Reality check: Artemia are small, planktonic, crustaceans, relations
of daphnia. They spend their entire existence swimming aimlessly in
predator-free temporary waters, and are often found in enormous
densities. They without doubt have computing power closer to that of
an earthworm than a housefly, and certainly nowhere near that of a
fish.

Ozdude wrote:
"Stacey Whaley" wrote in message
oups.com...

Apologies Stacey. I seem to have the wrong end of a couple of sticks
here.

:) That's OK. Just to be sure I went and looked in the mirror. No
warts or unsightly hairs where they shouldn't be. Also, didn't feel
too much like moving from my house to beneath a bridge.

FWIW - those things look good, but that's all IMO. They look worse
when they
get dirty. If you're just putting shrimps in them then I guess they
would be
okay, but I wouldn't put fish in them - too cruel.

I first saw one in a Brookstone store in a local mall. At first I did
a double-take because they are so clever-looking. I thought it would
be nice to have one for my desk. It never occured to me that it might
be inhumane until I started looking at the AquaBabies sites on the
internet and finding protest pages about them. That's when the
lightbulb flickered. (Aquababies actually have fish/frogs/crabs in
them, quite different from the brine shrimp.)

I know you're not a troll, and I apologise. Don't bite me ;)

I think trolls have big teeth. Mine are a bit smaller and wouldn't
hurt as much. ;)

Oz

-Stacey



--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

"Margolis" wrote in message ...
"Gfishery" wrote in message
...

Residents of downtown Tokyo would like more space too :)
Nobody seems to feel that their living space is inhumane.




but they always have the option to leave if they want to, instead they
CHOOSE to live there ;op

I haven't run into any "Live Free Or Die" shrimp lately.

If the brine shrimp could choose between becoming an ingredient of my goldfish food flakes
or living in an ecosphere, I'm sure they would choose the latter :)

But I must say the shrimp served at the last seafood restaurant I dined at were excellent!

"Ozdude" wrote in message
...

"Stacey Whaley" wrote in message
oups.com...

Apologies Stacey. I seem to have the wrong end of a couple of sticks here.

FWIW - those things look good, but that's all IMO. They look worse when
they
get dirty. If you're just putting shrimps in them then I guess they would
be
okay, but I wouldn't put fish in them - too cruel.

I know you're not a troll, and I apologise. Don't bite me ;)

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith


I'm totally with you here Oz....on both the question of trolls and these
EcoSpheres - lol. Saw one when we first started out on this fish experience
back in August trying to chose a tank for my son's birthday. Looked quite
trendy but the poor goldfish they had trapped in there just looked so
unhappy.... :-(

Plus, I thought one of the arguements years ago against round goldfish bowls
is that there was not sufficient surface area at the top....might be wrong
though....

Didn't get one, wouldn't get one....Maybe the situation for the little
shrimps encased in one would be better than their usual fate - maybe not
(sitting on the fence)...but IMO not for fish....

Gill

"Ozdude" wrote in message
u...
I followed the link and apart from the fact the orignal message appears to
be troll, the EcoSphere my LFS sells is better than the heap I saw on the
web page. Sorry, but I didn't see any type of filtration or lighting on
the linked sphere.

Doesn't matter any way whether I saw it or not, to be honest, all globe
shaped vessels for fish are bad for them for the reasons I cite in my
previous post. They are cruel IMO. Not much better than those stupid
picture frame tanks that are all the vogue of late - now that's really
cruel.

Oz


First of all, I'm not saying I agree with the practice.... But an Eco-Sphere
isn't a fish bowl. It's a self contained ecosystem. The globe comes
complete with plant, water and shrimp inside and it's sealed. You can't put
fish in them unless you break the glass, in which case you've just ruined
it.


--
Mar

Well, as far as I can tell (and I've read most of the website, plus info from related sites) it seems to be a fair setup. I don't know how much a shrimp can understand things, but I see food, oxgen, and a nice habitat. That is what we provide for our pets, and as long as you don't mistreat them (ie: shake the crap out of them) I see no problem.
But it is nice to see people are concerned over things like this.
A bad example of something similar is the betta with a plant. Instructions are to not feed the betta because he eats the plant. Very limited ecosystem, as bettas are not herbavores. And the plant can cover the entire top of the water. Big no-no for bettas.

I think the EcoSphere has at least been well thought out, unlike other things. ::cough... betta in a vase... cough::

Eco-sphere's don't have a brine shrimp they have a Hawaiian shrimp of some
sort. Brine shrimp only live a short timr, the eco-shrimp lives about
a year or more apparantly.

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"Stacey Whaley" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ozdude wrote:
"Stacey Whaley" wrote in message
oups.com...

Apologies Stacey. I seem to have the wrong end of a couple of sticks
here.

:) That's OK. Just to be sure I went and looked in the mirror. No
warts or unsightly hairs where they shouldn't be. Also, didn't feel
too much like moving from my house to beneath a bridge.

LOL! Thanks for your sense of humour.

I first saw one in a Brookstone store in a local mall. At first I did
a double-take because they are so clever-looking. I thought it would
be nice to have one for my desk. It never occured to me that it might
be inhumane until I started looking at the AquaBabies sites on the
internet and finding protest pages about them. That's when the
lightbulb flickered. (Aquababies actually have fish/frogs/crabs in
them, quite different from the brine shrimp.)

I know you're not a troll, and I apologise. Don't bite me ;)

I think trolls have big teeth. Mine are a bit smaller and wouldn't
hurt as much. ;)

LOL. I do think Sea Monkeys would look cool in the sphere though, but for
the price they are I am starting to think they are nothing more than a
glorified water filled lighting fixture ;)

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

"MarAzul" wrote in message
news:_zoVd.38260$Tt.19695@fed1read05...
First of all, I'm not saying I agree with the practice.... But an
Eco-Sphere isn't a fish bowl. It's a self contained ecosystem. The globe
comes complete with plant, water and shrimp inside and it's sealed. You
can't put fish in them unless you break the glass, in which case you've
just ruined it.

They aren't allowed to sell those things here in Australia - well I've never
seen one for sale legally, put it that way.

The LFS has a similar product called "Bio-Ball" which has a central air
powered UGF tube with a small halogen light shining down the bubble column.
It looks great lit up and bubbling and it does have the removable top, so I
was basing Eco-Sphere on this.
I wasn't aware it was a shrimp enclosure that was totally sealed ;(

It seems to me that when the life cycle of the shrimp is through you can't
clean these things - so does that mean they have built in obsolescence?

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

"Richard Sexton" wrote in message
...
Eco-sphere's don't have a brine shrimp they have a Hawaiian shrimp of some
sort. Brine shrimp only live a short timr, the eco-shrimp lives about
a year or more apparantly.

What do you do when they eventually expire though? Can you recharge the ball
somehow? Seems a waste to me.

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith