This Closed Ecosystem Received CONSTANT LIGHT For 4 Years - This Happened

In this video we take a look at the now over four years old closed ecosystem that is always illuminated and therefore never sees darkness. The constantly lit ecosphere is now a year old, and in this update we take a look at how the ecosystem in the jar has developed so far and how it's doing now. We also talk about the effect constant light and the absence of darkness has on the animals, algae and ecosystem as a whole.
Enjoy!
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[@agmuntianu]

the snails might be missing minerals for shells and this might be the reason they keep on dying .

[@baileescott401]

The same thing happens in an enclosed isopod colony. Mineral levels are a hard limit on populations that depend on exoskeletons/shells to survive. It's amazing the snails have persisted for four years on a set limit of minerals. In a closed jar shared with other organisms, and always illuminated! Mind boggling indeed.

[@D9fjg]

I wonder, how are you supposed to give them the minerals?

[@ivanb.1314]

They need something that decompose old shells quick enough so the new snails can reuse old minerals

[@garethbaus5471]

​@@D9fjg could try adding some limestone to the jar ahead of time so that it dissolves into the water as needed.

[@GodfreyFirstEldenLord]

@@baileescott401let them evolve to adapt

[@samirkazah302]

The sunlight being darker than the LEDs must be their night time lol

[@shyacross9746]

that makes me think, if he kept the jar in a dark area with the LED lights constantly on, could it have given significantly different results?

[@K6V6JHG0W9]

Also the LEDs probably were not full spectrum LEDs so there would have been different wavelengths present during natural light and LED light periods

[@AndrooUK]

​@@K6V6JHG0W9Yeah, I was wondering what would happen if full spectrum sunlight lamps were used.

[@Narakafurin]

I wonder if too many lifeforms that depend on calcium were born, that might explain the die off. Anything with an Exoskeleton or shell will draw calcium from the water, and over 4 years with such a small environment, its possible all the available calcium is tied up in the exoskeleton and shells of the various lifeforms. I wonder if a Jar with some crushed coral to buffer the water would allow for the long-term survival of a snail population.

[@amandadonegan2137]

Older ones die off a few small ones remain. They eat the shells after the other animals clean them. Cycle continues...

[@garywebster3044]

Maybe calcium would persist in the environment but there is a tipping point due to how long takes to recirculate from decomposition. I don’t this is just my uneducated reckon.

[@memeboi6017]

Exoskeleton is made of chitin here, not calcium carbonate

[@remanjecarter2787]

From my experience keeping arthropods they still use calcium in their exoskeletons even while being primarily chitin

[@BartJBols]

@@amandadonegan2137 If enough animals with a shell are alive at one point, there is not enough calcium for the babies to grow making them die. the adults could cling on for a long while purely on the ones dying from old age, but not enough to reproduce. leading to extinction.

[@r0an3v3]

RIP boogieworms, you will all be missed

[@AnnoyedAstronaut]

Rip

[@MegaKellyschannel]

Not the boogieworms! 😭😭😭😭⚰️

[@RaymondSynold]

I wonder if their dying out is correlated to the deaths of the adult bladder snail population - several dead snails would affect the nitrate levels in the water potentially bringing it above the boogie worm tolerance levels.

[@snikrepak]

I would like to test the ph levels throughout the experiment ​@@RaymondSynold

[@somepersonontheinternet.]

Instantly clicked.

[@corpsup8283]

Instantly lame

[@wind_king-lh8zs]

Same

[@Windswept7]

Same 😆

[@extremawesomazing]

Same 🎉

[@nicolascastroaguilar2272]

Same

[@robertappel19]

That football field comparison was very helpful thank you

[@giulianodenardi7654]

For me it was a little complicated because I had to convert football fields into bananas; 7/250 banana to be exact.

[@chitlitlah]

I was lost when he was talking about those centithingies, but luckily he cleared it up. I think it would've been more appropriate to give their length in furlongs though.

