My Ecospherians are 21

[Arnold]

Have you think to upgrade them to a bigger tank? I think they deserve something bigger since they have live that long and maybe add more shrimps and breed them

[hb5280]

Thanks for the pic! They don't look 26+ at all! Much younger looking! They have aged very well.

Ha Ha, too funny, Mustafa!

Have you think to upgrade them to a bigger tank? I think they deserve something bigger since they have live that long and maybe add more shrimps and breed them

I have not considered that, Arnold. I'm hesitant to move them and cause them to crash. I don't think they are unique so haven't considered breeding them. My interest has only been in documenting their longevity. There doesn't seem to be much evidence of such long life spans, even anecdotally.

On a side note, a spider fell into my 12-gallon tank and the supershrimp ate it!

[Sasquatch]

On a side note, a spider fell into my 12-gallon tank and the supershrimp ate it!

Amazing! I’ve always wanted to feed those gross arachnids to my shrimpers

[Mustafa]

Yep, they'll pretty much eat anything organic that falls into the tank. Spiders, insects, birds, cats, dogs.....

[hb5280]

Annual update. They're still alive. All I did since last year was replace the few strands of microalgae (it had gone colorless) and siphon out some debris. I let it settle out then put the water back. Topped it off with water from my big tank.

I moved the ecosphere next to an LED plant lamp and there's quite a bit of fuzzy algae but mostly on the Gorgonia branch. I'm not keen on the look but the ecosphere is in a spot where I can see and enjoy the seniors.

[Dch48]

So they're like 27 years old now. Amazing.

[Mustafa]

Thank you so much, again, for your update! Keep them coming over the years! If I am not mistaken you'll be coming back for about another decade or so, maybe more. Truth be told, nobody really knows the maximum lifespan of these shrimp. This kind of information is highly valuable.

[hb5280]

Quick update. We just moved from Colorado to Virginia. The ecosphere got jostled quite a bit over the course of the 5-day road trip, enough so that water came out the hole. (When I broke the seal in 2013, I simply rolled the hole to the top and taped the glass disk back on.) The temperature got over 104°F in the moving truck every day, but the two shrimp are unfazed and acting just fine.

Residents of our 10-gallon tank seem to have loved the journey. We drained it down to about 3 gallons so we could lift the tank and get it into a box. I put 2 gallon jugs with shrimp as a backup in a cooler, in case the tank crashed. A good chunk of Mustafa's macroalgae was in each jug, to ensure they had food and something to grab onto if necessary. Several days passed after arriving in Virginia before we could set the tank back up; we poured the 2 gallons back in and just need to make 5 gallons of new water to top up the tank. The only casualty was a plastic plant that broke into bits.

[hb5280]

Wow, I can't believe it's been 10 years since I first posted about my Ecosphere! The two OG ecospherians are still in their orb. I haven't done anything with them for a couple of years. No water changes, no syphoning out poop, definitely no feeding. Their moss has gone white again, so I might pull it out and give them some green stuff from my bigger tank, just to give the ecosphere some color.

[Ula Hula]

That's amazing. I kinda agree with the person who suggested that they get a bigger home. You could increase their home in stages by slowly adding water from your other tank to their own water a bit at a time (and replenishing the tank water a bit at a time, with the right salinity of course). And maybe put some rocks and shells and other decorations in so they have a little variety to their lives. TBH, I feel sorry for them that they have lived in such a tiny container for literally decades. But, wow, what survivors they are!

[hb5280]

That's amazing. I kinda agree with the person who suggested that they get a bigger home. You could increase their home in stages by slowly adding water from your other tank to their own water a bit at a time (and replenishing the tank water a bit at a time, with the right salinity of course). And maybe put some rocks and shells and other decorations in so they have a little variety to their lives. TBH, I feel sorry for them that they have lived in such a tiny container for literally decades. But, wow, what survivors they are!

Another year, a year older! Just tidied up the ecosphere and siphoned out two years worth of poop. The two shrimp are always curious and investigate, so I have to be careful inserting the tube. Replaced the water I siphoned out with some from my big tank. I gave them a little extra to increase the volume they have to swim in. I'm hesitant to make any other changes and disrupt the balance. I really want to see how long these supershrimp will amaze us.

[sabbylina]

I just found this post and I'm super excited to follow along! Keep going lil guys

[hb5280]

They're still zoomin' around. The shrimp in my big tank love to hang out on their plastic plant leaves that float just under the water's surface. I was just thinking of giving the ecospherians a tiny piece, for enrichment. I never see them skimming the biofilm, and maybe a leaf would help them out a bit.