JellyTank Jellyfish Aquarium

Blake and Brock, Please review ticket #2323 Warping and Leaking, and give me a call. Just want to resolve the issues.

I’ve messaged, emailed, even tried calling and....nothing. No tank, no jellies. What gives, guys? I’m going to challenge this transaction through my card company... I’m beyond disappointed from what I’ve read and also experienced thus far. Expectation management, I guess....

I live 2 hours from u guys. Where is my tank?

How has there been no update since April? I thought they were obligated to provide frequent updates with how the project is going? This is robbery!

So I ordered one last jelly, and it arrived big and beautiful but with a hole in the top of the bell. That didn't seem to make a huge difference- it was pulsing beautifully, feeding, etc. Jellyfish Art asked me about the foods I was feeding, and assured me they were good nutrition and it should heal. A few days later, the hole was more of a small indentation- it was clearly healing well. Last night he looked great. This morning when I got up, the whole top of the bell is shredded. I have no idea what happened. It clearly got stuck to something or injured by something overnight. It's still pulsing and moving around, but I give up. This will be the last jelly I purchase. This tank is a killing machine, and the Gratton brothers refuse to address that.
I only hope now that there is a class action lawsuit so we can all get our money back from them.

If i am looking for a refund instead, who can i contact to submit the request?
anyone here has active contact information?

does anyone got a bill for the customs outside of america?
If yes, where do you have the bill from?
I'm from germany and my jelly tank is readya to pick up at customs but they don't give it to me without a bill or something like that...

Terry Feinberg- please check your Facebook messenger "other" box.
Thanks!

Terry Feinberg- is it the light bar, or the controller that went out? I did find the controller and remote cheap. It took almost a month to arrive (just got it today!), but it is coming from China, and it DID arrive at least.
http://www.dx.com/p/5-24v-rgb-led-light-strip-controller-white-157740 This controller **appears** to be the same, but I am not positive.
https://www.amazon.com/HitLights-Multicolor-Strip-Remote-Controller/dp/B00BD8PM1U/ref=pd_sbs_60_41… I have been searching, but haven't found a source for the light bar itself. I will keep searching and post if I find it!

Where is my tank?

Same here still no tank

@chapman Lo Yep no tank for me

so is anyone else without their tank or is it just me?
btw im an early bird also but i live in canada

@Kelvin Mao - Thanks for the tip, I think I'll go ahead and make that switch. It might also help explain why my first set of jellyfish kept getting smaller even when I resolved all the water quality issues. I got my new jellies a couple days ago, I ordered 3 and moonjellyfish.com sent me a bonus one free so that's awesome. The new ones do swim right up to the filter slits but so far so good, the current just forms a wall that keeps them away. My little guy left over from the first set of jellyfish I bought is tiny compared to the new ones, but all seems to be going well so far.

@Terry Feinberg- check Tracy Kelley's posts. I believe she found an inexpensive LED controller.
@Michael Topper- I recommend switching food and ditching the Ocean Nutrition Food Instant Baby Brine that came with the tank, and using either the frozen food sold by moonjellyfish.com or the dried JetFuel sold by jellyfishwarehouse.com. Sunset Labs has informed me that the instant baby brine isn't effective nutrition for jellyfish and hard on water quality and filters.
I'm now using dried food and it keeps for much longer than the jarred stuff. Plus the uneaten food sticks together in larger clumps making it far easier to siphon out.

Thank you Michael Topper - I read one of your earlier posts and purchased the water kit early on. I am also in the process of getting the pump you recommended, since the one that came with it is "cr_p" (and also the refractometer); the websites you mention are great resources. Thank you for the info - please keep us posted on updates. (Once I get the new pump, and update the tank, I do plan on ordering jellies from where you mentioned. I may also put in the netting mentioned on another post to help minimize and jellies getting sucked in to the filter slots). I am not sure (to Laura McCartan) if you can use the tank for other fish... I am not sure how the bio balls work (or how effective they are), but the filtering mechanism is not that great (I believe), and I think the higher frequency of water changes (20% every week) helps balance that. Let us know if you try it and if it this works for you. :) Best of luck.

