# I made an ecosphere.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 21, 2019, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378 "2019-07-21T01:16:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/41 "2019-10-13T02:57:39Z")
Oooohhhh I got a Hydra!
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/42 "2019-10-13T03:12:05Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#):
>
> Oooohhhh I got a Hydra!
Sounds like a crazy animal. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lernaean_Hydra):
> [@](#):
>
> According to Hesiod, the Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. It had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly. The Hydra possessed many heads, the exact number of which varies according to the source. Later versions of the Hydra story add a regeneration feature to the monster: for every head chopped off, the Hydra would regrow two heads. Heracles required the assistance of his nephew Iolaus to cut off all of the monster’s heads and burn the neck using sword and fire.
Or maybe it’s [_this_ Hydra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(genus)):
> [@](#):
>
> Biologists are especially interested in _Hydra_ because of their regenerative ability – they do not appear to die of old age, or indeed to age at all.
> …
> _Hydra_ undergoes morphallaxis (tissue regeneration) when injured or severed. Typically, _Hydras_ will reproduce by just budding off a whole new individual, the bud will occur around two-thirds of the way down the body axis. When a _Hydra_ is cut in half, each half will regenerate and form into a small _Hydra_; the “head” will regenerate a “foot” and the “foot” will regenerate a “head”. This regeneration occurs without cell division. If the _Hydra_ is sliced into many segments then the middle slices will form both a “head” and a “foot”.
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### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/43 "2019-10-16T00:31:03Z")
OOhhh I got a snail!
I went deep into the forest and plucked a moss-covered rock out of a creek bed and put it in the tank and now I have a snail. I don’t actually think he was on the rock though. It isn’t that big and I did rinse it off and pick off small twigs and such. I think I would have seen him. I’m guessing that he’s been in there all along and I’m just now seeing him.
His name is Shelly.
The plants got too unruly so I had to trim them down a bit and now the Hydra is gone. I didn’t trim the leaf he was on but I guess I disturbed him enough to dislodge him.
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### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2019, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/44 "2019-10-16T03:15:44Z")
Shelly!:
[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/48906836686/in/dateposted-public/)
Mossy rock:
[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/48906837121/in/dateposted-public/)
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### Author:  [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/45 "2019-10-22T13:14:59Z")
I collected and tended a porta-bog for many years. Kept in an old meat lug, I just cut an interesting piece of an existing local bog from a nearby lake. I was mostly interested in the tiny, profuse flora my porta-bog grew. It mostly lived on my back deck and it was surprising the numerous fauna that visited and populated the ecosystem from time to time.
One morning I heard a dinosaur raising a loud ruckus. [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbNcdRrrJHs)
It was so loud I was afraid to go look to see what it was.
I’ll have to check out those videos. My porta-bog took very little maintenance and was endlessly fascinating.
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### Author:  [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/46 "2019-10-22T13:51:23Z")
Shelly is a Pond Snail… be prepared for a potential population explosion…
[https://www.myaquariumclub.com/physa-acuta-the-acute-pond-snail-5769.html](https://www.myaquariumclub.com/physa-acuta-the-acute-pond-snail-5769.html)
"These snails live about a year, but during that year, they breed prolifically and produce many eggs. By the age of 8 weeks, pond snails are adult and ready to begin procreation. As hermaphrodites, any two Pond Snails can meet up and breed. When they do, both snails exchange genetic material, and will subsequently both lay eggs masses with anywhere from 50 to 400 eggs.
They are capable of asexual reproduction, self fertilizing in a procedure not akin to cloning or parthenogenesis. In the case of Physa Acuta, each of their eggs, even when self-fertilized, will have a genetic uniqueness based on the coming together of the two halves. In addition to self-fertilization, Physa Acuta also has the ability to store genetic material. A single encounter with another pond snail could provide enough genetic raw material for many clutches of eggs."
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/47 "2019-10-22T14:06:55Z")
^ This explains the poor sales of snail “Playboy” magazine.
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### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/48 "2019-10-22T15:38:34Z")
The tank is doing great. Shelly has visibly grown. I have some cyclops which are pretty interesting. I started getting some algae and Shelly just wasn’t able to clean it all off of the plant leaves so I got a Mystery Snail. She is super interesting and entertaining. She is also excellent at cleaning off the algae. Her name is Gaseous.
