A Three Year Old Self Sufficient Ecosystem? - Spring Ecosphere

In the three year update on the huge 2.5 gallon / 10 liter spring ecosphere, we take a look at how the closed ecosystem in the jar has been developing. We find out if the ecosystem has been able to find a balance after all this time and if it's fully self sufficient by now.
Enjoy!
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Patrons: Claudia Watrin, Justin Duch, Daniela Partington, Non Mea Culpa, Matilda Fiship, Axio, yumu arts
Music:
My Trains' A Comin' - Unicorn Heads

[@trulyinfamous]

I was cleaning stuff the other day, and I discovered a plastic bottle I had used for collecting pond water for my microscope. All it had in it was gravel to weigh it down when throwing into the water, and about 200ml of water. Its still alive and doing well after more than 3 1/2 years. Didn't even mean to leave it. Loads of daphnia in it.

[@Cyberdragunz]

Only downside to plastic is that it does slowly dissolve into the water, so eventually the ecosystem will be toxic. Probably take years though. Never fails to amaze how life manages to adapt to anything.

[@chickennuggetpaw]

That’s so cool! (And also adorable; daphnia are really cute)

[@egregius9314]

I'm assuming you kept it in the light..how much light did it get? Sunlight, or twilight? Just curious :)

[@trulyinfamous]

@@egregius9314 just sat it on a table near a window that only gets direct light at sunset.

[@PhotosyntheticVibes]

And just like that, you are a God

[@officedullard8722]

Have you ever considered trying to make a large, high air pressure, high oxygen content terrarium?

[@starkilla55]

bruh a carbonated jar

[@IdiotWithEducation]

@@starkilla55 oxygenated

[@captainwin6333]

That might mimic what the environment was like a few billion years ago.

[@comeanomalocaris8267]

A few million *

[@adamsadorus]

Also, high magnetic field.

[@korridarkheart2342]

Three years, wowee! That’s so cool. Also the idea that the plants are trees and the algae branches with little water birds was a beautiful thought. And then I immediately thought spongebob lol

[@julaipraj1681]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6SZdXergtKbd68

[@_nocturnal._0]

Who tf says wowee bro are you 36

[@korridarkheart2342]

@@_nocturnal._0 who says, “bro” are you 12?

[@_nocturnal._0]

@@korridarkheart2342 everyone says bro and since your unfamiliar with the phrase bro you probably are 36

[@korridarkheart2342]

@@_nocturnal._0 can you just shut up? What a gross troll.

[@tardvandecluntproductions1278]

Saw a huge jar in IKEA, thought of you and bought it to try one out myself!

[@b_ks]

Time for feedback?

[@barbhelle5481]

Thank you, very interesting. The time has gone by fast.

[@LifeinJars]

It has! Thanks for watching!

[@tamarrajames3590]

I am always fascinated by the way these ecosystems grow, evolve, change, and then stabilize. It is still quite a bustling little place with lots going on. I would find myself mesmerized just watching the tiny critters going about their lives, it is very peaceful and meditative. Great choice in music…as always, and thanks for the update. Stay well and happy.🖤🇨🇦

[@Dougallism420]

The trees, branches and birds was a lovely analogy at 3:24

[@jackt1909]

The snails are just so cute!

[@noodlechrist]

despite subscribing, i haven't seen your videos in my recommendations in such a long time. glad to see you again. i'll make sure to like and comment on your videos. for the old "all go rhythm"

[@LifeinJars]

Yeah that's been a problem for a while now. KZbin isn't willing to help me fix it either. Anyway glad to have you back!

[@faithborak7375]

I currently have a couple ecospheres from a lake that just turned a year old last month and still going strong! One has some small freshwater shrimp that are super fun to watch, along with copepods, daphnia, and algae. The other is a miniature ecosphere collected from a little pool of water near the lake, and has some ostracods swimming around in it. This channel is what inspired me to make them, and it’s definitely been a worthwhile experience so far!

[@bobbyhill7948]

Last week I just started my first salt water ecosphere and there is a tiny little crab inside

[@krisztiankrankovits5771]

rip crab

[@adamolanadamoldacc]

get it out, it's gonna die

[@COLDCHEMICALpresents]

pls release poor crabby :(

[@egregius9314]

Here's hoping your ecosystem doesn't experience the extremes LIJ?'s did.

