra week to catch up
  • DON’T add a bubbler if you own a Cubic Orbit 20 jellyfish aquarium until after your tank has completely cycled
    • Since the pH naturally lowers during the cycling process, aeration can inhibit the cycle from starting

Bleaching and Dechlorinating: A Colon Cleanse for Your Jellyfish Tank

by sunsetmarinelabs, posted in Keeping a Healthy Tank

bleach

You might have noticed that no matter how many times you clean the sides of your tank with those magnetic algae scrubbers, there are just some parts of the internal anatomy of your tank that you’ll never be able to clean. Now some algae growth is normal and perfectly okay to have in any tank, but certain kinds in certain places can start to become a problem over time. Gunk from uneaten jellyfish food, bits of algae beyond the reach of scrubbing tools, and all sorts of unidentifiable crud can start to build up in your system and gum up the works in ways you may not notice until it’s too late.

But never fear! There’s a solution to these invisible clogs, and you only need to do it about once a year! Bleaching and Dechlorination.

The first thing you need to know about this process: It is absolutely lethal to anything and everything that lives in your tank. That means anything you want to survive this cleaning needs to be kept separate from your system the entire time. That means not just your jellies, but anything that has helpful bacteria on it. Filter pads, carbon bags, bio balls, all of it needs to go in a separate container with some saltwater until the system is ready to start up again.

The next important aspect of the deep clean is that it takes some time. About three hours to be specific. Now, this isn’t all hands-on, can’t-step-away-to-check-your-email time, but you don’t want to rush the process too much and have it all be for nothing.

Now essentially what you’re doing is running the bleach solution through your system to eat away all the unwanted algae and gunk, then using the dechlorinating solution to neutralize the bleach so your system will be safe enough for your jellies once it’s clean, and finally, sucking out all the dechlorinated gunk water until your tank is good as new.

For a detailed description of the process, check out page 7 of your EON instruction manual, or email our customer support team at moonjellyfish.com@gmail.com if your manual seems to have misplaced itself.