Closed Aquatic Ecosystem, Medium Sphere, with Revolving Base

We got Shrimp Tim (the longest living shrimp of the group, his nickname) December 29th 2017. He died today, May 7th 2025. Long live Shrimp Tim. You will be missed. Your will to live was inspiring. RIP and thanks for the memories.

An unexpected and fascinating gift. A large candle holder makes a great base

I feel like I need to review this as it has been 6 years and there is still one red shrimp living his best life in the ecosphere. It had 3-4 to start (i honestly cant remember).

I purchased two of these a few months ago. One for myself and one as a gift for Christmas. The first one was exactly as descibed. Four alive and happy shrimp swimming around! It's amazing how these shrimp can live in this closed system! It comes with a little guide on how to properly care for ecosphere, like how much light and what temperature is ideal. I was extremely pleased with this purchase! Definitely one of the coolest things I've ever purchased from Amazon.I was so excited to open the second box! I tore it open, pulled out the ecosphere, and to my horror all of the shrimp were dead. And not just dead but also shredded up in pieces. I think that the box was most likely mishandled during shipping. The poor shrimp got shaken up, and with the small stones, torn to shreds. Since my order had been fulfilled through Amazon it was super easy to get a replacement. No cost to send the "damaged" one back and had a replacement in a few days. The replacement had four live shrimp!The one that I kept is still doing great after 3 months. The one that I gave as a gift is doing great too, and she loved it. She said it was the most unique gift she's ever gotten!Update: Almost 2 years later and sadly 3 shrimp died after having them about 7-8 months but one is alive and well.I think I had them in a spot that was getting too much sun during the summer months and this may have been a factor. It's important to follow the guidelines on amount of light and temperature.

I received my ecosystem in the dead of winter in Iowa. It was delivered on my doorstep and left there with no notice from the delivery person it had arrived until Amazon notified me it was there. Thank goodness I was home to bring it in. I think it would have been okay out there for a few more hours, though, because lo and behold, I opened it up and it was lovingly packed with hand warmers in it! To begin with, I had four brine shrimp. One died pretty quickly, so now I have three who are happily scooting around in their environment. I clean it once in a while with it's magnets, but otherwise it is a very low maintenance pet to have. Fluffy, Muffy and JoAnn (Golden Girls reference, for those who would know it) happily sit on my shelf, take care of themselves and amuze me.

So I bought this two years and two months ago. It came with four awesome little shrimp, a snail, moss and a great piece of drift wood. The shrimp were red and active. Unfortunately, a few weeks after arrival, one shrimp died. However, for the next two years, the other shrimp have thrived. One recently died, but the last remaining two are red and active. For two plus years of daily entertainment watching this mini world, it was well worth it. The box itself arrived severely damaged but it was so well packaged it made no difference. The little guys were all fine and the delicate glass in tact. I will be a repeat customer. Wonderful little ecosystem for a nice oasis of life on your desk, right before your eyes.

Update: Had these for a few months now. Adding a picture to show that mine are molting, so I guess that means they’re growing? Pictured is one molting, can’t get a good picture of the other ones old shell that finished molting alreadyOriginal:i've seen quite a reviews stating these shrimp are slowly starving themselves to death. i would disagree, in the month i've had my sphere they regularly regenerate their waste line, and it becomes clear after they have a little shrimp bowel movement.i am slightly concerned one shrimp is unhappy with the environment. two are red, and the third is red when i remove the cover or reintroduce light, but goes pale an hour or two later. unsure if this is just a reaction to UV light as well.IMO - as long as you take care of these, the shrimp seem to be no more miserable than fish in an aquarium.i will provide an update if my shrimp die or appear to be in poor health.

I love this EcoSphere!! When I saw it on the website, I just had to have it! However, I could have died when I saw the condition of the package on my porch when it arrived. It was torn almost completely all the way around! I just knew the orb had to be broken and the shrimp dead. But due to the fantastic inner packaging, the orb was intact and the little shrimp were swimming around! I'm sure they must have thought they had survived a major hurricane from the handling of the shipping company! So Kudos to Ecosphere Associates for a job well done with the packaging...now if we can only get the shipping company to be more careful with items marked "FRAGILE!"I bought the EcoSphere in the hopes that it would be a "de-stressor" at work! It has not disappointed and may even be helping too much as I find myself just staring at the shrimp swimming around instead of doing my work! LOL!! I am extremely happy with the EcoSphere Orb!!!UPDATE: Still loving my little EcoSphere! I would like to get another for my home. I wonder though...I keep seeing little bubbles forming from the bottom of the sphere on top of the white rocks. Today, the bubble actually floated one of the rocks (see picture attached). Is it normal for bubbles to form?