[@isaacthedestroyerofstuped7676]

Converting it to Bald Eagles helped me a lot

[@connorcahill8688]

1/1800th of a football field. A football field is 100 yards, so it’s 1/18 of a yard, so it’s 1/9th of half a yard. Yeah that tracks

[@Unmannedair]

Wait, are we talking about American football or European football?

[@LouieTattooie]

Eight Eyed Blood Hedgehog Cool band name unlocked!

[@gshaindrich]

seems like error in translation to me, at least in german; the german word for hedgehog is "igel", while the word for leech is "egel"

[@Lewinium]

@@gshaindrichnahh that’s fine from Dutch And that was the joke

[@redhandtheblack]

Octocular Bloodgehog!

[@danibri3332]

gotta go tell everyone about eight eyed blood hedgehogs

[@fuff8147]

@@gshaindrich Not a native Dutch speaker, but as far as I'm aware "egel" = "´hedgehog" and "echel" = "leech". Echel/Egchel is also a village close to where I lived, which is why I know the word to begin with

[@KittyMakesWaffles]

As someone who has kept aquariums, I can tell you that the algae growth in lines is usually because there is some structure on the glass that it clung to that just so happened to be in straight lines. Sometimes its scratches, sometimes its just a bit of dirt that got wiped on the glass, but algae like in straight lines is almost always caused by this

[@AlexandrosV88]

You can also observe this in cell culture if there are "defects" in the slides that leave grooves to adhere to. :)

[@whenyoudownrng]

yeah, those LEDs were not really doing anything biologically. if it's not UV light, the only thing it affects is circadian rhythms lol

[@adamryan977]

@@whenyoudownrng You know that photosynthesis isn't done with UV light, but visible light? These LEDs delivered the light needed for photosynthesis, so they grew better.

[@KittyMakesWaffles]

Plants, as far as I've seen, don't really care what kind of light they get. What matters more is the strength of the light, or in other words the amount of Lux that the light puts out. The spectrum of color is also pretty important since plants benefit from some wavelengths more than others, but if it's a white light it should have most of them already. It might be missing some blues and UV, but your plant will still grow underneath it if it outputs enough Lux

[@johnmorrell3187]

​@@KittyMakesWaffles how can the plants not care about what type of light they get, and yet still need a specific spectrum of light? Other than the spectrum of light, what is there to distinguish a "type of light"?

[@AlexRojas-db6yd]

I appreciate how seriously he takes his presentation's. Seeing him introduce the topic while sitting confidently in a suit really cement's the science vibe and I love it.

[@eddiebendigo7317]

Please learn how to use an apostrophe.

[@lilyfhonazhel2675]

​@@eddiebendigo7317 His comment is readable and easy to understand, it's fine as it is.

[@tenerife_sea]

Real scientists wear boxers only. This is a known fact.

[@lazylonewolf]

A suit is a sensible expense when you're 350k subs. 👌

[@punawelewele]

And I love that fact combined with how he's just filming this at home on the porch in his backyard. 25 years ago, in America, this would've been done by a 70 year old man and presented as a PBS special.

[@chasecars1savelives]

“They take the glass butt. Sorry: they take the glass, but…” Gotta respect the ZeFrank tribute

[@opposumness3107]

Those always get me. Never fail to make me laugh

[@Max-zo6rv]

​@@opposumness3107 5 year old's humour

[@guyincognito959]

​@@Max-zo6rvBetter to have childish humor than to have a closed mindset, signalling that your humor is probably set in stone.

[@paranoiarpincess]

RIP our visually gifted and veiny, spiky mammal imposter. ❤ We will miss you.

[@MichaelHolloway]

I hypothesize they have speciated to a tiny form (perhaps living at the bottom of the muck) - or something like that. :) Add darkness periods and I predict they will return; an interesting possible experiment - imo.

[@LightInnDmountain]

Is life ! Rotary evolutionary.... It keeps going, nothing to be waist, it will be reborn in a lesser life form more efficient for the environment in time.

[@paranoiarpincess]

@@MichaelHolloway oh yeah, that would be!

