DIY Shrimp and Snail Biosphere
- Thread starter Jspigs
- Start date
Bad news
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
