DIY Shrimp and Snail Biosphere

[Jspigs]

I decided to make a DIY shrimp and snail biosphere and I will document it in this thread.

Today (5/16/10):

I planted it with java moss and hornwort.

I have placed it where it will get indirect sunlight (for lighting for the plants).

I used a bunch of established gravel (for water purification) and then some new gravel on top of it (for aesthetic reasons).

I added three established ceramic rings (for extra water purification) on top of the gravel.

I added some snails that came with the plants and established gravel.

And finally, I added a berried ghost shrimp. I got a berried one because they were the same price as the non berried ones and because I have the ability to house the young. I know some people say ghost shrimp young won't survive in fresh water but I have also heard that they will so I am staying hopeful:).

Pics:
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[Jspigs]

I noticed the ghost shrimp likes to eat the pond/bladder snails in the biosphere.

Because there were not many pond/bladder snails in there I felt the need to open it to add more snails and to add some gunk from established bio-media.

The gunk most likely contained a large amount of beneficial bacteria.

I do not plan to open it again for a long time.

[<3Oscar]

Thats really neat! Is it completely closed up?

[thebrandon]

Ghost shrimp young can survive in freshwater, I have had several ghost shrimp breed successfully in my tanks.

It's going to be really interesting to see how this project turns out!

I personally would have let it grow some algae and stuff before putting anything in, maybe some ferts too to help get the plants started, that way when the plant start dropping needles, well that in it self, along with the small amount of waste the shrimp/snails will produce will provide some sort of food for the plant.

keep us updated on how everything is going!

[Jspigs]

Bad news, some of the ghost shrimps eggs did hatch but I have yet to find a living young ghost shrimp, I have only found dead ones.

"Biosphere Shrimp" Is completely closed up.

The temperature in Biosphere Shrimp is fine (78*F).

[Jspigs]

None of the young ghost shrimp survived. I think the stress of the jouney to my house plus the stress of being placed in a new environment may have had something to do with all the young ghost shrimp either dieing or hatching dead (not sure which happened).

Today I added what I believe to be a male ghost shrimp to Biosphere Shrimp (that is what I decided to call my DIY biosphere). I am hoping the shrimp will breed.

[jamesstill84]

From what I understand, there are 2 different shrimp marketed as Ghost Shrimp. One of them will hatch the fry in freshwater and the other in brackish water. If your ghost has a red ring around it's claws, then it's the american shrimp and it breeds in freshwater.

I could be wrong in this though. :?

[Jspigs]

My ghost shrimp both have the red ring around their claws.

[jamesstill84]

I've never tried to breed them myself, but that's what I read online.

[jpappy789]

My understanding is that "ghost shrimp" is just a catch-all name for any white/transparent shrimp without any other common name...heck, I've seen macros labeled as such. planetinverts.com attributes the name specifically to Palaemonetes paludosus, but that doesn't mean LFS are going to be following that...they also list it as being capable of breeding in FW.

[mellowvision]

shrimp fry generally require high oxygen levels to do well.

[Jspigs]

The female ghost shrimp died. She was also berried but the eggs were white by the time I found out she had died.

What I saw and flushed was definitely not a molting, it had all the internal organs in it and there was a molting nearby which leads me to believe she died after molting.

The male is still alive but I don't know if will stay alive much longer.

I opened the biosphere and removed the dead body and then closed it back up.

I am not quite sure where to go from here.

[Inka4040]

How about opening the lid, starting regular water changes, and getting past this whole closed system idea? Not to be rude, but it seems to me that you're more hung up on this idea of making a "biosphere" than you are about the well being of its inhabitants.

[blue2fyre]

Or you could leave as is and not keep shrimp in it right now.

I have a 1/2 gallon "betta" container that sits on my windowsill. It's stuffed with plant clippings and plants that need some TLC. I never change the water only add it as needed. The plants are growing really well and I have some snails that hitchhiked in that are doing well. A shrimp accidentally got moved over and did well for several weeks until I spotted him and moved him back to my 5 gallon.
It's not an exciting tank but it is pretty hands free.

[JasonO]

Regarding the ghost shrimp fry, they supposedly require salt water to get them the fry to develop properly. Since the fry are born and are free swimming ,not actual mini version of the adults. I think some of the accounts of people breeding "ghost shrimp" in freshwater may be other species of shrimp, however it could be very possibly actual ghost shrimp.


My ghost shrimp once got somewhat close I think, I believe i had free swimming nuapii (spelling), because we have very hard water here, and I had aquarium salt in the tank (for treating fish) however, I had to take down the tank soon after this I never got to see what would have happened. And I gave the ghost shrimp to someone else since I didn't think they would make the journey.

However I think under the right conditions it may be possible for a few of the shrimp to survive to adulthood, but I think the conditions would have to be right. If you do manage to breed them in freshwater post your water conditions as I would be interested it.

Good luck.

[platytudes]

The established gravel and rings do have beneficial bacteria on them. But think about it - when you disconnect a canister filter, and you let it sit closed for a while, what happens? It starts to smell really bad. When you empty a fish tank and let your gravel sit with just enough water, it starts to smell really bad too. Why is this? Because oxygen is no longer passing through the porous media. Dead bacteria are a source of pollution, not purification.

When the power goes out, and is expected to be out for a while, the SOP for tending to your filter media is to take it out and put it in a shallow container of water with just enough water to keep the media saturated but not submerged, so that the filter media can "breathe" - it can stay viable for a while that way. But not *too* long. Not several days or anything.

Your few plant clippings are not providing the oxygen that motile creatures need. In fact, unless you are seeing the plants pearling wildly, I doubt they are providing much O2 at all.

So while your jar looks pretty, the same way flowers in a vase look pretty, it's not a suitable home for shrimp. Just leave plant clippings in there and it will look just as nice. If you want something to watch, try baby MTS (Malaysian trumpet snails) although honestly, it is cruel to close up anything. Especially if you have no equipment to test the dissolved O2 levels inside the container.

[Jspigs]

How about opening the lid, starting regular water changes, and getting past this whole closed system idea? Not to be rude, but it seems to me that you're more hung up on this idea of making a "biosphere" than you are about the well being of its inhabitants.

I am very sorry if it seems like I do not care about the inhabitants of the biosphere, this is not the case.

The male has also died, he is now a cloudy milky white

I will be moving as many of the remaining inhabitants to my bamboo shrimp tank as I can find.

Biosphere Shrimp is a failure.

I plan to use the jar to raise java moss.

[platytudes]

Much better idea. I'm sure you can do this easily. Good luck!

[Jspigs]

I have added the plants/inhabitants of my DIY biosphere to my bamboo shrimp tank.

I also cleaned out the jar (no soap) and then filled it back up and added a small amount of java moss to the jar.

[blue2fyre]

just wanted to share pictures of my little set up.

It does work as a ecosystem in a way. The plants have been going crazy so I must be doing something right. As you can tell I need to trim it since the moss has totally taken over. But the snails do well and eat the algae that grow on the sides.
Like I said it's hands free I just add water back that's lost due to evaporation. I think to have something like this work you need a lot of very fast growing plants. Like the moss I have in mine.
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