[@_CriminalArt_]

I'm pretty sure that if he dkes is by natural death. They feed from scratch almost

[@jackfrozr6773]

As a new aquarist and shrimp keeper, I get the chills every time I hear or see Planaria/Hydra. It's kind of amazing how indestructible those Planarias are to survive for 3 years and more reason for me to fear them and quarantine things properly.

[@SpacefarerIndustries]

Have you ever experimented with different ecosphere depths? I was planning on making a tall acrylic tube ecosphere and I want to make sure there are no unseen hazards like gas buildup and stuff.

[@LifeinJars]

To be honest I haven't, but that sounds like it could be a fun experiment!

[@egregius9314]

Sounds like a great idea! From a quick read, it's scratch resistant (potentially important with snails ;) and doesn't leech bisphenol-A like regular PET water bottles. Also you could seal it theoretically by melting the edges together as it's thermoplastic instead of 'thermoset'. Aka it melts before burning. Would be an interesting experiment! Depending on how high you actually make it, the slowness of gas diffusion could become an issue...maybe. Gas build-up shouldn't be an issue, especially if you wait a number of weeks before sealing, as is proper.

[@egregius9314]

On second thought: I don't know how brittle acrylic gets in sunlight (even behind a glass window you get *some* UV). That seems the main risk factor, especially with water inside.

[@lifeuncovered6188]

@@LifeinJars Ngl I’m gonna try that soon!

[@bijorq1]

Long time viewer don't comment much but you've inspired me to build ecosphere s I have three a low tide, fresh water pond, and a land ecosphere that was just some plants and substrate from out back of my ffs house I just wanted to say thank you I enjoy this hobby more than I could have ever imagined

[@Sleepyjew]

Another super cool video! Thanks for the update. Your soundtrack always slaps so hard and it's backed by easy to digest information. All three of my ecospheres from last year bloomed again into amazing experiments.

[@JG-on2wx]

This video was randomly recommended to me today and I watched it while crocheting. Really educating and relaxing at the same time!

[@lil2goboxofficial993]

I could hear you talk about these critters for hours. Thank you for the great content as always

[@nanvolentine9110]

Always fascinating, keep up the good work.

[@mimemouse997]

So much life in such a small space.

[@feralbluee]

hi - as usual, this is fascinating. and your camera work is so good. going now to see what else you’ve posted lately. hope everything is getting back to normal where you are. ☺️🐌🦐

[@samfroggeh]

I'm happy to see there's some life in there after 3 years :D

[@robstevens9667]

Fantastic 👍 thank you 🙏

[@wesleywoodhouse2831]

I think it would be really interesting make similar ecospheres to the spring one but for all the other seasons. It would be an interesting study to see how the seasons influence what is active and what is dormant, and what would emerge over time.

[@TalsBadKidney]

fantastic content as usual

[@emrmr_r_gsrrach]

Love this videos!! Thank you ❣️

[@scrape2735]

How could people dislike a video as cool as this??

[@Goldkeeper08]

I have a question: how do you get a ecosphere air tight? I tried it alot and it failed to many times bc it was not air tight so condensation happend

[@bleddynwolf8463]

seal the lid with silica perhaps

[@bleddynwolf8463]

he seems to use special jars that are made air tight

[@LifeinJars]

Condensation is not a sign that the ecosphere isn't airtight. Whenever I feel like the airtight lid itself isn't airtight enough I seal it with silicone sealant.

[@Goldkeeper08]

@@LifeinJars ok thank you

[@mdcclxxviepluribusunum1066]

Have you tried Google for why condensation forms?

[@Aaron-ii4uk]

Love it!

[@LifeinJars]

Nice!

[@blizzardkiehn2508]

@@LifeinJars did you get tired of saying "thank you" over and over xd

[@joshspivey9687]

Love these videos.....keep it up

[@RyanKeane9]

I have to say, this is a criminally under-subscribed channel. Such excellent work!

[@edwardvarby4363]

These old jars are quite interesting. I have 16+ & 12 year old jars that are kind of like algea lava lamps.

[@wesleywoodhouse2831]

One of the things I am most excited for is the long, long term life in your ecospheres.

[@mr.lonewolf8199]

Great video man

[@JoelMMcKinney]

That is in fact really neat.

