Ah, I see they include a magnet to clean the inside of the glass. Good idea!

> EcoSpheres have an average life expectancy of two years.

Very interesting, I had thought they were sustainable for much longer than that. I suppose even the most tightly controlled starting conditions will lead to unpredictable results when you have organisms reproducing.

I still have one. The shrimp were alive for about 2 years. Now there are other organisms...

I think these are more about the incredible toughness of the shrimp involved. Their native habitat consists of rainwater puddles held in volcanic rock, so the shrimposphere is probably fairly luxurious.

> I think these are more about the incredible toughness of the shrimp involved.

Pretty much; this guy[1] claims that basically, the shrimp slowly starve over the course of a couple years, shrinking after each molt.

[1]: http://www.petshrimp.com/opaeinfo.php

I'd have to doubt his claim, given this comment which shows they must be breeding:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7858130

Upvoted simply for the word 'shrimposphere'. Awesome.

I have an Ecosphere that's around 18 years old. There are still a couple shrimp (well I'm guessing offspring of the originals) alive. It's pretty cool.

That's really amazing. Has it stayed relatively undisturbed? Where is it relative to light?

Your shrimp are new shrimp made out of the same molecules as their ancestor shrimp.