A self-sustaining jarrarium, or ecosphere, for invertebrates?

[Wayfarin]

Hello, folks! I'm writing this post because of a project that I've been involved in. I was in the process of creating a hands-off aquarium! Not filled with exotic fish or creatures, but rather pond creatures that we've collected from the wild. Specifically, Asellus or Caecidotea isopods, Hyalella amphipods, two Corixidae water boatman, one Haliplidae beetle, and a Physa snail. I was hoping to add them to a 2-gallon jar filled with spring water, with Elodea, Ceratophyllum, Lemna, and algae also added.
I guess what this is actually is an "ecosphere" or "jarrarium" tank. In the world of reptiles, they call it a "bioactive" habitat.

It seems like it would work. The plants and algae compete with each other to keep each other in check. They provide oxygen for the isopods, amphipods, and nitrifying bacteria, which turn the ammonia into nitrates. The bugs, beetles, and snails, on the other hand, use little oxygen from the water and mostly breathe air. The jar is sealed by a lid, but isn't really airtight, and the lid doesn't screw on. If needed, I could add only one of each, to prevent breeding. The snails, of course, would still breed. I'm not sure if the plants would overrun the jar, but even if they did, that wouldn't really be a problem, since none of the inhabitants need a lot of swimming space.
Would this be feasible?

I was also thinking of creating a terrestrial ecosphere, possibly with plants like ferns or moss, breeding insects, isopods, arachnids, myriapods, gastropods, and annelids, in an airtight or almost airtight jar, or maybe an aquarium tank with an almost airtight lid.

I'm also asking for the sakes of everyone else who was probably wondering about these.
Has anyone had success with ecospheres? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[DaveM]

It's interesting to see you start again on a slightly different tack to approach a topic similar to this thread: https://arachnoboards.com/threads/100-self-sustaining-bioactive-habitats.353770/
Due to timezones around the world, you might encounter responses from a different set of people than you did earlier. I hope you get the information you seek.
For my part, I think the organisms in the lowest trophic levels will more easily establish a sustainable equilibrium, that the organisms higher up the food chain will be more vulnerable and difficult to sustain.
Without wishing to become as full-on magical as the strongest power-of-life interpreters of the Gaia hypothesis, I do think you'll have better success the more diversely you can populate your little ecosystem.
I hope you document any projects and post photos with descriptions. I'm sure you aren't the only one interested here.

 

[viper69]

Hello, folks! I'm writing this post because of a project that I've been involved in. I was in the process of creating a hands-off aquarium! Not filled with exotic fish or creatures, but rather pond creatures that we've collected from the wild. Specifically, Asellus or Caecidotea isopods, Hyalella amphipods, two Corixidae water boatman, one Haliplidae beetle, and a Physa snail. I was hoping to add them to a 2-gallon jar filled with spring water, with Elodea, Ceratophyllum, Lemna, and algae also added.
I guess what this is actually is an "ecosphere" or "jarrarium" tank. In the world of reptiles, they call it a "bioactive" habitat.

It seems like it would work. The plants and algae compete with each other to keep each other in check. They provide oxygen for the isopods, amphipods, and nitrifying bacteria, which turn the ammonia into nitrates. The bugs, beetles, and snails, on the other hand, use little oxygen from the water and mostly breathe air. The jar is sealed by a lid, but isn't really airtight, and the lid doesn't screw on. If needed, I could add only one of each, to prevent breeding. The snails, of course, would still breed. I'm not sure if the plants would overrun the jar, but even if they did, that wouldn't really be a problem, since none of the inhabitants need a lot of swimming space.
Would this be feasible?

I was also thinking of creating a terrestrial ecosphere, possibly with plants like ferns or moss, breeding insects, isopods, arachnids, myriapods, gastropods, and annelids, in an airtight or almost airtight jar, or maybe an aquarium tank with an almost airtight lid.

I'm also asking for the sakes of everyone else who was probably wondering about these.
Has anyone had success with ecospheres? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

Company makes these well over 10-15 yrs ago with shrimp.

