[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Making an ecosphere can be pretty fun. Watching creatures live on only things in that container, only plant decay and/or animals also in that container. There are generally two different kinds of ecosphere. One where you usually take cherry shrimp, ghost shrimp or another type of shrimp, and add them into a container with live plants and a substrate. You call this a shrimp ecosphere. The other which is the easiest and cheapest to do is called a natural ecosphere where you take natural resources usually in a pond and you put water and other things from the body of water and add it into the container (usually a jar).

What is an ecosphere?

You could be kind of confused as you still don’t know what an ecosphere is. An ecosphere is an area or body of water where everything gets what it needs from the area. To give you a better perspective, the very planet you are on is in a way like an ecosphere! Everything and everyone gets what they need from the earth. There is nothing that we don’t physically need that doesn’t come from the earth.

Making a shrimp ecosphere

There are more than just shrimp you can use to make an ecosphere. Another idea could be brine shrimp (brine shrimp aren’t actually shrimp, you can read more about this here). If you want to make a freshwater shrimp ecosphere with either ghost shrimp, cherry shrimp or another kind of shrimp, here’s how you do it.

Making a shrimp ecosphere using ghost shrimp, cherry shrimp, etc.

Using ghost shrimp or cherry shrimp for you ecosphere will mean that you need a freshwater ecosystem. You need to do the follow steps. 1. Get a 1-5 gallon clear container. First of all, you will obviously need a container. A 2-3 gallon tank is generally the best as it gives the shrimp space, but it isn’t too large. If you are wanting a 1 gallon ecosystem, you can try using ghost shrimp as they are smaller and can live in a tank that small. 2. Get the substrate for you aquarium. You can either get substrate from outside (PLEASE make sure you it is clean and is safe for the shrimp) or buy it from the store. If you don’t want to risk your shrimp’s lives, then try going for sand or a special shrimp substrate. 3. Get your plants and other decorations. Moss balls are good plants to add into your aquarium. Also, make sure that the plants are live and not artificial. For other decorations, rocks are recommended. Make sure your plants are decorations are clean and safe for your shrimp. Try using rocks specifically made for fish and shrimp from a pet store.  4. Add water into the tank. It’s best if you use decolorized water if you don’t want to make sure your shrimp won’t die because of any bacteria from the pond water (you may also need to know that they could still die from bacteria that gets into tank, but the chance of that happening should be lower if you use dechlorinated water. 5. Add your substrate. If the jar or container has a small opening, feel free to use a funnel to make sure there no substrate goes to waste. Wait 5-10 minutes then add all of your plants and other decorations. 6. Add your plants and decorations. Again, make sure your decorations are safe for your shrimp and clean before you add them in there.  7. Get your animals and add them into the tank. In my opinion, it’s best to set up the tank or ecosphere and then buy the animals. What if your tank doesn’t work out? What do you do with the fish or shrimp now? So when you set up the aquarium, then you can go and buy your animals. Make sure to buy herbivorous shrimp as they are easier to keep as they can eat the algae and plants in the aquarium. Make sure only to get a few, as many shrimp can reproduce very quickly.

Maintaining to shrimp ecosphere

Make sure that your shrimp are living and healthy. Also make sure the plants are also healthy. To keep your shrimp alive while algae grows, you can give your shrimp vegetables such as zucchini, cucumber, broccoli and spinach. Add your tank in front of a sunny window. If you have had experience with fish keeping, most of the time you would want to avoid algae, but when it comes to a shrimp ecosphere, you want it. You see, herbivorous shrimp actually eat algae, so the more algae you have, the more your shrimp thrive! Also some dead plant matter may also be beneficial. Obviously though, you will still want plenty of live plants as well. Watch carefully to see if your ecosphere will crash. In other words, finish. Yep, eventually your ecosphere will sadly end and most of everything in the container will unfortunately die. When this happens, as bad as it may sound, you will have to start over if you want to keep on going.

Making a natural ecosphere

When making a natural ecosphere, you may find many things living in the container, not just shrimp. You may find snails, worms, or even larvae of an insect. There are many crustaceans you may also find as well.

Making the ecosphere

1. Get a clear, airtight container. It doesn’t really matter the size of the container. A quart jar will do, but even a container smaller than that may also work out. Or if you want to, you can use a larger container if you want. 2. Get your water, substrate twigs, rocks, etc. and add them into the container. For this step, you’re going to need to go outside and go out to a pond, or other body of water. if your at a pond, grab anything in the water.  Get water and sand and other things in the water such as twigs and rocks. 3. Seal the container and write a date on the lid. Write the date on a piece of paper and tape it to the lid. This is so that you can know when you started the ecosphere. 4. Set it near a sunny window. Now set it in front of a sunny window, and your done! Don’t be too sad if you don’t see anything yet, wait a week or two and look again. It may take a few days for eggs to hatch and for the animals to come out. After this step, you don’t even need to touch it!

So, what kind of ecosphere are you going to make? Comment it down below![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]