My 1 Litre Ecosphere Journey

Hello!

Long story short, I'm making a jarrarium (aquarium in a jar) as a fun little project!

If you don't want to know the details of how I got to where I am so far, skip down to the bottom of this post!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I started off with a 1 litre glass bottle from Tiger for only £2 (did I mention this was a cheap project?) and cleaned it thoroughly with tap water.

Then I went to my local lake and collected about 500ml of water along with a fair amount of muddy sand, a large mass of a green moss and a couple tiny floating plants. The plants will absorb nitrate waste from the inhabitants of the ecosystem and provide oxygen for them to breathe

As planned, this mix from my lake came with a bunch of small living creatures; snails, worms, large and small crustaceans to name a few! These tiny critters each play a different role in keeping the jar clean and healthy (and they're all interesting to watch). The water and mud will also contain invisible algae and beneficial bacteria to feed the inhabitants and help keep the nitrates low.

If you want to help me identify the creatures in my jar, feel free!

I added the mud to the bottom of my clean jar and let the moss clump float loosely in it. I then filled the remaining 500ml in the jar with water from my cycled aquarium as I know this water is healthy and safe. At this point I had to let the jar mature (you can never get a perfectly balanced mixture of life in your sample, by letting it mature, the ecosystem will balance out by letting creature you lack in breed and letting creatures you have to many of starve. It also gives time for the algae and beneficial bacteria to grow)

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

As of right now, my jarrarium has been maturing for just under a month, and I'm waiting for a pair of 30cm tweasers to arrive in the mail before I take my next steps in the ecosystem. Asides from noticing less large creatures and more small ones in my ecosystem, Little has changed (which is a positive sign)

Feel free to add any comments, stories, questions or advice to this thread as I'm not worried about keeping this thread tidy, and I'll keep you all updated on my progress!

Bye for now!

 

These are fun, I have 3 of them

 

These are fun, I have 3 of them

Would you mind adding pictures of yours? I'd love to see them

 

Hmm, I was going to set up a jar aquarium, but I might do this instead.

 

Hmm, I was going to set up a jar aquarium, but I might do this instead.

It's still technically a jar aquarium, but my adding lake water it makes it both more lively and healthier/lasts longer

 

Update:

I think the ecosystem has finally found a population balance for its micro-inhabitants.

Small clear ladybug sorta things have exploded in number and their competition (small clear sea monkey sorta things) have gone 'extinct'. Nematodes of sorts still live in the mud and catch tiny creatures. There's a few brine-shrimp looking creatures walking on the mud and filtering it through their hundreds of legs.
Also, I have spotted a singular beetle living in the water. I presume he hatched from something as I haven't seen him until now, but he seems happy diving underwater to eat some plants before resurfacing again.

I've attached some pictures if anyone wants to see them or can help id

The next thing I will be doing is positioning the bottle at an angle to allow for a larger air-water surface area for better gas exchange and to give the ground dwelling creatures a larger area to roam over.

 

Just having a grand old primordial soup time are we? Totally cool!

 

Just having a grand old primordial soup time are we? Totally cool!

Thanks Yeah I'm starting off with a bunch of random pond life but then I'm hoping to add a couple shrimp when the ecosystem is stable!

 

Nice! The ladybug things look like ostracods to me, but I'm not the best at IDing

 

Nice! The ladybug things look like ostracods to me, but I'm not the best at IDing

Just googled them and yes they are ostracods (seed shrimp)! Thank you They are very cute and lively as they "glide" around the tank and I'm glad they aren't harmful. They seem to make good food for the nematodes..

 

There's another ostracod that's about the same size as the beetle who digs around in the mud, but his shape and pattern tell me he must just be a larger species of ostracod!

 

Just found out the species that got wiped out in my ecosystem were a type of copepod! But that's ok because I have some other copepods in a tiny sealed jar with a Marino moss ball in it!

 

Ever seen a micro berried shrimp?

Now you have! She's gonna be a mama

 

I’m impressed! Hubby not so much. Green slimy looking is what he says. The shrimp sounds too precious!

 

I’m impressed! Hubby not so much. Green slimy looking is what he says. The shrimp sounds too precious!

Oh, that's not algae, it's a plant from my local lake which is there to keep the jar healthy until I can get a better looking plant

 

Oh, that's not algae, it's a plant from my local lake which is there to keep the jar healthy until I can get a better looking plant

Bummer. I was picturing primordial soup!

 

Bummer. I was picturing primordial soup!

It is just a large ball of green plant thread if that's any comfort

 

Look what else I found in there!!
LOL.

 

Ever seen a micro berried shrimp?