 

[kingshockey]

amazon sells em

 

[Wayfarin]

Company makes these well over 10-15 yrs ago with shrimp.

Yeah, but I've heard that those shrimp ecospheres are only surviving, rather than truly thriving.

It's interesting to see you start again on a slightly different tack to approach a topic similar to this thread: https://arachnoboards.com/threads/100-self-sustaining-bioactive-habitats.353770/
Due to timezones around the world, you might encounter responses from a different set of people than you did earlier. I hope you get the information you seek.
For my part, I think the organisms in the lowest trophic levels will more easily establish a sustainable equilibrium, that the organisms higher up the food chain will be more vulnerable and difficult to sustain.
Without wishing to become as full-on magical as the strongest power-of-life interpreters of the Gaia hypothesis, I do think you'll have better success the more diversely you can populate your little ecosystem.
I hope you document any projects and post photos with descriptions. I'm sure you aren't the only one interested here.

Well, I have some pictures of the animals in their holding tank.


Three isopods and a water boatman. Aquatic isopods are also known as aquatic sowbugs or waters slaters. The beetle is hiding near the clam shell. There's also an amphipod, or scud.


The beetle is under the water boatman. It somewhat resembles a ladybug.


The physa snail, or bladder snail.


Apparently, the isopods successfully bred. Here is a baby isopod.

This holding tank is much smaller, less than a gallon. They will be moved to the 2-gallon tank once the plants are added.

 

[A cave cricket]

Water boatman are so cool, where did you get them?

 

[DaveM]

@Wayfarin, great work! I'm interested to see what you come up with. I'm stocking a fish pond right now, and I feel how appealing it is to control an ecosystem.
It's a step toward becoming... ...well, I don't care to speak of such things here... ...but let their be light (to support photosynthetic organisms), and we shall see that it was good. And separate the water from the dry ground, as the oceans are separate from the lands on the earth. Populate your habitat with creatures great and small, and foster them so that they will go forth, be fruitful, and multiply. And all of this is very hard work, so maybe you will need to take a rest on the last day of the week.

Please post updates so that we can admire your creations.

 

[Wayfarin]

@Wayfarin, great work! I'm interested to see what you come up with. I'm stocking a fish pond right now, and I feel how appealing it is to control an ecosystem.
It's a step toward becoming... ...well, I don't care to speak of such things here... ...but let their be light (to support photosynthetic organisms), and we shall see that it was good. And separate the water from the dry ground, as the oceans are separate from the lands on the earth. Populate your habitat with creatures great and small, and foster them so that they will go forth, be fruitful, and multiply. And all of this is very hard work, so maybe you will need to take a rest on the last day of the week.

Please post updates so that we can admire your creations.

Thank you, but God is, well, infinitely better at creating ecospheres! For some reason, though, He put us in charge of the only one He made.
And then we added to it.
But even despite pollution, the ecosphere is still pressing on.

It happens to be that isopods, amphipods, corixid bugs, haliplid beetles, and physa snails have all adapted to survive in polluted waters! They're survivors, all right, and I'm hoping that their hardiness will be to their advantage in such a small ecosystem.

But anyway, I think I'm getting off topic. I'll try to post an update once the ecosphere is complete!

 

[DaveM]

Thank you, but God is, well, infinitely better at creating ecospheres! For some reason, though, He put us in charge of the only one He made.
And then we added to it.
But even despite pollution, the ecosphere is still pressing on.

It happens to be that isopods, amphipods, corixid bugs, haliplid beetles, and physa snails have all adapted to survive in polluted waters! They're survivors, all right, and I'm hoping that their hardiness will be to their advantage in such a small ecosystem.

But anyway, I think I'm getting off topic. I'll try to post an update once the ecosphere is complete!

