Water salinity and jellyfish

Hello all, this is my very first saltwater tank that has one blue blubber jellyfish in it. It's in a 3.0 gallon aquarium with filtration, lighting system, etc (Marineland kit). This is my second jellyfish, as I accidentally killed the first one after one week--not sure how, but I suspect I underfed it (I was feeding it 1/4 cap of reef zooplankton twice a week per instructions from pet store employee). That first jellyfish was in tank water from its original tank. When it died, I didn't change the water.

The new one was from the same tank at the pet store and I was given extra water from its original tank to help acclimate it so I took out about half the water from the last batch and added the new water and jelly. It's been 24 hours and it's floundering around on the bottom of the tank, bell down. I read somewhere this is due to the salinity of the water (but if anyone has any other ideas, PLEASE let me know). I added some saltwater (pre-mixed from pet store, allegedly from Catalina), and the jelly seemed to perk up for a few hours, but now he's back to floating around the bottom of the tank. Bought a hydrometer to check salinity, and the reading is off the charts, which can't be correct seeing as how most of the water is from the pet store's tank.

Not sure what to do to get the little guy to perk up. Any help is appreciated! Thank you!!

 

Do you know about the nitrogen cycle?

 

Ah, no. This might explain some things. Do you have a suggestion as to what I should do with the jelly while the tank goes through the nitrogen cycle?

 

I can't seem to link them on my phone, but there are stickies on the forum on how cycle. Or Google nitrogen cycle aquarium, and that should get some results for you.

 

https://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

 

https://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Thanks

 

Thanks for the posts above all! Ok, so I read up on the nitrogen cycle and bought a testing kit. Here are my levels:

pH: 8.0
Nitrites: b/w 0.0-0.25
Ammonia: b/w 0.0-0.25
Nitrates: 40 ppm

I did a 25% water change this morning and put in a 1/8 cap full of Microbe-lift special blend just in case. Little dude is still swimming near the bottom.

Any suggestions or do I just need to be patient for tank to fully cycle?

 

I've never kept jellies. And it's been awhile since I've had a Saltwater set up. Maybe one of the resident experts in Saltwater can offer some advice Slug AquaticBrandon Mike
Good luck

 

Welcome to Fishlore!
I don't really have experience with jellyfish. What kind of tank do you have it in? I know they can be quite fragile and need a special tank like a Kreisel tank I believe. The jellyfish might be at the bottom of because of the ammonia and nitrite in the tank. I would keep doing partial water changes to bring it down.

 

I have it in a Marineland 3 gallon tank with rounded corners, LED light, and filtration. It's alone in there--no other fish, jellies, etc. I have a "live" rock covering the filter to make sure the little guy doesn't get sucked in and sand with bacteria in it from the original tank he was kept in at the fish store.

I'll keep doing partial water changes over the next few days and see if my levels even out. Do you think 25% daily is ok, or should I do more/less?

 

25% daily should be good. It should be enough since the tank is only 3 gallons. But if the ammonia rises or seems like it isn't going down I would up to 50%. Also it was good that you covered the filter intake. I've heard of jellyfish getting sucked up filter intakes.

 

I don't know much about how to keep jellies, but I think the blue blubber jellies actually are symbiotic with algae so they need special lighting. you may want to look into that more.