Ecosphere

[phlox]

Hey guys,

I first saw an ecosphere when I was eight at the Smithsonian, and thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. A groupon popped up for one the other week, and I was like hooray! dream come true!

It arrived today and it is only about the size of a baseball and has four opae ula in it. I was expecting it to be bigger, and to only have maybe one! They are light reddish brown, and I'm worried that they might be cramped, and concerned about some things I've read about them starving to death slowly on the algae. I can't have a tank in my apartment, but I feel like I've got four little lives on my hands! What can I do to make them happier? Should I give them away to someone with a tank?

Thanks in advance!

[KenCotigirl]

They can survive in very small containers. A glass vase. Wine carafe. Ect... There are inexpensive glass containers found at craft stores. Half gallon container would be more than enough. Read the supershrimp page. Get the container, decorations, brackish water. Set it up. Wait a couple weeks and move the shrimp out of their ecosphere into their new home.
Ken

[phlox]

Thanks so much! Can the vase have a hermetic lid on it? (want to keep my shrimp at the office and don't want something to accidentally bump it and spill water-- and the light in the apartment is very poor.)

Also, do you have any tips for getting the little guys and their algae &c out of the sphere? I don't want to injure them when I break it. I've only got very basic tools.

[KenCotigirl]

You do not want them sealed. I put a small plexiglass square over my tank. I leave a small opening. If you turn the ecosphere over you might be able to remove the base. Some have a plug that can be removed. If not show pictures as others may have some ideas.
Ken

[MelWong]

The sphere should have a flat bottom for where it rests on your desk. On the bottom should be a sticker to protect the seal, and if it's broken it voids the warranty - that's the seal covering the button that holds the water in the glass sphere, as I understand.

Right now your shrimp can hang in there, though, so I suggest you get a gallon or half-gallon betta tank or whatnot, since those come with perforated lids you can put over them that will prevent spills without also cutting off the airflow. Fluval makes a nice 2 gallon desktop tank, if you want to go classy, and that one has a plastic cover on it - it's what I'm using for my own shrimp setup here.

http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r416 ... 1e2366.jpg

Then you can follow the directions on Mustafa's page - get the brackish water, get some algae and snails, and then set up the tank, and when it's ready you can pop the sticker and plug off the bottom of the ecosphere and put the shrimp in. You can probably reuse the water from inside the sphere in your new shrimp setup, so don't fill it up all the way.

[phlox]

Thanks so much, all!
One more question-- if I am keeping them unsealed at my desk, is there going to be a smell? It'll be easier to bring them home before I open the sphere, if my coworkers are going to complain of a fishy odor.

[KenCotigirl]

None of mine smell. No need to worry unless you over feed.

Ken

[phlox]

Thanks so much!!! You guys are SO great and I really appreciate your walking this n00b through all this!

Ok! I have a cute little half gallon betta bowl, some black sand substrate for them to dig around in, spirulina flakes for occasional feeding, distilled water, and some seashells from the Outer Banks.

2 questions:

I went to a fish store and they gave me Instant Ocean Sea Salt, and told me it was marine salt. Just want to make sure, since Instant Ocean also sells something called Reef Salt with extra calcium and magnesium for corals (and the whole point of this is making sure the little guys survive.) Is this the right kind of salt?

Also, If my little guys are already in a thing with algae, bacteria, etc. do I need to start some new algae before putting them in, or can I just transfer everything from the ecosphere into the betta bowl?

Thanks again! Feeling very hopeful for my shrimplings.

[MelWong]

I went to a fish store and they gave me Instant Ocean Sea Salt, and told me it was marine salt. Just want to make sure, since Instant Ocean also sells something called Reef Salt with extra calcium and magnesium for corals (and the whole point of this is making sure the little guys survive.) Is this the right kind of salt?

I use the very same kind of salt with my little shrimplets and they've been enjoying it so far. Reef salt and marine tank sea salt mixes are good, aquarium salt is not. The main difference is the mineral mix in the reef and sea salt vs the aquarium salt, but you got the right stuff.

You want to use just half the salt for the amount of water you're trying to add to the tank. The box says "half a cup a gallon", so that's a quarter-cup a gallon, or in your case, 2 tablespoons of salt for half a gallon of water.

Also, If my little guys are already in a thing with algae, bacteria, etc. do I need to start some new algae before putting them in, or can I just transfer everything from the ecosphere into the betta bowl?

Thanks again! Feeling very hopeful for my shrimplings.

You can, yeah, because the water in the ecosphere will help your bowl cycle properly. I'd recommend getting a clump of the chaetomorpha macroalgae from Mustafa when he gets back from vacation (from this website's store) as it also helps process the organic wastes that the bacteria and algae are supposed to process, and it's a good buffer. Plus, the shrimp love climbing on it and picking their food off it.

[phlox]

Yay, thanks! Just put in an order for the algae. Now to decorate my tank in preparation for water and algae!

[Mustafa]

Welcome to the Supershrimp world! You already received some excellent advice here, so I'll keep it short: Please keep us updated on your progress with your new setup! And good luck!

[phlox]

I really have! You guys are amazing-- the folks at the fish store just stared at me like I had three heads XD

Looking forward to moving my critters into a bigger bowl!

[phlox]

Hi all!

Set up the tank with some shells and substrate, and as soon as my algae arrives I'm going to fill 'er up, woot!

I take it I should probably use gloves to pull the sea fan &c out of the ecosphere? what sort of gloves work-- are like powdered latex gloves ok, or should I use something else like kitchen gloves or my bare hands?

Also, how can I ensure the substrate doesn't have any anaerobic pockets? Shaken or stirred?

[MelWong]

Bare hands isn't going to hurt anything if you're worried about the shrimp. The bacterial culture in the water will deal with whatever bacteria you've got on your skin. Just wash them before and after. As for anaerobic pockets, that generally occurs I think more with larger tanks, but I've found the snails that Mustafa sells are really good at burrowing down and stirring the sand up.

I don't recommend shaking or stirring the sand yourself because that disturbs the water and that bothers the shrimp a lot.

[phlox]

Switched them over-- deep breaths! One is doing something funny with its leg, but I'm hoping it isn't broken, and I'm hoping they all will be ok. Had to rush the process due to new leadership coming into the office very soon, but am hoping the Ecosphere had the requisite bacteria &c. I put all the algae Mustafa sent me into the tank (half gallon)-- is that too much?

Also, I appear to have sand bubbles in the top; my substrate did not want to stay put when I was putting the water in. Will those go away, or do I need to pop or scoop them out? (And is there a good trick for tidying the substrate, or should I just let it be?)

Thanks again! They seem so much happier already in their new home