After you’ve made your ecosphere, it is best to keep it open for the first week (or until you are able to get hold of some plants if you do not have any already), this provides the ecosphere with oxygen and stops the ecosphere crashing. People often try to seal theirs straight away, which reduces the chance that it will survive in the long run. It takes time for an ecosystem to establish itself.
You can keep your ecosphere illuminated with a white LED lamp or you can use natural sunlight from a window. It is best to avoid direct sunlight. I put my ecospheres on a frosted glass window as it diffuses the light (you can buy a frosted glass film to put on your window and it’s pretty cheap). Unfiltered sunlight can cause algae blooms, which are harmful. It can also overheat your ecosphere and this will kill everything. For best results, I would recommend using the LED lamp.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Jq2Wf0hUSg9-6C0fAUJWPsGOvlHovGtc9B_hXR97OiSCmBIxJWp3-kNVMY5RpAPDYXc-jJhCSybTaRK6e62lUU0b7DKUKagvjnpkr96LwYE2__5KxM59G0pFZxIIzS0IbVOGv-VY_6SPhKDACdoCbru6-d7BnTCLwqdh1Lf_FB9aWnrf94jIkad3DVfNBg
It is important to note that natural sunlight provides a greater growth potential than LEDs and is therefore technically better, however due to the extreme changes in light intensity your ecospheres will experience throughout the year I prefer the use of LED lamps as they keep conditions much more stable
Do not use a limited colour range grow lamp, use a simple white light lamp. Be careful not to over-light your ecosphere as this can cause algae blooms. The lighting in the picture above is too bright. You are better off giving it the same light level as it would get on a window seal, which is why I went with the frosted glass window (I used the lamp in the picture to clear diatoms, see Diatoms (Bacillariophyceae sp)).
This one is extremely simple: If the jar is cool to the touch, it is fine. If it is warm to the touch, then that is not good. If you find your ecosphere overheating, it is important that you move it to a cooler place with less direct sunlight. The maximum temperature an ecosphere can tolerate is around 28°C (roughly 82°F).