[@RainbowFacedCupCake]

hello! i recently found your channel and have binged almost all your videos. as someone studying biology in university all of this is a huge interest of mine and you've inspired me to go out and make ecospheres when it turns into spring here ❤️ love your stuff can't wait for new content

[@user-mc5vy2vk5n]

Why actually do you wanna wait till spring? Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm just wondering. I live in hardiness zone 6 and pretty sure there's life in the forest, river, nature even in the winter, at least some. While spring and summer can offer you big variety, autumn and winter still have something to offer. It's late summer for me and I plan to do little moss project for my windowsill, just because I got inspired. Moss is all year round here to get and I assume water life would be, too, if I would like to start such jar like in the video. Just few different species than in warmer months, I guess. So do you want to wait because of huge diversity of the life in spring, comparing to other seasons, or are there some rules I miss? 👀 Again, I'm no expert, just being curious. 😅

[@bugtalk84]

It's so amazing to see that there is still life in such a tiny enclosed space

[@HomemadeEcosystems]

indeed! also awesome to see them evolve if you make one yourself

[@Kmn483]

The snails are definitely the best part. Crazy that such (relatively) big creatures still live in there!

[@alecbader7433]

Your 24/7 illuminated ecosphere recently gave me an idea for another project you could do: make an ecosphere that is very tall, perhaps with a long, narrow jar, and only illuminate it from above. You could cover the sides with something that blocks light and temporarilly remove it when you want to film what's inside, and you could document whether anything interesting associated with the different amounts of light from shallow to deep develops. Regardless, keep up the great work! I just made my third ecosphere and I love the hobby - thanks for being such a great source of inspiration and information!

[@Nimaka_uguisu]

Nice job ！ This is a good experiment that allows you to understand at a glance how eutrophication affects the environment. I am sorry that I am not good at English.

[@IdiotWithEducation]

You have very good english!

[@Nimaka_uguisu]

Thanks! I'm glad to hear that.

[@djssquibbs3295]

love your content, saludos desde Costa Rica :)

[@ger3680]

great Video!

[@francanteros144]

This is the video that everyone needs but none ask for I love this videos are super relaxing and satisfying keep going 😎🤙

[@manguydude287]

Pretty neat ! I also see the forest

[@JayColeTheBarber]

Check out earthrium. He only has 1 video so far but it’s a pretty cool native terrarium set up.

[@Tortoiseneckx100]

I've never seen bladder snails make it for so long ! That is a very good jar 👌

[@MrGrombie]

3:23 Preach! As above, so below.

[@Nairod2]

After getting to know each other for 3 years (well us knowing you more than you knowing us) can we say we are "close" friends? n_n get it close... no? fine ill find my way out...

[@LifeinJars]

Nice one lol

[@sammy_sand_utubeyt6901]

@@LifeinJars But are we your “close”friends??

[@RisingRevengeance]

@@sammy_sand_utubeyt6901 I'm sure you're worthy of living in a jar of his

[@Nairod2]

@@RisingRevengeance n_n etto, gomenne... I would't mind living in a jar of his like... nezuko > _< *shrinks and disappears*

[@No-yb2kn]

@@Nairod2 please do disappear

[@lefish2024]

I love watching this stuff

[@kaytarracorrea25]

I would love to do this with my son he would love it! I remember doing this in high-school but we never kept them long

[@matheusayres5613]

I love your vídeos!

[@Chickenandfriends-dj4vt]

Love the channel mate, keep up the great work!

[@asmafiver6422]

discovered you week 1 of the pandemic and its 2022 now, i'm making one of these this year no excuses

[@kevinpowell7948]

I love vallisneria, the happy go lucky aquatic survivor 😍🍀

[@hadrian.2796]

Never realized its three years old now. Keep up the content my guy

[@riannajar7648]

i just saw this stuff today... ive watched 5 videos already the hell why does this make me feel so curious?!?also damn three years is a long time

[@doifhg]

I think that's a pretty good comparison, I always kind of thought of being underwater in the same realm of flying or being in the sky, full 3d motion with very different rules

[@carlrutter9372]

Hope you're well, my man. Been missing your videos these last few months.

