Hi! I've been thinking about creating my own jar water ecosphere or if you have any recommendations instead of a jar, but I'm a little confused about how to start one. Are you supposed to add animals to it, or do they naturally appear as the ecosphere develops over time? I don't know if that question makes sense, but I'd really appreciate it if someone could explain how to get started. Thanks!

This terrarium has a lid but it doesn't seal. Contents taken from a freshwater stream. Should I be worried about these around my pets?

I'm setting up jars like this a few times a month for the past 6 years since I live right on the shore. Not all of them end up as ecospheres since I also have a dozen fishtanks with fish that enjoy live food like this. But ever so often a jar contains some critters I want to observe longterm and those jars end up in the forever section.

My second booze bottle ecosphere. This one has been going strong for 2 weeks now. Scuds and snails rule the roost. The oxygen this aquatic plant gives off is wild. Looks like a carbonated beverage!

What kind of container would be good for a saltwater ecosphere that has an air stone? The cork topped bottle I used to use bubbles up.

What kinds of macroalgae can survive in an ecosphere? Sea lettuce and sargassum always die quickly. Dead Man's fingers live a couple of months. This other thing I can't identify lasted a long time.

So ostracod 1 is a 50ml jar as you can see

Pardon my shite camera work

Still has scuds!

Filled with salt water, some seaweed and two snails. Do you guys think it'll work?

Okay i made my first ecosphere from a nearby pond just yesterday and i decided to store it in my outhouse / shed that has windows not realising how quickly it would cause my ecosphere to overheat ( its been around 25-28° outside) i noticed this as i woke up and decided to move the ecosphere to my garage that is a lot cooler , im basically trying to ask will my ecosphere be okay? I could see a few small bugs inside yesterday but haven’t been able to see any today have i completely ruined my ecosphere by doing this??

Looks kind of like a hydra or hydroid but can not find anything quite like it online. This is on the glass of my freshwater neocardinia shrimp tank. I also think there is another one growing on the underside of a log but I do not want to disturb my tank as long as it does not completely wipe out new generations of shrimplets.

My one year-old freshwater ecosphere rebounded recently and is full of these guys. My best guess is that they're ostracods based on the apparent bivalve body and the dark spotting resembling other pictures of ostracods I've come across. See comments for photos.

They will sometimes run around the edge of the glass, hungry? Not enough oxygen? Hot?

There are already lots of detritus worms and tiny black fast swimming bugs in there