All shrimps dead in home made biosphere

[Elwood107]

It's poor quality due to the fact is large visible particles of limescale in it (the water company has been investigated over it in the past) and at the minute its cryptosporidium that's infecting it.

 

[Caspan]

It took me a long time to figure out why I could not keep shrimp, i found out it was because i was using pure RO water because it makes for a cleaner tank (no lime scale) but these shrimp would last for at min 3 weeks before dying. I found out that invertebrates require these minerals to build their shells and outer bodies. I would guess a sudden water temperature change could also be a factor, but because the amount of time it sounds like a water quality issue like no oxygen in the water, did you have anything breaking the surface tension of the water like a bubbler or waterfall filter? how long was the water cycling before you put them in there, no good bacteria in the water possibly.

 

[pbeemer]

is it possible that when you sealed it there just wasn't enough oxygen in it to support the critters? freshly transplanted plants can go into a "construction" mode, consuming internal food resources for a while while they deal with their sudden damaged root problem; they may become net oxygen consumers for a while before they settle down, which in a sealed environment works out badly for the other oxygen users. i would suggest getting the plants all set up and stabilized for a week or so before adding the shrimp and sealing it, and leaving a little more air space above the water.

a small piece of cuttlebone will buffer the calcium levels for a long time, although it isn't exactly pretty floating around, or even after it sinks

 

[Dan Barrett]

Maybe a good idea to get a test kit to test your spring water for copper?