[@rhombifer566]

very interesting

[@cvbabc]

Is it possible to try an arid exosphere? I wonder if it's feasible for someone to send you some water and a couple of plants from a tropical climate?

[@blizzardkiehn2508]

He would probably need a way to heat the tropical ecosphere, but it could be done.

[@BackToBackJames]

Can you make an update on the ecosphere inside of an ecosphere?

[@doxscund8821]

It's fascinating how the closed ecosystem still experiences a mass die-off after a certain amount of time regardless of the condition. The ecosystem I imagine had stayed at nearly constant temperature indoors, so I wonder if the motion of water is the factor. Maybe aquatic life evolved to live in moving water, and that is what is filtering them out. I'd be curious to see a modified jar that circulates the water would compare to the stagnant ones. Thanks for the update! These are awesome!

[@ambroznesvar6606]

It has nothing to do with stagnant water, its the small size of the ecosystem and relationships between those animals. Daphnia in enclosure this small will get wiped out by growing population of hydras. They are also sensitive to drastic changes of ph, ammonia, oxygen etc. When conditions get bad, they produce cysts that need drying or freezing to hatch. So they might still be in there, only dormant. Hydras will then kill all the copepods, and then starve. Hydras are also sensitive to bad quality water, so this might be the case. Isopods got outcompeted by snails or killed out by planaria. Tubifex worms need cold period to reproduce and huge amounts of organic waste. Remaining ones got picked one by one by planarias. Mites got probably outcompeted by ostracods or killed out by hydras. Bladdersnails survived, because they live in upper layers above planarias, breed faster than isopods and feed also on algae. Ostracods survived, because they have shells protecting them from hydras. Planarias survived, because they feed on anything, they can survive without any food for months and arent fussy about pollution and low oxygen.

[@doxscund8821]

@@ambroznesvar6606 Wow, that's a really in depth analysis, thank you for explaining. Do you study ecology?

[@coyotemojo]

You inspired me and I started a jar. Your videos make the organisms look a lot bigger than they really are. I couldn't find a snail though. I'm hoping there are a few eggs in the gravel. *edit* I found a snail. Again, smaller than I expected, but alive and well. Everything is going to be ok.

[@556musicman]

Because of your channel and a few others, I have started some of my own biospheres! What are you using to film now? The clarity and zoom on this video is great!

[@moritz.s2859]

Great!

[@Someone0nR3ddit]

I love your videos

[@joshdoe7288]

I still haven’t forgotten about the fecalsphere

[@RagingWB]

Hello brother, inspired from your video, I did a bit of ecological succession myself, I filled a plastic container with undergroundwater, and placed it in my garden, so biological debris was accumulated pretty quickly. Which lead to my first mosquito larva biome. Not the best, but a start none the less. (Didn't let mosquitos escape tho).

[@obieobrien5883]

I’ve been watching this one since the 6-month mark.

[@StoneTea]

I wanna build my own ecosphere thanks to you, but I'm not sure where to start! Any tips? Thanks again for such amazing interesting videos.

[@curvingfyre6810]

I had a tiny paludarium ecosphere last year (had to throw it out due to moving) that actually somehow gianed biodiversity. Some massive dipndots sized seedshrimp appeared out of nowhere 6 months in, after a long period of having only tubifex, an unidentified almost invisibly tiny species of crustacean, and copepods in the water.

[@Dwarfgourami]

Aquariums:oh no there is algae! Jar:yasss finally algae is growing!

[@thelittlethingsinlife239]

3yrs is good 👍

[@dutchmrtibbs981]

Nice

[@RookwingsKirk]

Two facts relevant to my story: I used to have a lot of cockatiels and I walk with a stick. One night the cockatiels were all misbehaving for some reason and getting annoyed with each other. I said loudly to them: "You can all fly better than I can, you can probably even WALK better than I can, but I have the light switch, so I AN YOUR GOD! [it made me feel better, anyway]

[@mariannedavila3574]

I remember when this Closed Ecosystem was new.!

[@keine-weiteren-fragen]

Really cool. The diversity of my oldest Ecosystem going up and down from year to year. And I have a question. Whats the best temperature for a closed Ecosystem?

[@BMOC_69]

You should make a large ecosphere in a fish tank or something with land and water in it.

