Ever since I heard about the Cubic Orbit 20 Jellyfish tank, all I could think about was jellyfish, jellyfish, jellyfish. We first came across the Cubic Orbit 20 Jellyfish tank last year at InterZoo and couldn’t be more excited to set it up when it it was received last week.
We love the simple, yet sophisticated design which incorporates all the working parts of a Jellyfish tank into one attractive design. The Orbit 20 is a six Gallon tank and is the perfect size for a desktop, living room, or simple bedroom aquarium. If you are looking for something larger for more showy and demanding species of jellyfish, Cubic also make a larger model called the Pulse 80, which is a 23 gallon, all-in-one Jellyfish tank.
The Orbit 20’s circular shape is the ideal balance of form meets function; the Orbit 20 is designed to create a kreisel flow which directs water to spin in a circular motion within the circular display and filter chambers. This approach is essential in all jellyfish tanks as it keeps the jellyfish from hitting the walls and damaging their bells.
The filtration system of the Orbit 20 includes a sponge, porous ceramic rocks, and a small pump in the tank’s outer filter chamber. The small powerhead pump runs fairly quiet and all the components are hidden behind the removable magnetic faceplate. The filtration system works by having a sponge for mechanical filtration at the top, water first passes from the tank through the sponge and any larger detritus or food particles are stopped here.
The water then passes below through the rocks to further filter the water biologically, and the water is then pulled up into the pump and through the “spray bar” which creates the kreisel current in the tank. There is an adjustable red screw on the spray bar which allow you to control the flow speed within your tank.
A very unique aspect of the tank is the built-in LED lighting system. The lighting system comes with a remote control which allows you to flip through, various color modes and display settings. You can leave the tank running on any of the 15 colors including a simple white light, or you can pick one of the rotating color modes, like strobe or fade. This novel jellyfish tank concept can also double as a super awesome mood light since the casual observer will be unaware of the filter system completely hidden within.
We were pretty excited to set up our very first jellyfish tank, the instructions are easy to follow and it took less than an hour to assemble. Before using the Cubic 20 for live jellyfish you will have to let the tank condition for a week or more after you set it up, so it was only the initial tank build and preparation which took this long.
Once the tank is set up and running you will still have to add the saltwater and some live rock/sand to begin the bacterial culture of the of the porous ceramic rocks. You will be able to get everything you need at your local fish store, and you can check back here as we will be posting Part 2. when our tank is conditioned and ready for some jellies. [Cubic]
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We would also like to mention that we found the Cubic website to have lots of great information. In the resource section you can download the PDF version of the Orbit 20 and Pulse 80 User Manual, Jellyfish husbandry guides and this sweet intro to jellyfish poster. We’ve included this link which will take you directly to the download page where you can download your free high quality jellyfish poster.
