I really enjoy watching videos of people making ecospheres in jars and have wanted to make one for quite a long time and decided to finally do it. I bought a 2 liter jar of pickles in preparation and have been eating lots and lots of pickles so I can use the jar.
Today I headed off into the woods where I knew there was a pond and scooped up dirt, debris and water in a bucket and then headed back out to the car. It was about a half mile walk and the bucket got pretty heavy so I carried it on my shoulder.
Got home and set it all up in the backyard. Now it’s here, beside me, on my desk. It should take about 24 hours for it to all settle so it’s still very murky. However - I just noticed something large (about 1 inch) moving around in there. It really creeped me out at first but now I think it’s pretty cool!
Ohh! There’s two of them moving around. They literally just look like bits of sticks moving around. I can’t see any legs or a body, just a moving stick. Hopefully tomorrow, when it’s a bit more clear, I’ll be able to see them better.
Sure! Here it is a few hours ago when I first set it up:
The thing that creeps me out about the little stick things is that my bare hands were digging in the mud and then, again, when putting everything into the jar. I got a better look at one and I think it actually is a stick with a thing living inside it.
Omg. For an instant I thought “wait - is there a reflection of me in the jar???:eek:”. Then I remembered. That’s a great photo. Boobies are one of my favourites!
It’s still too cloudy to see much of anything today. I may dump out half the water and fill it with clear water from the river. I can see some teeny tiny snails about the size of the tip of a pen. But I can only see them because they’re right on the side of the jar. I also saw a nematode, a mosquito larvae and some other thing swimming around.
It’s a little bit gross. I think I went too swampy and should have gone with the clearer water. I may take this one back, dump it out and try again with fresher water. I also feel a little bad for the stick guys.
I’d kinda like to try this, but I’d feel bad for the things like mayflies- spend however many months growing, getting ready for their one big day in the sun, triumphantly metamorphose, stretch out their shiny new wings and bump… jar lid.
Right? That’s how I feel, too. I was looking for things like Daphnia, Planaria, Copepods and Hydra. I don’t want to keep “stick things” and mayflies in a tiny jar.
I looked for suitable plants but didn’t see any. There’s an outdoor fishpond store just down the road so I think I’ll pop over there and get a plant or two. And actually, now that I think about it, I may just ask if I can scoop a bit of their pond water…
Is a random scoop out of a pond really going to produce a functioning system?
Even the ones in the FAQ link, which appear to be made up of a carefully chosen combination of species, according to the link usually only survive for two or three years.
Well it got quite warm in the house today while I was at work - 29c/85f and everything in the ecosphere died…
I did find out what the stick things were though, because their dead bodies were floating on the top of the water. Some sort of worm thing (I assume some sort of larvae) about an inch long. And yes, they were living in hollow sticks and carrying around their houses like hermit crabs. Very interesting and I feel like a big jerk for taking them out of their home only to kill them in mine.
Oh, good, I was really hoping someone could come through with a potential ID for those!
I think for long(er) term success, you need a balance among organisms that produce oxygen, and those that produce carbon dioxide. The one I bought as a gift years ago - that went on to continue for two or three years - had a couple of teensy shrimp and a ball of green algae.
Please keep us updated!