[@nyx4506]

... What if we all just live in a jar on some being's windowsill? 🤔

[@lydierayn]

good job, you reached the mental capability to understand the end of men in black "our multiverse is just a glass ball in a game of an alien. Our multiverse is just a bacteria to them"

[@mercwiththemouthsnewphone6798]

@@lydierayn ..... Who spat in your coffee?

[@lydierayn]

@@mercwiththemouthsnewphone6798 Every fucking one

[@mercwiththemouthsnewphone6798]

@@lydierayn Well, it probably won't mean anything coming from a random name on the internet, but I'm sorry for whatever happened to piss you off. I hope you feel better.

[@charlottesmom]

@@lydierayn you do realize not everyone on Earth has seen Men in Black right?

[@dantar1383]

Question to Life in Jars or to anyone who has experience with ecospheres: What kind of light do you need to upkeep an ecosphere? Do you need something that gives off heat as well as uv light or is a window and room temperature enough for most ecospheres?

[@milangans3771]

Time for a new update :p

[@ultrafeel-tv]

Wouldn't the long-term effect be a total overgrowth till an 'explosion' of matter in the jar, because there is constant energy-overflow from the sunlight entering the jar, creating photosynthesis, but never any energy-loss to the outside world?

[@scottasin]

Whats the music? Really enjoy it! And the jars!

[@MoonDisast]

I wonder what it would be like, to live in a limited closed ecosphere like this. ... I suppose there's several stories of exactly this out there

[@jennmacha]

What do you use to look at all the tiny animals in your jars? I started a jar but I need to buy something to magnify the contents.

[@P4nzerk93]

It would be interesting to put a timed closed container inside the ecosystem to open after a number of years when the ecosystem has balanced itself. Maybe in the container could have some other climates plants and animals so once opened its like invasive foreign species vs the local species.

[@IdiotWithEducation]

I'm going to the ocean in a few weeks, and making a seacosphere! I am curious, are you able to see the things in this video well with the naked eye or do you need the camera's zoom to see it?

[@blizzardkiehn2508]

Well... You can definitely see everything in this video, you just probably won't know if it's tiny debris or not xd

[@thiccbirb638]

2:08, the snail likes to go out of the water to hangout, just like me with my responsibilities.

[@lethalweaboo8662]

You should do a exotic or invasive species ecoshpere.

[@EC-dz4bq]

then release it into your local area after a year.

[@Pyxis10]

I wonder jf it's possible to find a jar or container with attachments for pipes to chain together more than one closed ecosystem?

[@mr_gourmet]

Hey, idk if you can see this comment but I made my own ecosphere today from pond water and mud, a bunch of snails that where hiding in string algae popped up and the jar ist very big, I’m scared the jar is overpopulated and won’t last long, what should I do?

[@ilikemandi__]

I just started mine, I don't see any life forms yet, other than the plants but ill wait till the water clears

[@nicorednose]

Just a question, do you ever open the jar, because the pressure might build up and explode right?

[@Paranitis]

Just curious about the jar on the windowsill. Does the window face into direct sunlight, or is it just reflecting what it can into the window? Curious just because all my windows get direct sunlight either in the beginning of the day or end of the day.

[@LifeinJars]

It's a window facing North-East, so it would get a lot of direct sunlight in the mornings if it weren't for the fact that there's a big building blocking the sun. It does get about 20 minutes of direct sunlight each day during the summer, but in my experience that is not really harmful.

[@robertalley4169]

Maybe a question that has already be answered in the comments somewhere, but how did you get the expanded view of all of these critters? Camera with a good zoom lens?

[@benives254]

YEE-HAW!

[@realjacko_smako272]

Hey mate, I made a closed terrarium today and it got two large cracks on both sides from the top to bottom, I sealed it with silicone do you know why it cracked?

[@lourdthebluefoxie]

Is it possible for the jar to make its own speicies like a big jar ecosystem 50 years old and with a artificial day night and seasons will it get its own species?

[@TheFillyFill]

How well does everything cope with temperature variations? I have a climate controlled greenhouse but it does get hotter and colder naturally. 80 summer and 65 in the winter temps. You think this is ok?

[@Quake_Maker]

That's cool I have one that's 45 years old my grandpa made

[@LifeinJars]

Wow really? Anything still alive in there?

[@mattlinart2703]

How did you keep your water so clear with all the algae growth?