Things I would do differently:
Use actual dirt with a layer of fine gravel as substrate
Start off with a bit larger tank - maybe 10 gallons
Better research which plants to get. The red is nice but I think I prefer something green, smaller and round leaves.
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### Author:  [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/49 "2019-10-22T18:58:07Z")
Sounds like you’re having fun 🙂
as far as your mystery snail goes, it’s probably some variety of Apple snail, they can get big, and you may need to supplement the water with calcium to keep the shell strength up
there are separate male and female snails, so you have a 50% chance of the mystery snail not laying eggs, they are laid above the waterline in a yellowish/pinkish cluster and easy to remove if you don’t want baby snails
they produce a lot of waste, think of them as another fish in terms of bioload
there are two main subspecies of apple snail (three if you count the Columbian Ramshorn, which is another Apple subphylum), the easiest way to tell the difference is look at the spirals on the side of the shell, if the shell has “flat” levels on the side of the shell (basically a “ledge” next to each spiral whorl) that’s the less destructive one, if it has rounded over sides , then it’s the type that will voraciously devour _all_ your plants, living or dying, the kind with the “flats” only go after dead/dying vegetation
Another cool species of snail is the Malaysian Trumpet, it’s a nocturnal burrowing “livebearing” snail, like the pond snails, they are very prolific, unlike the pond snails, they have a long, conical shell (like a ice cream sugar cone), and the shell is _very_ tough and durable, since they burrow in the substrate, they keep it loose and prevent ammonia buildup.
i’d be careful adding in any more animals to the tank, IIRC, it was a 2 gallon tank, and an apple snail will produce a lot of waste, i’d go no more than a few cherry shrimp, or a Betta Splendens fish, it’s far better to understock than overstock the tank, it’s a closed ecosystem and the smaller the water volume the quicker things can go bad…
the 20 Long tanks are a great fun tank, long enough to give you choices as to your tank inhabitants, but not so large as to be ungainly or time consuming to maintain
bear in mind, it’s better to understock than overstock.
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### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2019, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/50 "2019-10-23T04:56:19Z")
Here is Gaseous:
[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/48945829702/in/dateposted-public/)
She is a pooping machine! And I thought Shelly was bad! She’s so interesting. It’s like having some sort of water turtle-cow. She goes along, chomping, chomping then she just goes inside her shell and falls asleep. Her body is fascinating, like a slow octopus. Her foot is white and almost florescent orange.
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### Author:  [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2019, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/51 "2019-10-23T05:28:09Z")
Good news, everyone! (well, Floaty, really…)
your Apple snail (the “mystery” refers to the fact that you have equal chance of getting the benign “eats dead plants only” type, or the “thanks for the all-you-can-eat-salad-bar” molluscular defoliant type…) is the type that eats dead/dying plants only, that’s the good kind 🙂
given how healthy the plants look, however, you’re probably going to have to stop down at your aquarium store and pick up some algae wafers for the snail so it doesn’t starve, you also may want to supplement calcium in the water if the shell starts looking thin (semi-transparent), there are three good ways to do this…
1; get a cuttlebone for parakeets and drop it in the tank, the snail will graze on it when it needs calcium
2; dried crumpled up eggshells, the snail will eat them
3; calcium liquid for salt water tanks, a couple drops per gallon
judging from the pictures, her shell does look a little thin, if the shell is supposed to be yellow-ish, it should be a less translucent yellow, it may also be the tank lighting, but from what I can see, the shell looks a little too transparent for my tastes, also, the edges of the shell where the whorls are appear to have a “pebbled” surface, the shell should be smooth and shiny, also, the leading edge of the shell looks to be slightly ragged…
nothing to really worry about, as she can deposit calcium into the shell to build it up, if you start to see pinholes or cracks develop, _then_ start worrying, snails are tough critters though, and unless you’re raising her in apple cider vinegar ;), it’s not too much to worry about, snails like neutral to alkaline water, acidic water causes shell erosion
give her some yummy calcium treats and her shell will re-mineralize and get stronger.
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### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/52 "2019-10-26T23:46:19Z")
Well I went and got myself 4 Amano Shrimp. They seem to be voracious eaters and equally voracious poopers! Shelly seems to be missing a tiny chunk out of her tail…Amanos??? They are very happy with the driftwood as there’s a hollow place inside and they can crawl down into it to hide/sleep/whatever when they want to.
