I ignorantly bought a "self-sustaining" shrimp eco-sphere.. Help me save them!

Hi all,

I was in Orchard Central today when I saw a booth opened by CRS Haven. They were selling little containers/tiny "tanks" containing a few shrimp, some coral, algae and gravel.

The storekeeper boasted that the self-sustaining containers were extremely low-maintenance. There's no need to feed, clean or even change the water in the container- all it needs is indirect sunlight, which will grow the algae, which is in turn eaten by the shrimp. They would also live several months, even a few YEARS in that little container!

Me, being the easily-excited and impulsive girl that I am, jumped at the opportunity to buy one. No need to feed, clean or maintain?! Sounded too good to be true! I'd also seen some really expensive sealed spheres that worked the same way, and had always wanted to get one but was deterred by the price. I'd also seen a huge one in the Singapore Science Centre that had been there for almost 20 years, so I figured it must be safe!

I paid a hefty $120 for a container containing 6 shrimp, and also got a small packet of food. He directed me to put in one of the tiny pellets once every 2 weeks to give extra nutrients to the shrimp. He did indirectly state that it was unnecessary, and the pellets were like "vitamins" to keep the shrimp healthy and happy. I also bought a bottle of "nutrient water", which he said to use in topping up the water when the water level dropped.

I happily (and carefully) transported my little world home, and admired them swimming around energetically before googling "ecospheres". Oh god! I found out that it's torturous and cruel for the shrimp, and that they are very hardy, which is why they can live up to a few years in the container by STARVING themselves to death.. But they are actually are capable of living over TEN years in a good habitat

They container has a lid which can be opened, and I'm hoping to be able to save the poor shrimp and give them long, happy lives!

I used to keep 1 or 2 crayfish, but I'm absolutely clueless about shrimp, some kind souls please help me out!

I found out they're Volcanic Shrimp, also knows as Hawaii Red Shrimps. Is there any set up I can get on a relatively low-budget, and relatively low-maintenance?

Is it possible to keep them without a filter? What type of food, what's the smallest-sized tank I can get for them (not much room for like a footlong tank as I've moved to a smaller house..), what water conditions? Argh, so stressful.. I regret having made such an expensive AND cruel purchase!

Please help, bros!

tbh, i feel that they must consume the marimo algae that i think you are referring to as algae. right?

[S2whiplash]

Well for starters u can refer to threads started by other bros here. Seen them in the LFS price wise as u mentioned around there depending on the bottle itself. For me to save them is not to buy them. If no one buys those makers would proberly cease production and stop selling them. (cross-fingers)

Draka, yup there's 2 small clumps of moss in the jar.

S2whiplash, I was ignorant of how inhumane these were until after I bought them.. Sorry for any confusion!

There's a LOT to read, and a lot of it is pretty confusing to me.. And from what I can see, most of the proposed set ups are quite elaborate and really time-consuming- and I was hoping some kind bro would give me some simple tips on a low-budget+ low-maintenance set up

I mean, I don't suppose it would be good if I simply left them in the container, right?

just get a larger nano tank wif a mini HOF, and tats sufficient.. haha.. if u have offspring and wanna let go, let me know ya!

[Jon-san]

Just buy a small tank around 10L or so, a satellite breeder box (the kind that can draw water in from the main tank), some filter wools, a small air pump, some moss and a small amount of substrate and air tubing. Stuff the sponge into the breeder box, setup the air tubing with your breeder box, so it's drawing water into the breeder box. That would be good enough for a filtration for a small bioload of shrimps. Hang the breeder box onto your tank, fill in the substrate and add the moss. If you have test kits, best to attempt to cycle your tank, although small tanks quite hard to control parameters. Other than that, just maintain regular water change/top-up and some light for your moss. Maintain a light feeding routine daily. I have a similar setup running in my office, running for the last 3 months. My FR female is currently carrying a 2nd batch of berries.

Should not cost you much more than $50 or thereabouts.

Jonsan: Huh?? Breeder box? Is that like a filter?

Would it be possible to get away with a tank without a filter and an air pump?

.. I mean, since they can survive in a tiny bottle with no water changes whatsoever, they won't have any problems in a larger tank, right?

Sorry if I seem ignorant..

[onlyyouknow]

Just add a small sponge filter with the air pump if you do not wanna use a HOF.

[silane]

Upgrade to a bigger size tank (a 1/2 ft cube for a few of these shrimps are good enough) and add in filter will definately help them to live better.


I have this simple setup, 2 air driven filters and light set. They are able to breed seem an indicator they are doing well.

I on the light for couple of days and rest for 1 day. Feed them with Bioplus and Shrimpton mix daily. But I dont advise anyone with few shrimps to feed daily.

You can mix 3 part of freshwater to 1 part of seawater. Remmeber dechlorinate the tap water.

YouTube Video

Note that the water is clean and clear which I change quite a bit every 3 months, the cobweb is outside the tank!

[Navanod]

Silane, you're also into spiders too? Your arrays of interests continues to amaze me!
Hehe.

Ecospheres is really hard to create and only really experienced aquarists should make such an attempt.

With that being said, I am really surprised to learn that the shrimp had a life span of 20yrs! Something new to learn everyday