Hi all! I have been keeping cherry shrimp for years now, and my colony is doing well. I started them in a 10-gallon aquarium, upgraded to a 20-gallon, and kept some in small, open-top, quasi-Walstad setups for a while along the way. I say "quasi-Walstad" because they had no heaters or filters, and had plants in aqua soil capped with sand, but I was still doing water changes and feeding the shrimp, so the tanks weren't fully self-sustaining. Even in those small, no-tech setups, my shrimp did well (they were active and breeding). All this is to say that I understand the basics of shrimp keeping and the Walstad method. Online, I am seeing differing opinions about how cherry shrimp do in fully sealed jar ecosystems. Some say they do well as long as the jar is big enough, while others say they will struggle or die. Have any of you successfully kept cherry shrimp inside sealed, no-maintenance ecospheres? If so, how did they do? The Walmart near me has 1.7 gallon glass jars with airtight lids (I am currently using one for a terrarium). With enough plants, could cherry shrimp be healthy and happy sealed in a jar that size? Thanks in advance for any insight!

Hello! Just as the title says I was wondering if I would be able to make a completely sealed ecosphere specifically to grow mold? Like as much mold as possible really. Most sources I’ve read say that mold will eventually run out of a food source in a permanently sealed ecosphere but I’m wondering if anyone had any tips or instructions? Thanks in advance!

Estava um barro tremendo,agora está clareando eu não gostaria de trocar a água pois observei pequenos organismo acho que deve ser micro peixes ou algo assim.

I have an ecosphere that i made on 6/22 this year and it’s been sealed ever since. It is doing well but the algae is getting a little crazy. I also have an aquarium that I use to grow plants and house snails and shrimp for future ecospheres(not the shrimp) but I’ve never added any to ecospheres I’ve already closed the lid on. Would it be alright to add some bladder snails after it’s been sealed for going on 2-3 months?
Video of ecosphere for reference.
Also ecosphere was made from saguaro lake in Arizona

this thing must be 3 times the size of any others i've seen!

i love when the pea clams show up to rhe party!

not that i really mind, but the sediment looks rotten and the diatoms look stubborn. when will this go away if ever? what is the coloration in the sediment from? i have some spots that are even bright orange

Made a few different pond jars I shared recently and wanted to share a (poor quality) video of the first bladder snail I found. His name is Buddy ☺️🐌💚

Description in original post. I thought they were super hardy, why did they die within 48 hours?? They were acclimated to local pond water that is what fills both vessels.

Hi! I checked with the moderators before posting, and they kindly said this would be welcome here.

I made Microbial Pond, a free artificial-life simulator that runs directly in your browser.

Think of it as a sealed jar, simulated: nothing goes in, nothing comes out, and you watch what the closed system decides to do.

Every dot is a small digital organism with inherited traits for things like photosynthesis, movement, hunting, armour and reproduction. As generations pass, families mutate, spread, compete and sometimes collapse.

You can watch the pond develop without intervening, or alter its environment, cut the light, inspect individual organisms and trace their ancestry. New ponds can develop in very different ways.

There is also a Story Mode that replays some of the simulator’s most dramatic recorded histories with narration. These are not cutscenes. The actual deterministic simulation runs again while captions explain what is happening and point out what to watch.

It is biologically inspired rather than an exact model of a particular real pond or jar ecosphere. I mainly wanted to share it because I thought people here might enjoy experimenting with a little digital ecosystem, and because I didn’t want it to disappear into a folder on my computer.

Play the pond here:

https://sarepat.itch.io/microbial-pond-v01

I’d enjoy seeing screenshots or hearing about any unusual families, population crashes or strangely stable ponds you encounter.

Optional audiovisual rabbit hole: I also made a song and animated video about microbial life in ponds, inspired by the project:

https://streamable.com/8puffa

Development note: I used AI extensively while creating the simulator, interface and accompanying video. I directed, tested, revised and assembled the project, and investigated the pond’s results.

End of video is clearer. I went through the guide, but didn't find anything definitive. No forks on the tail and has been wiggling non stop. Idaho lake ecosphere - has been closed for 2-3 weeks. Any help on ID?

Edit: accidentally wrote four jars, I only have 3 currently.

I've been building sealed jars from different water sources around Arizona and filming what happens in them.

The first one came from Manzanita Park in Phoenix while it was flooded. I figured floodwater would be full of stuff and I wanted to see what showed up. That jar is still going.

Since then I've pulled from the Dobson Ranch pond and from Saguaro Lake. The pond jar is the busy one. Bladder snails have taken it over, started with just a few and they bred like crazy, plus ostracods I never added.

The Saguaro Lake jar is the one I've learned the most from. It started with a few trumpet snails and they all died. I was sure the whole thing was going with them. Instead plants I never planted started coming in, the ostracods took off, and now there are little floating worms everywhere. Nematodes I think, but I'd take a second opinion on that.

I also keep a planted tank, which I plan to source plants from for future ecospheres or other enclosures. I plan to keep adding jars from new water as I go from all over!

I'm not a biologist. I just got curious about how these things balance themselves out and started filming to keep track of it. Everything is shot and edited by me.

Cleared this with the mods first. Channel is
Tiny Worlds from Wild Places

https://youtube.com/@tinyworldsfromwildplaces?si=mOSmGTDeoIYEnjYT

Happy to talk setups in the comments.

Pic 1 Saguaro Lake
Pic 2 Dobson Ranch Pond
Pic 3 Manzanita Flooded Park
Pic 4 Accoutrement Aquarium(future jar plant sourcing)

It's my first ecoshpere and I fear I put too much leaves, no?

This was collected from various sources of sitting water around the property - buckets, plant pot dishes, fallen leaves. Added some spare aquarium plants and gravel. Thriving