my shrimps and their sponge

This plastic box of water was full of subwassertang, hornwort and other small items, until I plucked it all out to set up the new shrimp jar. It was funny to see all the shrimps waiting in the box- they clung and hid under/around the last thing in there- this semicircular piece of sponge.

They clung to it in the plastic baggie I used to re-acclimate them to their new home, and even funnier, kept clinging to it when I gently tipped them out into the water column.

I cleaned up all my tools, towels, put stuff away, dried up water drips- and then checked the jar again. Shrimps were still on the sponge.

It took a while for the first one to drop off, down to explore-

I went and did other stuff around the house, came back half an hour later- shrimps are still on the sponge

checked another hour later- still on the sponge-

it was getting ridiculous but my eight-year old thought it was really cute: they love the sponge! she said. She insisted I keep it in there for them, so I wedged it over a rock into an arc

Eventually I want to try planting that rock with moss, but for now the sponge adds some height to the decor, and the shrimps do really seem to like hanging around under it, crawling over it, picking stuff off it.

I'm glad I kept the shrimps, instead of tossing them into the angelfish tank to a probable fate- my youngest is very entertained watching the shrimps pick through the subwassertang, or trying to count all seven. I fed them celery leaf this morning- one tiny leaf, blanched for two minutes and mince up fine (Laddie got some too) and it was really funny to watch the shrimps scramble over it, then creep into separate corners with their handfuls.

When I was done setting up the new jar my daughter exclaimed: "Hey, it looks like a real little tank now! Not like one of those fish bowls you see on TV with a goldfish in it-" that last said in a scornful tone- I guess I've made a proper example, ha, that such is my kid's opinion of a goldfish in a bowl!