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Make Magazine's online labs have put together some great resources on how to create your own biosphere. This guide, detailed in a PDF, shows how to create one that is home to a shrimp. For those who aren't familiar with what a tabletop biosphere is, the non-ecologist definition is basically a sealed living system (with the exception of light) designed to maintain and balance itself in terms of gas, nutrients, etc., and something that is generally composed of a glass jar, plants, and microorganisms. This version will supply the shrimp with food, oxygen and help process its waste.

Other biospheres can be made without a shrimp, consisting of just plants, water and some specialized chemicals. This video podcast will show you how:

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Two other blog-made-biospheres:

• Slapphappe's Biosphere
• BottleWorld's Biosphere.