This started out life as an aquascaping tank with various types of shrimp and a dwarf lobster. Life happened and I was no longer able to keep up with trimming the various plants and it went crazy.

Eventually I gave up and after the Lobster died I decided to convert it to a closed system just to see what would happen and taped the lid shut to prevent evaporation.

Much to my surprise it has been going really strong. There has been a couple of die offs when moving to different parts of the country but it bounces back pretty quickly. Much better than my other two ecosphere's.

My closest pond doesn't have many good plants, so this was pretty tough. I tried a piece of grass which I think I did get from inside the pond but I don't actually think grass can survive under water for long?

Month 1:

I think the cone shaped snails are trumpet snails, I grabbed more than I would have liked since they hide in the dirt. I did move some of them to a different jar.

The little shrimps (scuds?) laid a bunch of eggs, they seem to reproduce like crazy.

I got some bladder snails(?) and a chunk of algae from a friend's local pond. I don't think I've ever opened the jar after that.

Month 3:

The trumpet snail population was declining, they seem hard to keep alive.

Month 4:

The water got murky green, probably floating algae. Later I tried to reduce sunlight slightly by moving the jar to make it easier to see.

The snail population is low but it's not a big jar. Maybe it's stabilized. But that's all for now!