Excellent! I cannot comment on all you have said and all that has come to pass. However, if in the course of forum-relevant activities, like building a self-contained arthropod ecosystem, one were simultaneously seeking to transcend the temporal cares of ordinary human life by reaching toward some greater power, then I imagine it would be important to select the most suitable greater power to emulate. Another one I can think of said things like: Behold, I am become death, the destroyer of worlds!
I'm sure that's not what you want for your critters. Lives are in the balance here, and it all comes down to what choices you make. I have faith that you will do the right things

 

[Wayfarin]

Water boatman are so cool, where did you get them?

Oh, them? They were pretty easy to obtain! My brother just spotted one in a vernal pool and swung his net into the water to catch it. And he caught three others by accident! We think they got into the bucket when he dumped a big scoop of pond sediment into it.
We put one in the holding tank and the other three into an acrylic tank containing two dragonfly nymphs and a leech. But a darner(?) nymph ate one of them, so we moved another boatman into the holding tank. We might move the third one into the holding tank, but since the darner nymph sadly died, moving it might not be necessary.

Two of my books say that water boatmen often show up in birdbaths. They can be found in pretty much any still or slow-moving body of water, almost throughout the world.

Also, does anyone know if Elodea and Ceratophyllum will outgrow this ecosphere? If so, then is there any way to keep them small? I might need to choose different plants if they require trimming, as that would kind of disrupt the ecosphere.

Has anyone had success with keeping Elodea and Ceratophyllum hornwort in jarrariums?

 

[Wayfarin]

Terrible update: The water boatmen died, and the beetle looks like it's on its way out.
I might be able to find more, but I might also just stick to the isopods, amphipods, and snails.
I might also add planaria.

 

[A cave cricket]

Awesome! But sad.

 

[Wayfarin]

Awesome! But sad.

Yeah. The beetle is now dead. The two water boatman bugs I had did have at least one nymph, but the amphipods and isopods might have eaten it.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Has anyone had success with keeping Elodea and Ceratophyllum hornwort in jarrariums?

Those sorts of plants have a tendency to grow very quickly, run out of nutrients and then die back, which in an enclosed system would likely result in them rapidly decaying and depriving the water of oxygen as bacteria break them down. Not saying that's definitely gonna happen but it happens a lot with Ceratophyllum and Elodea is similar in growth habit.

I would go with a slower-growing, tougher plant like java moss which will probably do a much better job of existing in balance with the animals.

 

[Wayfarin]

Those sorts of plants have a tendency to grow very quickly, run out of nutrients and then die back, which in an enclosed system would likely result in them rapidly decaying and depriving the water of oxygen as bacteria break them down. Not saying that's definitely gonna happen but it happens a lot with Ceratophyllum and Elodea is similar in growth habit.

I would go with a slower-growing, tougher plant like java moss which will probably do a much better job of existing in balance with the animals.

Thanks for replying. It's a North American biotope aquarium, so I'd be reluctant to add java moss or other plants of non-native origin. Maybe Vallisneria instead?
I might upgrade the setup to my 10-gallon tank, if I decide not to stock it with fish and shrimp. It would probably be even more stable of an ecosystem, since it is well-ventilated. Would Ceratophyllum and Elodea need to be trimmed in a 10-gallon tank?

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Thanks for replying. It's a North American biotope aquarium, so I'd be reluctant to add java moss or other plants of non-native origin. Maybe Vallisneria instead?
I might upgrade the setup to my 10-gallon tank, if I decide not to stock it with fish and shrimp. It would probably be even more stable of an ecosystem, since it is well-ventilated. Would Ceratophyllum and Elodea need to be trimmed in a 10-gallon tank?

Vallisneria is more similar in growth to elodea than to java moss, it might be a somewhat better choice but also probably runs the same risk.

There are also aquatic mosses native to north america, like willow moss and some unidentified aquatic mosses i've seen growing in small woodland ponds, but willow moss is a stream dwelling species that probably won't do well in a jar and I don't know of any other readily available native aquatic mosses off the top of my head.

