Kreisel tanks are especially good homes for delicate creatures that might injure themselves in a typical aquarium. This unusual tank design is often used to culture and display jellyfish in public aquaria, although you would not necessarily notice unless you looked carefully at the tank. The signature cylindrical shape of kreisel tanks helps maintain a rotating laminar flow of water that mimics the oceanic conditions where these delicate creatures are found. This gentle, non-turbulent flow keeps planktonic organisms in suspension and also helps to separate out debris so that the tank inhabitants are not drawn into the filter system.

“Kreisel” is the German word for a spinning top: like a top, the water column in a kreisel tank is kept in constant rotation.

Our lab maintains a large volume acrylic kreisel, ideal for observing and filming delicate plankton, as well as smaller kreisel tanks – built to bespoke sizes for us by Exotic Aquaculture – that can be used to culture zooplankton in controlled environments.

Click on the images for further details.

Plankton Kriesel Tank Movies