I was an early backer. Got a leaking tank and actually had it replaced. We were moving, so I waited a couple of months before starting to cycle. No response from JellyTank when trying to order jellies and then I found Sunset Marine Labs/moonjellyfish.com. I'm glad I did because the JellyTank method of just putting in bacteria will not work. I went through Sunset Marine's cycling program, ordered jellies and in 24 hours lost $160 worth. Chemistry readings shot back up and it appeared to go into a second cycle. Not giving up, and am completing the cycling again and will try once more. In the meantime, my light failed. JellyTank responds every 2-3 days but doesn't say anything, even when I tell them I want to buy another (couldn't find anything similar online). Does anybody who has a dead jellytank in their closet want to sell me their light? BTW - I've had 3 good and 2 bad Kickstarter experiences. Those odds aren't good enough for me - never again.

I don't know if I'd necessarily call mine a success story but I do have one jellyfish that is still alive after about 4 months, and it's been months since I've had any get stuck in the filter slots. For starters, replace the pump. The pump that comes with the tank is a piece of crap, you can buy a new one for super cheap on Amazon, this is the one I bought:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078XQ3FCL/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00… The pump should be suctioned to the bottom of the tank (in the back, of course). It's a huge pain in the ass to get it down there, but this is critical, I haven't had any issues with stuck jellies since I put it down there. If you use the pump that came with the tank it's too weak, when it's attached to the bottom of the tank it barely has enough power to get water all the way up the tube and you'll get a trickle of water coming out of the spray bar. Honestly since I changed the pump the jellyfish don't really get anywhere near the filter slits or spray bar anymore, the current keeps them away. I keep the water level somewhere between the top of the filter slits and the spray bar. Not sure how much that matters, but keep in mind the lower the water level the harder the pump has to work to get water up to the top. It took me a long time to get the water quality stable and I had some issues with spoiled food. I'm still not entirely sure how to tell when the food goes bad (the smell gets pretty rough but to be honest it never exactly smells good), I've taken to just buying a new jar every 4 weeks and throwing out the old one. I lost one of my jellies a couple months ago (I think to spoiled food) and the other two shrank quite a bit due to the various food and water quality issues. The one just died this week, unfortunately I think it was only a matter of time because she had shrunk away to almost nothing, but she hung on longer than I expected. My 3rd jellyfish is considerably smaller than he started but doing well, and the water quality has been near perfect for about a month now so I finally ordered him some friends off moonjellyfish.com, they should arrive tomorrow. Oh, and I'm guessing it's been mentioned before but everyone NEEDS to buy a saltwater testing kit. I recommend this one, super easy to use:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EUE808/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00…
Hopefully that link takes you right to the saltwater kit, but note that there are a bunch of options under 'style' so make sure you pick saltwater. I also recommend a refractometer, the swing arm hydrometer that comes with the starter kit can be a little unreliable. Here's the one I have:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ES6MOQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00… Sorry for the huge post, but hopefully this info helps some people. Also check out http://www.jellyfishcare.com/ and https://www.moonjellyfish.com/ for tons of good info on cycling, water maintenance, etc. I'm happy to answer any other questions to the best of my ability.

Sorry for this very basic question, but can you use the jellyfish tank for fish? If it kills jellyfish is there anything else to do with it?

Thank you Tracy Kelley and Kelvin Mao for your many suggestions and comments, and to others who have posted. To answer ErinAshley, I have been sent a tank (that did not leak) back in December and bought jellies right away - they lasted a few days until they died due to what I have been able to figure out was the impact of being sucked into the filter, etc - I figured this out by all the postings here on this site, not by any response from tickets I have put in. I have put in a thread of tickets and request for assistance which have all gone effectively unanswered. I will stay tune here to see if the tank can be used eventually, but I do not want to get more jellies unless I believe I can keep them alive and healthy/happy... I do ask the same question of whether or not anyone has been successful in keeping the jellies. My pump is very very slow, so I wonder if it is effective at all (yet the jellies definitely got stuck) and I question the effectiveness of the mechanical filter (what little time I had the tank, it was definitely had to keep it clean). I do appreciate everyones posts on suggestions and status. Thanks.

I haven't received my tank and they aren't responding to my messages. This is plain theft/fraud. Does anyone know whether we have any recourse to Kickstarter?

I am curious to know if anyone has had a positive experience with their tank?

