Easy ecospheres …
December 27, 2005Open2.net DIY Science Eco-sphere has instructions on how you can roll your own ecosphere or self-contained ecosystem. Having read through the instructions for the ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ versions, I’d say that their instructions for the marine ecosphere will likely work, while the vivarium will almost certainly fail.
They’ve relied quite heavily on known ecological dynamics for their recommendations on the marine ecosystem, while their suggestion that you
“[t]ry to choose plants that fit into your environment. If it’s a small environment only use small growing species. If you put too many plants in expect some deaths.”
Finally, step 7 has me absolutely convinced that this set-up is headed for a detritivores paradise in no time:
This is the fun bit…. choosing some animals. You might want to include some woodlice, worms, ants, aphids, black fly – or anything you can find in your garden. Have a think about the size of your animals in your system. We added snails to ours, and after two days took them out again – they ate too much!
And, they own up to the fact that their instructions won’t work with the posting of results here. By week two, they have an increasingly hypoxic environment with CO2 levels that are through the roof. So, I guess this can be considered self-sustaining in the sense that little to nothing will live or grow in this system.
