Starting out with well water (slightly hard, haven't fully analyzed the stuff) adding crushed coral, playsand, oak leaves...photos tell the story just fine, I think.
Stock animals still being sorted out. I'll probably have a few species go extinct in favor of the more advantaged. I'm going to put in at least a little of everything I have, though. Here's the current proposed list, let me know what you think:
Scuds to eat algae and dead leaves.
Hydra to help control the scud population
Daphnia to help feed the hydra in the meantime. Daphnia will probably be the first to go extinct, as scuds also eat them and they prefer microorganisms which may or may not remain abundant.
Blackworm, also to eat bacteria and to populate the sand.
Cyclops will likely find their way in there, too. If they do, they'll surely be the last bug standing. They are basically mutation-proof, invincible critters that are opportunistic and prolific.
Tiny glass snails with completely see-through shells to keep the walls clean. I'll to make a tiny algae-scraper magnet but we'll see.
For plants, I'm at a total loss as to what's appropriate. I've seen other DIY ecospheres use milfoil. I have hornwort, elodea and guppy grass so I'll probably add a little of all three. I'll also add a little marimo tuft and some of each of the various hair algaes I have around the house.
Substrate is 2" of play sand. Think too many nutrients will get trapped in there or is denitrification a good idea? Will everything starve if denitrification takes place or will most of the nutrients remain in the life cycle?
Original container
Isopropyl to get it clean
Clean box with sand. I rinsed it forever, it's still cloudy after all my efforts.
Glass snail.
Critter source #1, scud mamas in a box
Stock animals still being sorted out. I'll probably have a few species go extinct in favor of the more advantaged. I'm going to put in at least a little of everything I have, though. Here's the current proposed list, let me know what you think:
Scuds to eat algae and dead leaves.
Hydra to help control the scud population
Daphnia to help feed the hydra in the meantime. Daphnia will probably be the first to go extinct, as scuds also eat them and they prefer microorganisms which may or may not remain abundant.
Blackworm, also to eat bacteria and to populate the sand.
Cyclops will likely find their way in there, too. If they do, they'll surely be the last bug standing. They are basically mutation-proof, invincible critters that are opportunistic and prolific.
Tiny glass snails with completely see-through shells to keep the walls clean. I'll to make a tiny algae-scraper magnet but we'll see.
For plants, I'm at a total loss as to what's appropriate. I've seen other DIY ecospheres use milfoil. I have hornwort, elodea and guppy grass so I'll probably add a little of all three. I'll also add a little marimo tuft and some of each of the various hair algaes I have around the house.
Substrate is 2" of play sand. Think too many nutrients will get trapped in there or is denitrification a good idea? Will everything starve if denitrification takes place or will most of the nutrients remain in the life cycle?
Original container
Isopropyl to get it clean
Clean box with sand. I rinsed it forever, it's still cloudy after all my efforts.
Glass snail.
Critter source #1, scud mamas in a box