[@paranoiarpincess]

@@LightInnDmountain I'm aware. I just wanted an excuse to say “visually gifted and veiny, spiky mammal” lol

[@muttonmommy2991]

@@MichaelHolloway for them to become speciated there would need to be a somewhat diverse population as a baseline before the bottleneck , on top of that entirely restructuring niche and body structure in a short period is a drastic change for such a limited amount of time. Most rapid speciazation ideas refer to subtle changes, as opposed to what youre proposing which would take gradual development. Due to the fact they are nocturnal predators which need food to reproduce (and need to reproduce in order to change), it is likely they just died out.

[@TheSeptemberRose]

I know my isopods sleep. They like to hide under wood and bark pieces and have a nap. I know this by how long it takes some of them to react when I turn over the piece of bark. When they wake up, they run away and try to hide again.

[@amandadonegan2137]

Theres a whole city under that fluffy algae forest on the floor...and tunnels.

[@ljre3397]

Ever consider just getting a dog?

[@NerdBerries]

​@@ljre3397or a dog sized isopod

[@alexmontoya8296]

That's the cutest thing I have ever heard. Shy isopods!

[@roundhouse2616]

@@ljre3397 Have you ever considered getting isopods?

[@thrdai]

@8:00 You know, it could be that the snails you're viewing are actually adults that have undergone a sort of island dwarfism process. How many generations is four years worth?

[@AnnoyedAstronaut]

A lot

[@gregghorner9107]

I have the same observation with my cherry shrimp descendants after many years of inbreeding.

[@officersoulknight6321]

Oops! New species!

[@RepairBeyond]

​@@gregghorner9107 Yeah I had some shrimp in a 20 l nanotank next to my 200 l tank (from which I migrated a few shrimp, so same origin) and they were visibly smaller after "a while" (a year at least). Although it could be because the food was consistently more scarce in the smaller tank I guess and not necessarily genetic.

[@Orthosaur7532]

​@@officersoulknight6321Yay!!

[@yusefabuissa6685]

1/18,000 of a football field is what stood between me and a career in the NFL. I'm an alcoholic now, I will never forget that measurement.

[@chipwalter4490]

Don’t give up

[@sajeucettefoistunevaspasme]

never give up anything except alcoholism, you have to give it up

[@LaChoocharina]

It’s ok NFL sucks. Million better things to aspire to

[@Mythraen]

@@sajeucettefoistunevaspasme Thanks. I was just about to give up my life of crime, but you convinced me to stick it out.

[@clown134]

at least you got to be an alcoholic though

[@Tylerpierre99]

I kept (and still have) a airtight jar 6 years on and at about 3-4 years, the snails all died out. I never did ascertain why. I just assumed the balance of minerals or oxygen in the jar tipped and a mass extinction occurred. Only mine had a day/night cycle.

[@BallstinkBaron]

Another person said it could be the calcium being bound up in shells meaning the new snails can't make shells and die

[@c.bradley1097]

Have you considered combining a bunch of your old jars together in a larger aquarium? All the things left at the end of experiments are hardy in one way or another. Maybe make an aquarium with an always dark hidey hole, a corner that always has the lights on, etc...

The hell kinda Fallout scenario -

[@AnimeFridays]

That sounds amazing I wonder if they would go to war with each other lol. The light vs the darkness haha

[@AnimeFridays]

I wonder if the light creatures would prefer the dark and vice versa if combined

[@raydylan1910]

A light and dark side would be really really interesting…. Edit: grammar

[@ivancho5854]

I was expecting to see the critters evolve sunglasses. 😎

[@johnsolo1701d]

Tracing back my youtube history over the last year or so, I think you are the reason I now have a fulfilling aquarium hobby! One of your videos randomly came up and slowly got me more interested in microorganisms and the elegance of the food web in every ecosystem.

[@Lemonnitenite]

Ooooh really cool !

[@edwardvarby4363]

I read that monks at a temple or shrine in Japan, they raise bell crickets that sing during the day. Normally, they only sing in the dark, but according to the monks, the technique was to raise them in constant light.

[@Silphadan819]

9:18 as an American, this really helps, thank you. Edit: As a recently new viewer of your channel, I am excited to see new videos and updates of series like this one.