My red plants aren’t doing as well as they were but I don’t mind too much. I’d like to replace them anyway for some nice Pearl Grass or Baby Tears. I’ve done a couple 50% water changes and the water is crystal clear.
I put a bit of algae wafer in for Gaseous and she promptly plopped herself on it but then seemed all slow and sluggish - even for a snail.
Oops, forgot the photos:
[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/48965135732/in/dateposted-public/)
[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/48964959226/in/dateposted-public/)
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### Author:  [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/53 "2019-10-27T00:26:22Z")
Looking good :), I highly doubt Gaseous’s foot issue was caused by shrimp, those amanos have tiny claws and mouthparts designed for grazing on algae and food detritus, it’d be like a greenhead fly trying to eat an entire cow…
if you can find some Water Lettuce plants (garden centers that have outdoor pond plants), get one or two, that’s all you’ll really need…
[ ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/h3U512s1koAfuQzRA)
[ ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/tsvgcECg62bR5ktH7)
Water lettuce is a serious nutrient sponge, it will strip nitrogenous waste out so completely that you’ll have to _add_ nitrogen ferts back to the water, for example, I performed an experiment where I _deliberately_ OVERdosed the tank with Nitrogen ferts, FOUR TIMES the recommended amount…
the very next day, the nitrogen levels were ZERO!, it had stripped all the nitrogen clear of the water.
Another great plant to get is the Marimo moss ball (great companion plant for Amanos) it’s actually a ball ov slow-growing non-invasive algae, and since it’s an algae, it directly competes with the undesirable algae for the same nutrients
[ ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/hAUFyUZovopNnApq9)
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### Author:  [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2019, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/54 "2019-10-27T03:21:07Z")
Oooh. Good tip on the water lettuce. I’ll check into that.
The tank’s looking very nice **Floaty**!
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2019, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/55 "2019-10-27T08:31:19Z")
I stumbled across the Life In Jars? channel just the other day and now I want to make my own ecosphere!
CodyDon of Cody’s Lab also made a few of these by drilling a small hole in hollow glass construction blocks.
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### Author:  [@WilliamWilsonsDoppelgaenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilliamWilsonsDoppelgaenger)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2019, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/56 "2019-10-27T21:14:21Z")
This is a little off-topic, but inspired by this thread, I was reading the wikipedia article on caddisflies, and stumbled across this:
> [@](#):
>
> In art, the French artist Hubert Duprat has created works by providing caddis larvae with small grains of gold and precious stones for them to build into decorative cases.
Here’s a gallery: [Artist Hubert Duprat Collaborates with Caddisfly Larvae as They Build Aquatic Cocoons from Gold and Pearls — Colossal](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/07/hubert-duprat-caddisflies/)
So if you feel your ecosphere lacks a bit of glamor, I suppose this is an option…
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### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/57 "2019-10-28T02:30:48Z")
> [@WilliamWilsonsDoppelgaenger](#):
>
> This is a little off-topic, but inspired by this thread, I was reading the wikipedia article on caddisflies, and stumbled across this:
>
> Here’s a gallery: [Artist Hubert Duprat Collaborates with Caddisfly Larvae as They Build Aquatic Cocoons from Gold and Pearls — Colossal](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/07/hubert-duprat-caddisflies/)
> So if you feel your ecosphere lacks a bit of glamor, I suppose this is an option…
What a neat thing - thanks for sharing it!
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### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/58 "2019-10-29T01:09:28Z")
These Amano Shrimp are so stinking interesting! I have 4 and, based on their sizes, I think I have two male and two female. The way they interact with each other is fascinating. Just now I dropped in a couple of small bits of algae wafers and one male came running over, grabbed a piece, tucked it under his arm and took off running. Then the others saw what he had and chased him and one stole his treasure and ran away but then it was quickly taken from that one and so on.
After it had been broken up, each shrimp took their own little bit and started eating. When they eat all of their hands are going at once, passing a crumb along and back and forth.
I added some more pictures because they’re so interesting:
[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/48977201343/in/dateposted-public/)
[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/48977938147/in/dateposted-public/)
[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/48977756781/in/dateposted-public/)
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### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2019, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-an-ecosphere/837378/59 "2019-11-10T01:40:46Z")
Well so much for my pickle jar…
[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/49040712051/in/dateposted-public/)
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