Still haven't heard back, I've responded twice more to the email chain. Just going to leave this in a closet, it seems.

Like I said in an earlier post... it was a cool idea, the product is just bad. I za till havent received my tank, and to be honest I I ok t want it. Seems like too much of a headache. Told them to keep my tank and my money, no big deal. Hell donate my tank to a school or something. This campaign has really left a bad taste in my mouth about backing on kickstarter. I bet there are other campaigns that are gonna be legit but wont get backed due to campaigns like this, flameflex, and mixxr, that ain't about shit.. btw all campaigns ive backed and been burned by :(

Agreed- my experience with their support dept has been intermittent at best and I did wonder if they monitor the comments anymore. It's possible the spraybar problem is a manufacturing defect with early batches, rather than a design issue. If so, they should just send everyone replacement spraybars.
The tank seems to be available for retail sale on their site, and I can't imagine how long that could go on if a majority of the tanks have this problem.

Well, their MO seems to be responding to a help ticket, and then never actually following through with anything after that, so I don't have much hope- but I did suggest in my response to their email below that they come to this page and read the comments, so they would see that numerous people are having the exact same issue of jellyfish sticking to the spraybar and being injured/killed.

Another typo in my spraybar mod description- the cut dimensions should read 7" x 2.5", so at least 1.5" should be hanging in the water. It should look at a "7" from the side when finished.

Ridiculous- there's clearly a siphon effect in play if/when a jelly makes enough contact with one of the spraybar holes to form a seal. I'll bet this can be easily demoed with a q-tip and a small piece of saran wrap.
To me this means either the pressure out of the individual holes isn't high enough to repel the jellies before this can happen(underpowered pump), or the spraybar design does not maintain equal pressure across all the holes, allowing for "weak spots" to occur(bad design).
I also think the holes are probably too big. If you look at other spraybar designs they usually involve protruding nozzles with smaller round holes.
I have my doubts about the efficiency of the mechanical filter as well, but that's a separate issue. I do think cutting two pieces of that plastic mesh matching the filter pads and placing them in with the pads between the pads and the main tank chamber would prevent the jellies from being stuck or sucked through.

Thanks for the detailed description! I can picture what you are describing. I heard back from Jellytank about my third help ticket regarding this. Their response: "Hi Tracy Kelley, which pump a did you replace this with? Our spray bar is not defective, so we believe a after market pump is causing these issues with the spray bar. Let us know so we can fix this issue. We are sorry to hear about you jellys and look forward to resolving this asap." I responded that the pump was replaced in an attempt to stop the jellies from sticking to the spray bar with the original pump. Anyone who has had this same issue, please put in another help ticket. They need to hear from all of us so they will fix this issue.

To clarify- when I said "Then I opened it up slightly" I meant the fold, NOT the mylar itself. Unfortunately you can't edit comments.

Tracy- For some reason my PH seems to be trending low. One of my jellies bells far less frequently than the rest from when I got them and I wondered if a water quality issue could be a cause. They also don't seem to ever get as full as the online pics and adding more food just dirties the tank. I read that high PH can adversely influence feeding, but nothing about low. I bought a bottle of Fluval Sea Alkalinity to try and boost the PH.
I'm confused the lack of consensus regarding salinity- the Jellytank instructions say 30-35ppt, Jellyfishcare.com 32-35ppt, Moonjellyfishblog 31-33ppt, and Jellyfishart says 28-32ppt, so I've been trying to keep it pegged at 31-32ppt.
I checked out the mesh video and it looks promising for covering the filter intakes as in the video, but not so sure about the spraybar. I worry the thickness of the mesh might redirect the spraybar flow too much.
It's difficult to explain without visual aids, but my solution was to take an archival mylar(inert and non-reactant) sleeve- the kind used to store/preserve expensive comicbooks. I cut a 7" x 3.5" piece using a corner of the sealed(blunt) bottom to form two sides. Then bent it in half lengthwise 1" from the open end, really pressing hard to get a uniform fold. The mylar won't want to fold so you need to use a hard straight object- I used a metal ruler. Then I opened it up slightly and laid it on top of the spraybar with the 1" portion on top(the top of the spraybar is pretty much exactly 7" x 1") and the 2.5" portion hanging down into the water. Make sure this is the blunt sealed end of the mylar as the cut edges are very sharp. Position it so the fold in the mylar is right up against the front-facing top edge of the spraybar. This creates an angled tensioned barrier pressed against the curved side of the spraybay, but protruding about 3/8" past the bottom. Then I took a piece of U2 Fluval filter foam and cut a piece about 1" x 7" and pressed it between my mylar "flap" atop the spray bar and the inside top of the tank overhanging the spraybar. This keeps the mylar from moving as the spraybar flow pushes against it. The theory here is that A) the flap keeps the jellies from getting close enough to a spraybar hole to clog it, and B) also makes the spraybar current more uniform along the gap between the mylar and the rear tank wall(hopefully mitigating any partially clogged holes). My one initial concern was that even the blunt sealed edge of the mylar would be too sharp for the jellies(I originally envisioned making the flap using teflon tape), but so far so good. The flow strength of the water may be dulled slightly by the flap, but still goes straight down over the intakes. I thought I might need to increase the pump speed by one click, but again- so far so good, so I've left it alone.
Sorry for the long post. A pic would've made it so much simpler. The materials cost was negligible- the Fluval filter pads cost 91 cents a pair, and 4 mil Mylar(NOT Mylite which isn't rigid enough) bags are $22 for 25- both on Amazon. I happen to have both lying around. Now I have to go buy mesh...

