
Spotted Jellyfish
Mastigias papua
Reef Safe
Reef Safe
Care Summary
The Spotted Jellyfish, or Lagoon Jelly, is a photosynthetic jellyfish that hosts zooxanthellae in its tissues and supplements its filter-feeding diet with light, making it one of the few jellyfish that can be kept under reef lighting. These animals require a kreisel tank or a specially designed kreisel-style display to keep them gently tumbling in circular flow without getting sucked into intakes or folded against walls. The expert rating is not about water chemistry but engineering: standard reef sumps, powerheads, and overflow designs will injure or kill jellies instantly, and building or buying a proper system is a significant investment. Feed daily with live or frozen Artemia nauplii and phytoplankton, and provide moderate reef-grade lighting for at least eight hours a day to support their symbiotic algae.