[@justindowning3845]

It really put it into perspective for me

[@realyoutubecommenter]

9:13 I appreciate you giving an imperial conversion without making some sort of joke, as an American I found this helpful and refreshing

[@mikepatton8691]

You never know what you'll come across while scrolling through KZbin, for example this video. I would've never searched it out but darn if I didn't watch the whole thing with great interest. Keep up the good work, you have a new subscriber in me.

[@logangodofcandy]

Mama always said that life is like a jar of fresh water ecosystems.

[@anonimowyburek7207]

3:10 wags his shell like a dog!

[@markvickery5894]

Altho ostracods and copepods may or may not sleep(I’m sure they most likely do) almost all organisms we have studied have a circadian rhythm, or an internal rhythm which roughly takes about a day to complete and syncs up with the 24 hr day on earth primarily through the light and dark cycle provided by the sun rising and setting. When organisms are removed from an external cue that syncs up their internal clock to the external world, their internal clock starts to “free run”. Basically pretty much no organism has an internal clock with a periodicity of 24 hrs, so it will start to slowly(or rapidly if greatly different from 24 hrs) get out of sync with our actual clocks until a nocturnal animal starts to come out during the day for example. In this experiment that you set up, you are essentially removing that external cue by subjecting them to constant light, Altho if you’re turning off the leds during the day that subtle change in amount of light received might be enough for their internal clocks to sync to, but these creatures will still go through periods of high activity and low activity, possibly even sleep, but it just might not be in sync with the external day night cycle. Another interesting thing tho is that these organisms might act upon each others internal rhythms bc circadian rhythms aren’t only synced up to light, but a myriad of other factors, and I’ve always thought it’d be interesting to see how mixing and matching different species would affect their activity patterns and free runs. Sincerely, someone working in a lab that studies chronobiology😉

[@droptherapy2085]

Makes me wonder what life on a tidally locked xenoplanet would look like with this kind of situation

[@Otis151]

I saw Eight-Eyed Blood Hedgehog in concert back in ‘93. Epic show.

[@counterfeit6089]

Impressive. Very nice. Let's see Paul Allen's closed ecosystem.

[@KasumiRose77]

I can't believe it's been 4 years. I remember when you started this one

[@whome9842]

Maybe you got some sort of toxic buildup in the substrate, gas for example. When it finally came out it produced a mass extinction killing adults. Once other microbes consumed the toxic compound the critters hatching from the eggs repopulated.

[@SheepyIsSleepy]

you're probably in my top 5 channels man. I'm so glad you're back in full swing, huge inspiration to my

[@stevesamson3940]

I still can't believe how different Jars looks from how I imagined him from his voice

[@3312ynot3312]

American here. The football field measurement truly made me laugh

[@tracybowling1156]

I'm very happy to see you've been in your fancy pants a lot lately. I hope this means you're feeling a lot better lately! It's always very nice to see you! I really liked learning about your no light ecosystem!!

[@angojones3713]

Great video! I thought the 24 hr. light would have more of a negative impact on the animals. I suppose it makes sense that putting more energy into an ecosystem would cause it to thrive. Maybe an interesting idea for a future project would be identical ecospheres that receive only certain wavelengths of light. Maybe one that gets only UV or infrared light?

[@stevepalpatine2828]

Only UV would likely kill everything. Maybe not tardigrades.

[@awesomecronk7183]

I love the ducks in the background, very entertaining

[@deathclawdaddy]

You are quite a charming, and intelligent content creator. Instantly a fan.

[@confetti8160]

Brand new member of the Jarmy here, I've spent the last day or so watching years and years of your content, and I just gotta say, it's amazing how consistently good your presentation has been. It's clear you're passionate about this, and it's infectious. Keep it up!

[@bearnaff9387]

I would love to see you go ahead and open a bunch of your longer-lived eco-jars and take representative samples from them in order to make a succession jar of species that seem to cope well with tight nutrient loops. If you have any terrarium, you could use some of the soil from it and some long-lived plants and make a succession paludarium.