Kelvin, I usually test the water weekly, when I do water changes. Once in awhile I have skipped a week of testing, but the parameters are always good. I am very careful with the salinity too.
Hey, I was reading on a Jellyfish forum, and a lady posted a video about how she fixed her JFA tank, after her jelly got stuck to the filter. Someone from JFA suggested this fix, and it has me thinking.... I wonder if we could suction cup a piece of this mesh over the spray bar? I got in contact with the lady, and the mesh came from a craft store (Michaels) and is usually sold for cross stitching. It would take some experimenting, but it would be an inexpensive fix.
https://youtu.be/YuMVPczkBOc

@Tracy Kelley- I'm very sorry to hear things haven't been going well with your tank. And really bummed to hear the replacement pump might not be all that reliable. Do you check your water quality readings regularly? Could the inversion problem be related to PH/ammonia/nitrate imbalance? Wish I could offer some help. I feel like my spraybar mod is working, but I guess I have to wait awhile longer to be sure.
I feel the same way about the tank in regards to all the extra costs. I suspect saving for an Orbit 20 may have been the better way to go, but I'm not sure the notion of owning a jellyfish tank would've ever occurred to me if I hadn't stumbled across this kickstarter campaign.

I still havent got mine in Canada yet
And after reading many bad reviews here is it possible for me to get a refund instead?

@Kelvin Mao- my replacement pump failed a week ago. I got to work, and nothing was moving. After some trial and error (did the surge protector fail? Did the circuit breaker trip?) I pulled the pump out of the tank, and it smelled like smoke. :( The jelly was laying at the bottom, not moving. I put the original pump back on the tank, and as the flow started moving, he started to follow the current, but was inverted. I have spent hours this week gently turning it back, but it never sticks. One tank rotation, and it's inverted again every time. I seriously just give up for now. I have tried to do everything right, and I just can't beat the odds on this tank. I think I am going to drain it once this poor jelly is shrunken up, and maybe save for a brand that has been around longer. I am so disappointed.

@Tracy Kelley- Wow, a couple of weeks! Hard to imagine that it would be fine for so long and then start having problems. I will say that compared to your video, I'm having noticeably less current. The jellies don't circle the tank nearly as quickly- though there is some variation.
Clogging of some kind could be an issue, but I would think any disruption in flow would be noticeable by looking at the speed the jellies are moving. Which setting is your pump at now? Still 2 clicks below max?
My guess is that it's more likely algae or other debris is causing uneven flow through the spraybar holes- which all really need to spray at the same rate.
I wonder if anyone makes a pump where the speed control was on the cord so it can be changed without having to pull it out of the water.
Water change itself went ok, but can't believe how dirty this thing gets in a week. I've also switched food from the instant brine shrimp that came with the tank to a dried type from jellyfishwarehouse.com. It's been making cleaning up the uneaten food a bit easier- tho I did end up ordering a longer replacement device for the far-too-short turkey baster. Every time I stuck my hand in to get stuff on the bottom, it threatened to overflow the tank.
I can't imagine it would be salt causing clogs since in theory it's supposed to be well-dissolved head of saltwater going in the tank. I mixed my first change gallon a few days before use and just mixed enough for the next two weeks.

