What kind of self sustaining ecosystem/pet could I get?

Question

I found little ecosystems with brine shrimp and some algae in them, but after reading up on them it seemed that the conditions were actually cruel to the shrimp. Are there other kinds of ecosystems I could buy/make? It doesn't necessarily have to have an animal in it, just something that could grow.

Answer 1

cruel?

i dunno... cruel?

there was an article in Make magazine about the mini-ecosystem thing. what they said for the step by step is one of those sealing canning glass jars, some dirt, some scuds, some live plants, some snails, maybe a piece of driftwood, maybe even some shrimp.

look into cherry shrimp, they might even breed if the jar is at least a few gallons.

these are all fresh water.

plants wise, i would recommend java moss, java fern, anubias var nana, and maybe even riccia.

an oh, maybe you can add daphnia too.

maybe i can sell all this stuff as a package on ebay, now there's a money making idea.