Now you have! She's gonna be a mama

I love that picture! I started my first fish tank with river water!
I now have pet planaria with my bladder snails lol!

 

I love that picture! I started my first fish tank with river water!
I now have pet planaria with my bladder snails lol!

Did you? From what little I know about biology and ecosystems, river water would be more than ideal for any set of freshwater fish or invertibre. The only reason why people avoid it is because of potential diseases/pollutants or an imbalance of microscopic life. For low risk projects like this though it's pretty awesome!

 

All is still good in my ecosystem.

I've been really caught up in college work lately but it's almost Christmas and I should have some time then.

*My plan:*

• Glue the bottle to a rock leaning at an angle to give it a greater surface area and make it more aesthetic.
• Arrange the green moss stuff to sit on the silt like a carpet.
• Add an interesting rock and some small aquarium plants
• Add a pair of red cherry shrimp (and remove some of the current inhabitants to make room in biologically for them)
• Pray it works

If you have any advice on how to make a good aquascape (I've never aquascaped before) or are concerned about my plan of action then I would love to hear your advice

 

Did you? From what little I know about biology and ecosystems, river water would be more than ideal for any set of freshwater fish or invertibre. The only reason why people avoid it is because of potential diseases/pollutants or an imbalance of microscopic life. For low risk projects like this though it's pretty awesome!

I even have a few dace who have been with me my whole journey! They're quite adaptable fish! They've been through everything, and honestly, it seems our aquaria disease don't actually effct wild fish a whole lot.
They never showed symptoms of anything I've had to treat.
Maybe there's something they've been exposed to that ich doesn't like.

I'm always told "DONT PUT WILD THINGS IN YOUR TANK!!!!!" As if the moment I do it will destroy everything!
I have a handful of inverts and little swimmers, I even came across a wild fish louse once, though it was decent sized and easy to catch. It went unidentified for almost a month after I found it.
The biggest worry I would have is a toxin, some sort of worm/eggs I can't see, or lice.
I haven't had any problems stemming from my wild water or fish usage. No issues with wild plants either.
I used to try to collect algae, but it doesn't do well outside of it's ecosystem and the fish eventually decimate it.
I'm really thinking about a bunch of vases now! It would be awesome to separate my little eco systems into stable ones that look nicer than plastic tubs tossed together lol

 

I even have a few dace who have been with me my whole journey! They're quite adaptable fish! They've been through everything, and honestly, it seems our aquaria disease don't actually effct wild fish a whole lot.
They never showed symptoms of anything I've had to treat.
Maybe there's something they've been exposed to that ich doesn't like.

I'm always told "DONT PUT WILD THINGS IN YOUR TANK!!!!!" As if the moment I do it will destroy everything!
I have a handful of inverts and little swimmers, I even came across a wild fish louse once, though it was decent sized and easy to catch. It went unidentified for almost a month after I found it.
The biggest worry I would have is a toxin, some sort of worm/eggs I can't see, or lice.
I haven't had any problems stemming from my wild water or fish usage. No issues with wild plants either.
I used to try to collect algae, but it doesn't do well outside of it's ecosystem and the fish eventually decimate it.
I'm really thinking about a bunch of vases now! It would be awesome to separate my little eco systems into stable ones that look nicer than plastic tubs tossed together lol

Usually wild fish, plants etc are better adapted to living in hardship, both on an evolution and personal adaptation point of view. And they haven't been inbred quite as much. All in all; definitely stronger.

Do you think I will have any issues cultivating snails or Tubifex worms I find in the wild? There's always a stigma around these things but as a student on a budget it would be really helpful if I could

 

Usually wild fish, plants etc are better adapted to living in hardship, both on an evolution and personal adaptation point of view. And they haven't been inbred quite as much. All in all; definitely stronger.

Do you think I will have any issues cultivating snails or Tubifex worms I find in the wild? There's always a stigma around these things but as a student on a budget it would be really helpful if I could

All of my bladder snails are wild snails from the river there are a few other species, we even have acute mud snails in our tanks, they much resemble mystery snails and Japanese trap doors(not the long type)
Generally they reproduce fairly quickly.
A lot of people are scared to even feed freezedried or other tubifex, they swear that they carry parasites.
I've never cultivated worms though I've thought about it.
Do you think my fish would eat planaria if I dropped them in? lol not going to, but I bet they would.
We have detritus worms in our 10 gallon with a platy and betta, when they crawl up on the walls the platy goes ham eating them!
I'm not sure how readily tubifex breed, but if it's anything like other worms, I'm sure there won't be too much trouble, so long as there is enough food and space for them.