[@keithjamesrobinson4691]

Why did KZbin need to show this to me? Why did i clikc it? Why did i watch it all? Love it

[@steveschmelz2786]

KZbin hid your stuff from me, now I habe 8 month of content to catch up on... Wait a minute this is awsome

[@littlevelvette4750]

What an exciting update!!!!! Thank you for the video!

[@Breadfan1280]

Sir David Attenborough shoild be watching his back… there’s a new nature narrator in town!

[@TheMRPadders]

Any follow up this far in deserves a like

[@yuxanne.]

I had a container with water and a few rocks closed for 11 yrs but when we moved houses my sister accidentally dropped it, biggest tragedy ever 😭 i used to watch the container when i would get upset or bored, basically it was just something to turn to whenever, it was fun watching the little creatures live life

[@jasonhemphill8525]

Everything this channel makes is solid gold. Watching the channel grow is such a treat.

[@JoekinatoVianizashi]

How many closed ecosystem do you have? I would love to see a video of you showing your full collection of jars

[@bloodysoup9240]

had absolutely no idea what you meant by "half a centimeter" until you converted it into a proper, easy to understand unit... thank you!

[@bloodysoup9240]

1/18000 of a football field is just so much easier to visualize

[@GeeMannn]

​@@bloodysoup9240how many eagle wingspans is that? Or school buses?

[@unoriginalsyn]

You know most of the world is metric right? Your kinda the odd one out, half a centimetre is really easy to understand 🤔

[@bloodysoup9240]

@@unoriginalsyn lol im aware, i was being sarcastic. we dont measure things in football fields in america (unless its on tv for some reason)

[@ccquibx7173]

​@@bloodysoup9240don't break the illusion for them

[@G0atCore]

This channel feels like the most professional KZbin channel I’ve ever found

[@CrakenFlux]

Congrats on your presentation. You manage to hit the right note every time.

[@painterjack61]

Maybe your copepods are smaller due to living in a smaller environment (in this case a jar) for the last 4 years. A bit like island dwarfism or something?🧐 I’m no expert in such things, but maybe something as small as those could adapt in that timeframe. Very cool video my friend 😎

[@blahsomethingclever]

Let me guess: free floating algae. I've done this as well with the same result. The reason is algae have short life spans and are capable of rejuvenating themselves efficiently during cell division. Most other plants require dark periods occasionally for 'housekeeping'.

[@mathew_maldonado]

How have I not been getting your updates???? I thought this was the first video you uploaded in years. Hitting the bell rn fr

[@thegreenman3213]

As an American, I really appreciate letting us know how many football fields long the worm was. I was confused before but that really helped me out. Thanks.

[@higgsbonbon]

I do wish it was possible to pay closer attention to figure out the how and why of the extinctions.

[@It-b-Blair]

No oxygenation, no way for waste to be removed (ammonia, nitrates and nitrites), change in ph due to chemical shifts, nutrients bound up in different forms so they can’t be used… it’s become a really toxic environment.

[@PixelKat5]

Yippie the silly jar guy returns once again! (To make a video)

[@Der.Soldat]

I've just discovered your channel and I really enjoyed this video. No crazy fast editing, no intrusive music and no ads; just intriguing, relaxing content. Keep up the good work. :)

[@Alberad08]

This was quite interesting - many thanks for sharing!

[@remylundell]

I JUST WATCHED THE LAST UPDATE ON THIS ONE LAST NIGHT WHAT ARE THE CHANCES YOU POST THIS TODAY!

[@rz2374]

the description says it is "always illuminated and therefore never receives light"

[@pqiwjds8822]

Your content is amazing and insightful. Your delivery just as good! Keep being yourself and thank you for your contribution of your experiments. 👍👍

[@rw9207]

Awesome presentation technique!..... Honestly, worth watching for that alone. 💯

[@ayobrowhatsthis]

The Anti-Gamer Ecosystem.

[@TheYuppity]

Can you cover the life cycle of a pony in a heavy saline fluid jar?

