My Ecospherians are 21

[hb5280]

Didn't know my link was "private." Fixed now.

[Mustafa]

Thanks! From what I can tell veligers move much more slowly and less deliberately than the organisms that are in your pictures and videos. Here is an example of veligers of a different snail species:

https://youtu.be/P_TjtfQmFfg

[hb5280]

Been 4 years since I first posted. The two shrimp are still in their original sphere. I give them a several drops of water to compensate for evaporation over the course of the year. That's it.

[JoeG]

Holly - Great to hear that the two originals are still with us!

Still no food and you never did get buddies for them?

[hb5280]

Still no food. They have a tiny clump of Mustafa's macroalgae in addition to the original algae that came with them. The ecosphere sits next to my 12-gallon tank that is well-populated so their buddies are close by. I figure when there's only 1 left, I'll put it in the community tank.

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the update! I've been following your shrimp with great interest over the years!

[JoeG]

Holly it’s been almost another year, any updates with your originals?

[hb5280]

26 years The two shrimp are still swimming around their little ecosphere. One is pink and the other is so pale it is essentially white. Did their annual siphoning out of poop. Strained off the water and gave it back, then topped off their ecosphere with water from my big tank. The macroalgae that I gave them in 2014 had gone completely colorless, so I removed it and gave them some fresh strands from my big tank. They're pretty active and inquisitive. ~Holly

[Super Jess]

Wow! It's so cool they are still going strong. Thanks for continuing to update this thread. I wonder how long they will live?

[Zlatan2601]

The ecosphere sits next to my 12-gallon tank that is well-populated so their buddies are close by. I figure when there's only 1 left, I'll put it in the community tank.

I get it that you will put him in the community tank from the moment there is only one left, but it would be interesting to see how old that one would get. 26 years is crazy...

But lets hope they still love long and eventually maybe die peacefully together...

[Mustafa]

And, once again, thanks for the update! My suspicion is that these shrimp can live well over 30-40 years. If they can live that long in a tiny container (although this one is open and not sealed), then they can most likely live *much* longer in larger containers (the types we set up).

[hb5280]

I get it that you will put him in the community tank from the moment there is only one left, but it would be interesting to see how old that one would get. 26 years is crazy...

But lets hope they still love long and eventually maybe die peacefully together...

They're so hard to get a picture of! If I can catch a shrimp from the big tank and get it in the EcoSphere, I bet I'd be able to tell them apart.

[Mustafa]

Did you try to post a picture link? If so, it's not working. Try to attach the picture. That way it's also "future proof" in case your image storage provider decides to close shop and break all image links.

[hb5280]

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the pic! They don't look 26+ at all! Much younger looking! They have aged very well.