I Made an Mini Aquarium Ecosystem Inside a Glass Jar, Here's How!

In this video I'm going to show you how to create an underwater ecosystem inside a glass jar. I'll take you through the build step by step and even be introducing some tiny creatures at the end. Here's the glass jar that I'm going to use for this build. I got it from Ikea and it can hold two liters of water. The first thing that I'm going to do is ensure that the seam of the glass is on the sides and not on the front. Trust me it's really annoying to finish your build and then realize this line going straight through the center of your scape. It's easy enough to adjust by spinning the top lid of the glass jar. With that done let's get to work on the substrate as it's one of the most important parts in creating a successful ecosystem. This is some garden compost and it's going to act as the nutrient layer. This will go right at the base of the jar and the plants will be able to access it through their roots. You really don't need much whatsoever and this small amount will be more than enough. It's currently bone dry so I'm going to give it a good spray down with some water. Left open as it is the nutrients from the compost will leach out into the water and cause some serious algae problems. An easy fix is to give it a generous capping with some sand. This traps the nutrients at the base of the jar and makes them only accessible through the plant's roots. Although they're extremely simple these layers have already set the aquarium up for long-term success. Now let's move on to the next step and start creating the hardscape. There's really not much space to work with and I don't want to fill it all up with hardscape so I'm going to keep it really simple leaving as much room as I can for the plants. I think this single spiderwood branch is going to work really well with the addition of some black lava rock. These rocks will not only add some nice detail but they're going to help anchor the wood down and stop it from floating to the surface. For this to work properly I'm going to need to attach the wood to the rock and the simplest way of doing this is using the super glue and tissue method. After wedging some tissue between the contact points I'm soaking it in some liquid type super glue and letting it dry for a couple minutes. This method is completely aquarium safe and results in a really strong bond. I'm burying the rock in the sand right in the center of the to anchor the wood in place. Now I can add a few more lava rocks around the base of the spiderwood to bring a bit more detail. That's going to do it for the hardscape. It's a very simple design but I think it suits the size of the jar quite well. The main thing is is that there's plenty of room for plants which is important in a no filter setup like this one. After giving the jar a good spray down I can now get into the planting. This here is some Anubias. It's a small slow-growing aquarium plant which will thrive in a setup like this one. As it's an epithy it shouldn't be planted in the substrate so I'm simply wedging it between the rock and spiderwood. I want this piece towards the back but there's no gap to wedge it into. Instead I'm going to place on a couple drops of super glue and glue it in place. This won't hurt the plant so long as you only use a couple drops. Before adding any more plants I'm going to fill the jar up with water as it's going to make planting a bit easier. Next I want to add a background plant that will grow nice and tall and fill out the back of the jar. This pearlweed should be perfect. It's easy to grow and it's got small delicate leaves which will help maintain the small scale of the scape. It does look a bit messy at the moment but once it starts growing towards the light and filling out it'll look a bit better. To bring a more natural look to this ecosystem I'm going to add some leaf litter to the foreground. I collected these leaves from outside, poured some boiling water on them and let them sit for a couple days. This not only sterilizes them but it ensures that they're waterlogged and they don't float up to the surface once they're inside the jar. In my opinion adding leaf litter can really transform a scape. It's such a simple touch but it instantly makes everything feel more natural. I also collected a couple small twigs as well as an acorn cap to add a bit more detail. These leaves and twigs not only look great but they'll also be a long-term food source for the tiny creatures that I'll be adding later. This is a miniature species of crypt known as crypt parva. It stays extremely small and I think it would look great inside this setup planted amongst the leaf litter. Now I'm going to fill the jar up to the top, close it and leave it for about a week before adding the tiny creatures. About a week has passed and the jar aquarium has got no issues to report. The plants have started to straighten up towards the light and have even started growing some healthy roots. Now it's time to add the tiny creatures that will call this ecosystem home. Here I've got a small group of these miniature aquatic snails. They won't get much bigger than this and will feed on things like algae and decaying matter throughout the jar. I would love to add some cherry shrimp as well but I think this jar is just too small for them. About six weeks ago I made a jar ecosystem in the exact same way I made this one. As you can see it's established really well and the plant growth has exploded. I haven't done any water changes and I've only opened it up a couple times here and there. It's quite hard to see on camera but there's a whole load of roots right at the bottom of the substrate taking in all the nutrients. As for the snails they've been doing great. Their population is yet to increase but I'm sure it will grow as time goes on. These tiny snails are often seen as pests in the aquarium hobby but I'm not really sure why. They don't eat healthy plants and help keep the ecosystem clean by eating things like algae. Their population will only explode if there's an excessive amount of food which there shouldn't be inside a healthy aquarium. In other words, if there's too many snails then there's likely something else wrong which is causing the overpopulation. I'm really happy with how well this ecosystem's turned out and how low maintenance it's been so far. I will likely do a water change and trim the plants in the near future but for now I think it's looking great. If you enjoyed this video, why not check out this one next as I think you might like it too.