Elodea and Ceratophyllum will grow to completely fill a 10 gallon tank pretty quick if growing conditions are good

 

[Taffy]

Hello, folks! I'm writing this post because of a project that I've been involved in. I was in the process of creating a hands-off aquarium! Not filled with exotic fish or creatures, but rather pond creatures that we've collected from the wild. Specifically, Asellus or Caecidotea isopods, Hyalella amphipods, two Corixidae water boatman, one Haliplidae beetle, and a Physa snail. I was hoping to add them to a 2-gallon jar filled with spring water, with Elodea, Ceratophyllum, Lemna, and algae also added.
I guess what this is actually is an "ecosphere" or "jarrarium" tank. In the world of reptiles, they call it a "bioactive" habitat.

It seems like it would work. The plants and algae compete with each other to keep each other in check. They provide oxygen for the isopods, amphipods, and nitrifying bacteria, which turn the ammonia into nitrates. The bugs, beetles, and snails, on the other hand, use little oxygen from the water and mostly breathe air. The jar is sealed by a lid, but isn't really airtight, and the lid doesn't screw on. If needed, I could add only one of each, to prevent breeding. The snails, of course, would still breed. I'm not sure if the plants would overrun the jar, but even if they did, that wouldn't really be a problem, since none of the inhabitants need a lot of swimming space.
Would this be feasible?

I was also thinking of creating a terrestrial ecosphere, possibly with plants like ferns or moss, breeding insects, isopods, arachnids, myriapods, gastropods, and annelids, in an airtight or almost airtight jar, or maybe an aquarium tank with an almost airtight lid.

I'm also asking for the sakes of everyone else who was probably wondering about these.
Has anyone had success with ecospheres? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

i’ve had great success with millipedes inside of ecospheres. Greenhouse millipedes do great in them and breed A LOT and so do Narceus americanus

 

[Wayfarin]

Vallisneria is more similar in growth to elodea than to java moss, it might be a somewhat better choice but also probably runs the same risk.

There are also aquatic mosses native to north america, like willow moss and some unidentified aquatic mosses i've seen growing in small woodland ponds, but willow moss is a stream dwelling species that probably won't do well in a jar and I don't know of any other readily available native aquatic mosses off the top of my head.

Elodea and Ceratophyllum will grow to completely fill a 10 gallon tank pretty quick if growing conditions are good

Some quick online searches seem to suggest that some Fontinalis mosses, including willow moss, are naturally found in stagnant water bodies occasionally. I can't find any evidence to suggest that they need stream-like conditions in order to thrive. Another plant that might do well is Callitriche stagnalis, although it's technically an invasive species, so not necessarily perfect for a biotope. C. palustris is native, though. And apparently, bog mosses and sphagnum mosses can survive underwater for months, but not forever. And then there's the liverwort, Riccia fluitans. A good choice?

One youtuber, whose channel is titled Jartopia, has apparently run into no problems keeping isopods, amphipods, and physid snails in a jar that's overrun by Spirogyra and some Lemna minor plants. So apparently, isopods, amphipods, and physid snails don't have a problem with photosynthetic organisms overrunning their domain. I might just try Lemna minor and Spirogyra, as the Jartopia user did.

Would it be a big deal if the Ceratophyllum and Elodea did overrun the 10-gallon tank? I don't really think that isopods, amphipods, and physid snails care about swimming space.

 

[Wayfarin]

In case anyone is wondering why I don't have any updates, it's because all of my isopods and amphipods died, so now we have to look for more.
Caecidotea isopods are almost never available anywhere but the wild, so we just collect our isopods from ponds. No success yet.
In the meantime, here are some creatures we've collected.


A huge Daphnia. Until recently, I thought that all Daphnia and Cyclops were microscopic, but I've seen many of these little zooplankton in our pond samples.
A good candidate for a self-sustaining jarrarium, but this one was released.


A lymnaeid pond snail floating at the surface. This one "committed suicide" after laying eggs by crawling out of the holding tank.


A libellulid dragonfly naiad. One of my favorite pond creatures, but unfortunately not one that can be kept in an ecosphere.


If only they stayed this way!

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Riccia fluitans is probably a good choice