I've been learning about closed ecosystems lately and did a few experiments.
Browsing the web I found amazing terrariums made by other people and it amazed me how incredible plants are and how they can thrive in such a little space.
I sealed my jars a few days ago and I'm taking a picture everyday in order to document their progresses. If I did it right the ecosystem in the jar will be completely self sufficient and perennial.
This is my first jar and the one with the lower chance of success because...because a lot of reasons.
The jar was really small and I was able to fit just a tiny bit of moss and a few stones in it.
As long as I know aquatic jarrariums should be kept open in order to allow air circulation; it would probably need a bigger variety of plants and a few animals. Also, the small amount of soil and stones I put into it doesn't contain enough nutrients and micro-organisms.
But, as I said, I'm no expert and I have a lot to experiment and learn.
Anyway, after a few days it still looks exactly the same.
I probably did better the second time.
I used bigger jars and I find it easier to deal with terrestrial plants and to understand what's going on in there.
I filled it with a few layers:
Volcanic stones to prevent waterlog;
a fiberglass net should keep the rocks layer separated from the other ones and ensure the soil don't settle on the bottom;
Activated charcoal is supposed to add nutrients in the system over time;
The substratum is mostly soil from my garden and compost. It also swarms with springtail larvaes, tiny white insects that don't like the sunlight, so you can see them walk aroun only during night time.
I then added the plants. It's actually just moss and a few decorations at the moment, I'm still looking for suitable species of tiny plants. They will need to be local species as I don't want them to depend on lamps and artificial heating.
Something I wasn't able to understand from my readings is: Is it possible for seeds to germinate and grow in a sealed bottle?
So I put a few dwarf clover seeds in my last bottle.
And apparently they do :)
I took this picture today and so far looks like the conditions are good enough to let them grow.
I'm going to monitor the growth of the jars for a while and, when I will be self-confident enough, I'm going to set up a bigger one with a few species of plants and insects.
Meanwhile, I wanted to share this with you :)
Wish you a good day,
Creepy Turtle