Ecoshpere???

[FL Knifemaker]

I wasn't sure where to post this so...........

Has anyone ever heard of these??

http://www.eco-sphere.com/home.htm

Sounds intersting. An aquarium like thingy with no maintenance ;)

[ryknier]

WTF! did you see the price of that!!!!

[buddha_red]

its like a form of shrimp or something that is the alive part. They are overpriced bigtime. give me my tank any day :D

[Jason01]

I remember reading about those things when I was researching shrimp a few months ago. Basically, the shrimp are a brackish Hawiian shrimp(Halocaridina rubra). The Hawiian shrimps are very hardy, but the enviroment that they put them in is not very good. The shrimp will slowly starve to death! :thud: It says in the site, that the shrimp will be thriving. Anybody who has raised shrimp can tell you that when shrimp thrive, they reproduce(no predators, obviously). These shrimp will never reproduce, becase there is not an abundance of food, and the population is NOT thriving.

IMO, these are NOT an ecosphere. They are a death trap. It would be like sealing the top of a tank, putting it in sunlight, and expecting your herbovorius(sp?) fish to live.....thrive even. This is a horrible, cruel, and very mean thing to do to a living creature. That these people profit from it makes it even worse!

I found some info on "Opae ula" here (http://www.petshrimp.com/hawaiianredshrimp.html)

[FL Knifemaker]

A friend of mine sent me the link. I just tossed it up here for the sake of discussion. Good discussion!! ;)


I can't get over the pricing on the Exhibition sized ones!

$200 glass sphere

$5.00 packet of dried Seamonkeys

Free branch and rock from the back yard

= $20,000 :confused:

[Dangerdoll]

I bought a small one for my sister for Christmas (out of curiosity sake) and she loves it.... that's not to say I think it's wonderful.... just that I've seen one in person......

[OrionGirl]

My grandmother has one that is more than 5 years old (one of the small ones at that). She likes it, and the shrimp is very active, molts regularly, etc. It's not reproducing because there's only one, but it is very healthy. Why is that cruel? We aren't talking about an animal that is cognizant of it's surroundings, and it has lived well past it's wild life expectancy--those things are food for everything they encounter. The care for them is very specific--putting it in sunlight is specifically in the 'don't' list. I know the joy my grandmother has gotten from hers, and how well she cares for it. Where's the harm in that? Cruel? How so? I believe in giving my animals every benefit--but calling it cruel to keep a shrimp alive for twice it's expected life in the wild, protected from predators, with food readily available, is absurd. If it was starving, it would have died long ago.

[tomm10]

I thoought these things were pretty cool. I think I saw them in the Discovery store or Brookstones. If it weren't for the prohibitive cost I would most certainly have bought one. It would be great for the office.

I'm with OG on this one. I don't find them cruel at all.

[Dangerdoll]

the whole "starving to death" concept is incorrect too..... they're supposed to live off the algae that is in there.... and seeing it, there is a bit for them that grows from the indirect lighting, and gas produced from the breathing of the shrimp...... in turn the algae produces gas for the shrimp to breathe..... it's a cycle

[FL Knifemaker]

Good points again OG and DD!! 5 years is pretty long for a regular tank critter. I could see a small one as conversation piece but for the price of the large ones you could set up a NICE open system.

Anyway................

I'm hoping someone gets ME one for Christmas! ;) ;) ;)

[ryknier]

well the setup seems to be a good balance, if there were two in there, I could see the thing going whack, if two start to mate, the need for waste removal and food would kill 'em all I would assume, I didn't really get in depth about how long those lil buggers should live? It would be kinda neat to see, and I would keep it if someone gave me one, but I wouldn't buy it, fo sho!

[Dangerdoll]

actually, it says that they could live successfully for 2 to 10 years and that they have reports of some living as long as 20.

[FL Knifemaker]

I'm hoping someone gets ME one for Christmas! ;) ;) ;)

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHUM!!!! :) :)

[Dangerdoll]

hehehehe, Knife, you crack me up! Nothing like being subtle here, huh :D

[FL Knifemaker]

hehehehe, Knife, you crack me up! Nothing like being subtle here, huh :D

Whut??? :dance

[happychem]

Makes sense in principle. Areas like the deep ocean floor and mid-oceanic gyres are very good at nutrient cycling since they get so little new input. Obviously they can't last forever since the quality of the nutrients degrades with time, kind of a thermodynamics and perpetual motion thing but kind of helped along a little with the help of light energy.

It's neat, I don't think that it's cruel since it does provida all the necessary elements for health. True the animals don't have much of a future, but then, in the wild they've kind of got a tricky existance as well. Too pricey for my tastes though, for those prices I could have a nice sized aquarium.