In this video I decided to create the long requested saltwater ecosphere. They are a lot more advanced than regular freshwater systems and therefore a lot easier to get wrong.

I created the ecosphere with sand from the ocean. I also gathered shells and seaweed from the beach. I threw them all into the jar, sealed it and hoped for the best. This is my first ever saltwater ecosphere and I'm hoping it is a success. The water cleared and organisms seem to be flourishing. With a little luck things should stay stable and flourish for years to come.

Familiar organisms are present within this ecosphere such as isopods, snails, ostracods and copepods. They are however marine variants that I have never seen inside an ecosphere of mine before.

There were quite a few different organisms in this ecosphere I couldn't identify. I am familiar with freshwater organisms, however marine are not my strength. It was a lot of fun to see these strange new species show up inside an ecosphere for me to study.

I am most excited about the tiny snails and the blue ostracods that I've found within this ecosphere. I'm hoping they establish long lasting populations. I'm also quite excited about the shoreline isopods. They zoom around so quickly it's almost impossible to capture any footage of them. They seem to never sit still and only stop moving to burrow in the sand.

I believe there is a lot more species that I've yet to find inside this ecosystem. I also reckon I may lose species over time. This ecosphere isn't mature yet so changes to it's ecology are to be expected.

If you enjoyed the video please let me know down in the comments! :)

This ecosphere was made on the 10th May 2021, although the video was uploaded much later. (Writing this here so i don't forget.)

0:00 - Introduction
0:08 - Adding Sand
0:45 - Adding Saltwater
1:18 - Adding Seaweed
1:42 - Adding Shells
2:00 - Exploring The Ecosphere
8:40 - Outro