@Kelvin Mao- I didn't have one stick the first couple of weeks I had the new pump in the tank. As I think about it, I wonder if the issue is related to salt clogging the spray bar and/or tubing. I clean those, but wonder if I need to do it more often. It just doesn't make sense to me that I could go 2 or 3 weeks without one getting stuck, and then they start sticking again. I'd love to try some different things, but the jellies are so expensive that it is prohibitive. How did your water change go?

@Tracy Kelley- So far, so good but you definitely have the most experience. What's the longest your tank has gone without a jelly getting caught in the spraybar or filter pads?

@ErinAshleyHall- thanks! I'm sorry your tank leaked after you finally received it! But honestly, it might be a blessing in disguise. My last jelly is having issues with the spray bar and has now inverted- I can't get it to remain "un-inside-outed" as my students say. ;). I am not going to order any more jellyfish until I am confident the spraybar issue is resolved. Not only is it expensive to keep ordering and trying out homemade fixes, but I also feel horrible that the jellies are getting killed.I can't believe the Gratton's are saying they know nothing about the sprayer issue. I put in 2 help tickets about it (and am confident many others did as well!) , and if they would so much as glance at this page, they would sure know about it! @KelvinMao- I sure hope your fix works! Please share your success once you feel it is working long enough! I am definitely willing to modify the tank as needed, but I am so afraid to order any more jellies as the tank is now.

@Tracy- Hopefully I'm not jumping the gun, but think I've finally solved the spraybar problem with a fairly easy modification. It's been 2 days with no stuck jellies- we'll see how long it lasts. Fingers crossed.
Unfortunately I did lose one, but that was my fault and unrelated to the spraybar, Today will also be my first 20% water change, so I'm going to ladle the jellies into a holding container so I can also clean the tank.
@ErinAshley Hall- I found the staff responded readily to any simple questions, but go silent regarding any inquiries that might result in having to admit there are problems with the tanks.
BTW, one thing I did in prep for getting the tank having read about the leak situation was look for a pan/base for the tank that could catch any leaks- the room the tank's in has hardwood floors. I found a lab equipment retailer called New Pig(newpig.com) that sells a "mini drip deck" that's perfectly sized for the jellytank. It's a raised hollow plastic base with a grated top and holds up to 1.5 gal of water- so almost a 3rd of the tank's capacity. Anyway more of an FYI, as I'm not sure how many people out there want to put even more time/effort/money into this thing.

@Tracy and @ Kelvin
I thank you for what you two are both doing. Your posts are more insightful and you are both more active on here than the creators.
I finally got my tank mid-last week (wrong color despite assurances from Blake that my tank was ready to go). A bunch of stuff also 'leaked' everywhere inside and of course, now I am waiting to hear back from someone in the office on what to do.
Before they stopped responding this last round, I tried to ask how to avoid the jellies getting stuck/shredded; their response was that it was not an issue that had come up during their testing & said they couldn't speak as to why......
Judging from others, I can only assume I will run into some operating questions and concerns going forward, but I wanted to say to you both that I really appreciate your comments. Fingers crossed, we can all learn from your experiences so far.

@Tracy Kelley- New tip. Today I had my first two instances of jellies getting stuck inside the actual spraybar vent holes, which shouldn't seem possible. But thinking about it, you could get a suction effect if a hole that was already partially clogged, due to perhaps being dirty, got covered by a jelly. I used one of those plastic toothpicks- the kind with the bristles, to clean out the two center vent holes and I haven't had a another caught since. I was originally going to use a pipe cleaner, but worried the metal might react adversely with the water. So that might be something to try if you're having that particular problem. I've been mulling over various engineering solutions to the spraybar problems and think what's really needed is a way to keep the jellies from getting too close to the spraybar vents, that doesn't also impede the water flow. I feel like recessing the entire bank of holes(up) behind the bottom edge of the spraybar might do it, but am guessing that have any hard edges in the tank is also probably something to avoid. No jellies killed yet, but a couple are looking ratty.

