Ecosphere Empathy

[Sasquatch]

My wife received a tall pod ecosphere for Christmas this year. It arrived with 10 shrimp instead of the advertised 7 to 8. At first we thought the sphere was awesome, and we still do, but in the end we wanted our new family members to be able to stretch their little legs. Even though these shrimp are small, they are not that small... they needed a new home!

Long story short - 1 week after transfer all 10 shrimp are alive and well thanks to this site.

I used this site to open the sphere, prepare the new tank, and give these little guys a better quality of life. I thought you should all know that these shrimp are better off because of you.

Here is a comparison of their new home and the ecosphere -

Comparison

At 1/3 of a gallon, their new tank is not as large as many on this site, but it still doubled the ecosphere's volume. If I am lucky enough and they start breeding I will start cycling a new, larger tank!

Thanks again, and if you see anything I could further tweak in favor of the little shrimpers let me know!

[jcfrank922]

Thank you for giving these amazing little creatures a better life! I did the same thing. I purchased a smaller ecosphere with 4 shrimp before I knew these things were actually cruel and shortened their life from around 20 yrs to only 2 yrs. I ended up buying 10 more shrimp from this site, and now, a year later they all seem happy and healthy in a 3/4 gallon container I found on Amazon. This site is a wealth of information! It's great!

[Sasquatch]

Nice tank! I enjoy seeing how everyone else keep their shrimp. Have you had any breeding? I'm wondering if I need a larger tank to enduce reproduction

[jcfrank922]

From what I have read on this site, 1/2 gallon or larger, they will reproduce. Mine have not yet. It's only been 1 year for me. Hurry up and wait when it comes to Opae Ula! But they live for 20 yrs! As long as you give them the small amount of care they require, I'm pretty sure it will eventually happen.

[Sasquatch]

I plan on updating this thread over time regardless of what happens to the tank, so others may learn from my triumphs or mistakes. In spirit of that, here is the story so far -

Day 1
Ecosphere arrived with 10 shrimp.

Day 45
Ecosphere turned upsidedown and opened to the atmosphere. Shrimp fed a couple small pellets of shrimp/lobster food. I had never seen them so excited.
Gravel, lava rock, and brackish water were added to a new tank along with 2 tablespoons of ecosphere water and some macro algae to help with cycling.

Day 60
Gravel, lava rock, and macro algae removed from new tank, the water then poured out, and the rocks then put back in. All ecosphere contents including the shrimp, sea fan, rocks, shells, water, and macro algae transferred into the new tank, filling it half way. The remaining volume was filled by brackish water half the salinity recommended on the bag.
Shrimp fed another couple pellets.

Day 75
Shrimp fed another couple pellets.

Day 90
Shrimp fed another couple pellets.
Overall, shrimp are more active, larger, and redder than when in the ecosphere. No berried females yet, buy there have been many molts over the last couple weeks which could be a good sign! Plus all 10 are still alive, so we are chalking it up to a win so far.

[jcfrank922]

Sounds like you're doing great! I would cut back on the feeding to just one pellet every 4 weeks. Your tank seems established by now. Overfeeding can cause problems. They require very little outside food, since they mainly eat the algae and microorganisms that occur naturally inside their tank. You may also consider a removable lid to reduce evaporation. These super shrimp also require very little oxygen. In the wild, I have read that they have adapted to living in areas with low oxygen that other fish (their predators) can not tolerate. Always top off evaporated water with either distilled or R/O water, as the salt does not evaporate, so no added salt is required.

[Sasquatch]

Thanks for the advice! It's hard to see but there actually is a lid (plastic wrap with holes poked in it). I will not feed again for at least a month.

Please tell me these are eggs?!

Eggs?!

Eggs?!

[jcfrank922]

They are eggs! Watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOtnZ8bEKz0

[Mustafa]

Thanks for your report! We absolutely *love* experience reports with pictures here. I was about to ask you why you took at the "macroalgae" but then I saw in your first picture that it's actually hair algae (which I don't recommend). You didn't get the "macroalgae" from this site, did you? There are some unscrupulous people out there unfortunately that sell pest hair algae as "macroalgae" or even "angel hair moss".

[Sasquatch]

You are correct, that hair algae came with the ecosphere. I added it to the new tank because I read it helps with cycling and balancing water parameters.

As promised, now that I can see a berried female I will begin cycling a new tank! I have a couple questions -

Where is a good spot to pick up curved tanks? I prefer a tank that curves similar to the ecosphere as this magnifies the shrimp for maximum viewing. No offense to all the beautiful square tanks on this forum

Is it ok to put LEGOs in the tank? I would like to add a brick built super shrimp so they can crawl on a giant statue of themselves. It would be so awesome!

[Sasquatch]

Eggcelent!

These shrimp have been "productive" in their new tank.

[Varanus]

To be clear, the dark spots inside their bodies may be developing eggs, but I don't think you'll know for sure until the female lays the eggs and you see them attached to her swimmerets (and then of course they have to stay there on her until they hatch).

[jcfrank922]

I have an Anchor Hocking Jar that I bought on Amazon.com. They come in sizes ranging from 1/2 gallon up to 2 1/2 gallons. The handle on top of the lid can be easily unscrewed to create a small air hole. Mine is 96 ounces or 3/4th gallon. It does magnify the shrimp. I also bought a magnifying glass to see them even better.

[minishrimps]

Thanks for the advice! It's hard to see but there actually is a lid (plastic wrap with holes poked in it). I will not feed again for at least a month.

Please tell me these are eggs?!
IMG_20170320_183220.jpg
IMG_20170320_183304.jpg

Don't mean to dash your hopes and maybe the pictures aren't providing a great view of the shrimp you are referring too but i don't think those are eggs you are seeing, they are really noticable when they appear. See here for a beautiful example of a "berried" shrimp:

https://www.petshrimp.com/wordpress/wp- ... rashop.jpg

[Sasquatch]

Bummer. I thought for sure those dark round spots were eggs. Do eggs develop before they are fertilized or only after?

Guess they don't need a new tank now kidding... I will start cycling a new one anyway... Their current tank is on the small side. Plus I want to change the substrate color to black.

Will the coral sea fan and few small shells that came with the ecosphere be enough for a larger tank (say 2 gallons) or will I need to add more shells or aragonite sand?