Valentine's Surprise: EcoSphere

My ever thoughtful girlfriend bestowed one of these amazing Ecosphere globes to me as a Valentine's gift. I've wanted one for a long while now, and she snuck over to nearby eco-friendly proprieter Kelly Green Design and Home and chose this oblong shaped aquatic marvel...a perfect gift for her nerdy boyfriend. A few more photos under the cut...

I have yet to name my shrimpy friends, but I'm considering naming them Scampi, Popcorn, Langostino and Michael Jackson (the albino looking one).

That little black piece at the bottom with the gravel is a magnet. When algae starts coating the interior, you can use another magnet on the outside to "scrub" the inside with. The little red shrimp love the algae, so a little growth is a good thing.

Comments (14)

I am madly in love with your shrimp! What a fantastic gift.

posted by alitris on February 14th 2008 at 10:09am
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I have one of these (but mine is spherical)! Love them shrimp. Their names are Philip and Pierre, namesake from the architects that designed glass houses.

posted by showing on February 14th 2008 at 10:12am
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you can find these at the Natural History Museum store in NYC. They are really great. Mine only lasted 4-5 years, which I guess isn't bad.

posted by designerny on February 14th 2008 at 10:12am
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I think you picked good names. The scrubbing magnet idea is genius.

What do you do with them when they are... done?

posted by Slim on February 14th 2008 at 10:17am
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you can get them at brookstone.

posted by elizabeth in AL on February 14th 2008 at 10:22am
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I got one of these for my boyfriend too. His birthday was in June and the shrimp are still going strong!

posted by Ksquared on February 14th 2008 at 10:43am
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Haha, Scampi. I love it.

posted by mmadden on February 14th 2008 at 11:10am
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i've always wanted one of these. for those who have them - how long can you expect them to last? do the shrimp reproduce?

posted by lindsey kathlene on February 14th 2008 at 11:59am
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Hey, my wife gave me one for Christmas or a birthday a long time ago. I had one shrimp die a few years ago. My last shrimp just died. I'd had it since at least 1999 or so. It even survived 3 moves.

I think the average life (if you follow the listed instructions) is, like, 4 or 5 years or something.

Actually, I need to contact the company about getting mine "recharged".

posted by joetron2030 on February 14th 2008 at 12:45pm
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i want one too but im afraid my furry friends would love it just as much, and make a mess. where do you keep it? like, no sun no dark no humid blablabla? does it have a placement rule?

as far as the shrimps go.. shrimp and scampi are the same thing. scampi is italian for shrimp. so it's like calling a cat: gatto. i would want to avoid identity crises. ...

posted by troz on February 14th 2008 at 12:59pm
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I got one of these more than ten years ago and it has survived many many moves. It has a couple less shrimp than it used to, but man, they are cool.

posted by eowes on February 14th 2008 at 1:52pm
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I've always wanted one, so cool. Good gift!

posted by Ana on February 14th 2008 at 2:57pm
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so, so so so incredible.

posted by jenny! on February 14th 2008 at 3:13pm
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I absolutely adore these! I've wanted one for a long time, but the price still kinda gets to me.

posted by uisceros on February 15th 2008 at 6:47am
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