[@mrmissalot8311]

You're a thoroughly sick man hahahahah

[@omatic_opulis9876]

what

[@Narakafurin]

1. Pony Goes in Jar. 2. Jar is filled and sealed. 3. Abstract horror that will stain your nightmares forever . 4. Boogyworms

[@handthing9709]

I don't think it'd live long

[@Yukari_Yakumo]

The life cycle of a toy pony in a mason jar filled with a suspicious liquid.

[@fortyfukinseven]

This is the first time I was suggested a video of this subject. I'm intrigued!

[@lennartschneider2725]

Always such a treat! Cant wait for the next video! Bedankt!

[@morganbailey89]

Question: what's keeping the oxygen levels up? I would think the levels would be low.

[@AnthonyMorris-pg9xj]

Oxygen production is constant all day.

[@twiggythrower1742]

Instantly subscribed from this video. I’ll be back to watch more of your videos, my man.

[@pcbug2211]

First time watching your channel; I must say, I loved the hilarious style of delivery!

[@lykaiosonyx298]

Whoah! I totally forgot about this! So happy for the update.

[@themightyeagle21]

I think the last video of yours I watched was when you started this, glad you popped up!

[@jukthewise8776]

Very interesting follow-up, thanks!

[@becausealmonds8295]

I can not express how much i enjoy your personal snip its

[@SunnyZ]

Your conversions to imperial are imperfectly perfect.

[@jalepepper]

always love seeing the yearly updates

[@EthanNantz-hd6fm]

Hey I was one of your first subscribers I remember this coming out great to see how far you’ve came

[@jackdawjames7696]

Oh woah I remember the making of this thing. Never thought I’d see it four years later! Cool stuff

[@sylvio2094]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@HooLeePhucingSheet]

Didnt think id be back, i subscribed on my other channel that i dont use much and your vid still managed to find me. Awesome update!

[@AT-hz4it]

I cant get enough of this channel ❤

[@tarantinopipp7455]

This video is the most beautiful content that i've seen lately😊

[@user-qs1xz2mx6f]

Very distinguished gentleman! 🎉 Thanks for this interesting video

[@Magic-komplexDe]

This is exactly the type of content I've been looking for, for years now. Many thanks! Do you know of any studies like this with different ecosystems and could point me to them?

[@amandadonegan2137]

Loads on his Channel.

[@NousernameSad2]

this is fascinating and itchy to watch at the same time

[@obieobrien5883]

Always a joy to see!

[@milodemoray]

Thanks for sharing this. Fascinating experiment which reminds me of a series of experiments I did with tadpoles, and cactuses....

[@twiggythrower1742]

Bad ass video, bro it’s actually really interesting to see that a nocturnal species put in constant day cannot survive because it doesn’t know which times to hunt

[@siyg]

Love these videos

[@davesisler4158]

Thank you for your resaerch, young Sir. I'm impressed that at your age, you are interested in the sciences! Keep it up!

[@arubberroomwithrats]

9:13 blud rlly screamed

[@SvnoyiTsula]

Very cool to see your experiment. :D

[@lostzwolf7269]

Yo i did not know you, or the L-I-J channel was run by a dutch person. nice ! Ga zo door, erg interesant en leuk om te zien. Ik moet toegeven het is altijd wel rustgevend om iemand te horen praten over ingewikkelde dingen die je eigenlijk zelf niet helemaal begrijpt.

[@Sea-cucumber1151]

Love your sense of humor!

[@GatheringHall]

Thumbnail is niiiiice. Grabbed my attention straight away!

[@cafohl7240]

I’m so glad he converted the length for me, it really help.

[@quequel6184]

because of you i have a jar for 3 years now in complete darkness

[@Hello_hey]

Love your vids!

[@barnabyhoworth1539]

The best channel to grace this website is before us, praise to the dapper don.

[@lukeolsen2306]

The “I left you guys… in the dark” got me😂

[@Aengus42]

Fascinating stuff! Thank you. It's this kind of channel that the internet was made for!

[@Mephistopholies]

For real; Damn neat channel! Would sensors for telemetry be possible?

[@lilpuffy5569]

honestly, the jokes alone in this video were enough to make me give the video a like, not to mention the amount of work that went into this project