Feeding one Blue Blubber Jellyfish and nitrate levels

I'm brand new to the whole saltwater scene and have had my 3-gallon aquarium with one jellyfish in it for two weeks--no plants, just sand and live rock. All my levels are normal (pH=8, nitrite=0, ammonia=0), except for nitrates, which are at a whopping 80 ppm, despite daily water changes of 25-30% for the past four days and tank cleanings to remove algae. Jelly is listlessly pulsing near the bottom of the tank.

I suspect I may be overfeeding my blue blub (hence the high nitrate levels), but no one seems to have a clear answer on how much to feed it. The pet store guy said twice a week--false, as I'm pretty sure I starved my first blue blub to death on that plan. The blogs I've read say once to twice daily, but they are all related to translucent moon jellies and they all say "until you can see their stomachs full." My blue blubber is pretty much opaque, so I can't see the stomachs.

I've been feeding it half a tab of frozen brine shrimp in the morning and then 1/4 cap of Reef brand zooplankton in the afternoon.

More? Less? Any suggestions about feeding appreciated (or suggestions on how to get nitrates down). Thanks!!

 

Sorry, I can't help you with the feeding issue.
If you don't mind my asking, are you planning on keeping him in your 3 gal forever? I've heard they can get over a foot across.

 

From what I understand, they won't get that big in captivity, but if he does grow, I'll get a larger tank. I'm not planning on putting anything else in there with him. Actually, I'm having the opposite problem right now--his mass is shrinking, but from what I've read, that's due to water quality and/or underfeeding.

 

Perhaps there are nitrates in your tap water? Before adding the water to your tank, take a water test of the tap water.

 

From what I've heard jelly fish can not have live rock and need a tank with no corners. Simply put they get stuck/cut on the shard sides of the live rock. You should check if your pet store sells pre made saltwater it almost never has any unwanted nitrates or phosphates.

 

I wonder if your blue blub is still kicking... I was going to ask the same question..
I just got mine 3 weeks ago. Unfortunately one didn't make it past the second week. So, one lone blue blubber for a 2 gal tank. Now I am just learning the nitrogen cycle and finally got the water chemistry going towards the right direction. I've been feeding mine (about 1"-1.5" bell size) at least 1 tap of the HikarI frozen brine shrimps per meal, 2 meals a day. He seems to take it all in a short time, so I may give it more if nitrite/nitrate numbers don't go crazy. I tried fresh baby brine shrimps; that's even harder to judge how much to feed..