The LED controller to my light strip stopped working, and my son found an exact replacement for $3.50- just in case anyone else needs to get one!
http://www.dx.com/p/5-24v-rgb-led-light-strip-controller-white-157740

@Tracy Kelley- Thx for the info regarding removal of the spraybar! I feel confident if I can seal the gap on the bottom edge, that will solve at least that problem. I ordered some aquarium epoxy, but not sure if it's a mod I can make with the jellies in the tank. I tried filling the gap with a piece of mylar(inert) today, but it's wasn't quite thick enough. I think the material really needs to be something flexible and compressible enough to make a comprehensive seal. The suction must be due to some kind of effect from being so close to the spraybar output. Hard to believe it can be completely from the pump, because if you think about it all the pump is doing is lowering the water level of the rear chamber so the suction comes solely from the equalization of water levels between rear and front sections. I supposed if there's a clean gap through the hole for the spraybar that would be the point of least resistance, but I can't imagine the suction effect would be that strong. I wonder if this would happen with inhabitants slightly more "substantial" fish than moon jellyfish. Will keep you apprised of my progress.

And yes- lowering the water to stop them from getting stuck was one of the first things I tried- it did stop them from getting stuck to the spray bar, but it also lessened the circulation enough that they could then get sucked right through the filter pads and into the filtration media, killing them. That is definitely not a solution, as you said.

Kelvin Mao- I have removed the spraybar- it unscrew easily from the filter section. Unhook the tubing, and just unscrew it.
Thanks for the update! I sure hope it's a simple fix like you are thinking. I really like the look of the tank, and want it to work!

@Tracy Kelley- Well, one jelly got stuck between the spraybar and the tank wall overnight. I was able to free him by shutting down the pump and using a small plastic spoon to create a vortex nearby. It left a mark, but he's still alive. I don't know if anyone from the campaign in monitoring the comments, but I think I understand what's happening here.
Due likely to the flexibility of the acrylic walls of the case, there's a slight amount of warping/flexing going on- which might only happen when the tank is full, keeping the spraybar from staying 100% flush against the wall of the tank. This is creating a small gap between where a slight vacuum is being formed- due to either suction from the back section through the hole the spraybar is being installed, or some kind of local "vortex effect" adjacent to the spraybar holes. This would likely vary between tanks depending on the manufacturing tolerances of the spraybar. It must be a relatively low probability for my tank as I've watched my jellies get right up to the gap and be pushed away by the spray bar. I'm guessing a jelly's tentacle would have to get wedge up there to a certain point in order to get stuck and then the suction progressively pulls them further in.
In any case, the solution would seem to be to add a rubber washer/gasket on the rear section spraybar fastening point to make it 100% watertight, OR adding a rectangular rubber or foam gasket between the spraybar and the tank wall in the front section- thereby sealing the gap across the entire bottom lip of the spraybar. I actually think lowering the water level, as some people have mentioned trying, may actually make the problem worse as it disrupts the circular waterflow being assisted by the curved leading edge of the spraybar.
I guess I'll watch and see how frequently its trapping my jellies and perhaps attempt a repair/mod- which would definitely require temporary removal of the jellies.
Since you've replaced both the pump and hose, have you had occasion to remove the spraybar?? Curious if you or anyone else in the comments knows how it's attached.

@Tracy Kelley- 4 mediums received today from moonjellyfish.com. Water acclimation and first feeding completed without issue. None stuck yet, but every time one gets close to the filter intakes, I'm poised to unplug the pump! I've seen some of them skim right over the filter intakes without getting snagged, but usually it's the top of the bell as opposed to the tentacle side. Will keep you apprised.

Kelvin Mao- it did seem to move the water in a better flow when I pushed the pump further down in the back of the tank. One of my little ones still got stuck to the spray bar and shredded after I did that, but my medium (all three were ordered as mediums, but one was much bigger than the other two) is the only one that has not gotten stuck at all. The smaller jellies just seem unable to stay far away from the spray bar for some reason. I wish you much success! Please post an update down the road. I am down to one jelly again, but afraid to order any more.

I have a leak in my tank on initial fill. I have open a ticket on your website 6 days ago and update it everyday. No one has answered. :( I have video if needed of the issue.