Making an Ecosystem in a Jar That Receives NO LIGHT

What happens when an ecosystem in a jar receives no light, and therefore experiences only darkness? Today we will find out, by making such an ecosystem in a jar. It will remain open, so it won't be a closed ecosystem or an ecosphere, because it needs contact with the outside air for oxygen exchange, as no plants or algae can live in a dark environment, which would otherwise produce oxygen.
Enjoy!
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[@LifeinJars]

Day 1 of watching this video every day🙌

[@sirultim8643]

You’re gonna watch your own video every day?

[@sirultim8643]

How the hell did you post this comment 16 hours before the video came out?

[@haxz8625]

Day 0 of watching this video every day🙌

[@No_Nem12345]

@@sirultim8643💀

[@ghostarik7318]

5:08 i think it is a Branchiodrilus sp. (Naidinae, Naididae)

[@chanpasadopolska]

It would be interesting if you expose the jar only to a specific spectrum of light, such as a red bulb in a photographic darkroom

[@LifeinJars]

Interesting....

[@bytesabre]

@@LifeinJarsSodium vapour lamp, only shines one specific frequency of light, and they used to use them for streetlights so they should be easy to find secondhand

[@tiborfutotablet]

​@@bytesabreBeware of the high UV content! It may cost your eye.

[@bytesabre]

@@tiborfutotablet Sorry, to clarify I meant low pressure sodium lamps not high pressure

[@commenter4898]

Great idea. And I think green light would be the most interesting as it's the least utilized light frequency. Will there be some uncommon red algae that take over?

[@Артмиш]

I just love how he puts licorice alongside with loneliness, sadness and dead puppies

[@Broken_robot1986]

And cast iron 😂

[@alexanderleuchte5132]

It's a good description of how it tastes

[@LifeinJars]

Call me crazy, but as a Dutchman I actually love licorice

[@alexanderleuchte5132]

@@LifeinJars The further north you go the more people are enamoured with the Black Death of candiy, luckily it's just a little bit toxic and you have to eat a lot of it to poison yourself. The Finns barely hide the secret underlaying deathwish with their Salmiakki concoctions, "Let's take this tar candy and make it super salty and maybe a spicy extra hot variant too!, it's like eating molten aspalt!"

[@FlyingNoodle554]

@@LifeinJarsTHANK YOU

[@XxStingray104xX]

The worm looks so alien, i cant imagine what life would look like on other planets if earth can produce things that look straight out of a science fiction movie.

[@LifeinJars]

I know right!

[@kanutahytomka4542]

reminds me of the ghost leviathan from subnautica

[@SaltyCrabOfficial]

as they say... life wins over fiction

[@dycorty9182]

The way it wiggles its little tentacles in the water.....*shivers*

[@Butt_Surfer]

Tubifex worms I see them in my ecospheres too they’re eating poo

[@francobuzzetti9424]

*scoops random dirt and water* *has more biodiversity than any biology book*

[@LoarvicLoarvic]

The world around you is filled of life that you couldn't percieve. Those little pools and ponds are a spectacular parade of biodiversity.

[@JadieJamz]

I've done jars with pond scum before, and they are very interesting and entertaining. before you know it, you just stared into a jar with dirty water for hours 😂

[@sassafrassanid5718]

1 hour of sunlight followed by 168 hours of nighttime. Sounds like a nice place to live!

[@donkbonk5430]

"habitable" exoplanets be like

[@tahmidt]

welcome to Scandinavia

[@shadetreader]

@tahmidt You can welcome me to Scandinavia any time.

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

@@tahmidt or northeast Siberia. It's crazy to see the sun circling around the horizon.

[@Sophistorage]

You merely adopted the dark, I was Born in it.. molded by it..

[@Unapersonaconunmicroscopio]

10:01 Those crustaceans can relate

[@bw4708]

I was thinking about adding watching a bladder snail crawl over a limpet snail to my morning routine and with the release of this video I can finally take that step. It’ll really help me rise and grind, thank you for everything you do, LifeinJars

[@LifeinJars]

So glad to have been of help!

[@jenm1]

I would love to see an anaerobic ecosystem

[@Mr_42.]

Most anaerobic organisms are simple bacteria, so it probably won’t be very cool🤷‍♂️ Balancing stuff would be cool though, but very complicated

[@BetaCentauri13]

We call those pickle jars 😉

[@CloroxThePotatoPriest]

Have you considered a Yoga Studio?

[@Unapersonaconunmicroscopio]

If he has a 1000x oil lense on the microscope it would be interesting

[@egregius9314]

@@Mr_42. There is however one more interesting anaerobic organism potentially available to us: Pelomyxa palustris. It's an amoeba that can reach up to 5mm diameter, and lives in anoxic pond sediment. That's even larger than the few anaerobic multi-cellular lifeforms we know of, which stay under 1 mm. Setting up a system that's actually anoxic at the bottom, yet provides foodstuff (organic matter) for the amoebae to eat would be an interesting challenge though.

[@dycorty9182]

11:20 "Jerry it's MOVING the jar...no, worms don't do that...where was i..."

[@primachpepe8597]

casual Zefrank shoutout

[@Intelligenthumour]

It would be awesome to do something like this but with a slow, constant supply of hydrogen sulfide. You'd want to keep it closed with a filter on it, since hydrogen sulfide is both toxic and it stinks, but microbes can and will feed on it. There's a cave with a whole ecosystem based on chemotrophs(Movile cave). It's a rather flush ecosystem too. Also, hydrothermal vents in the deep sea are built upon those hydrogen sulfide leaking vents.

[@universe1879]

I’m sorry for your presumably filled with future mosquitoes cabinet

[@tpxt-rexpredatorxenomorph9200]

The mosquito would probably die

[@jellyyy1958]

Hello darkness my old friend

[@technomad9071]

😂

[@percyj220]

This has got to be the most unique content on youtube

[@LifeinJars]

Thank you!

[@brightlight3520]

i agree! this is the content youtube was made for

[@awesomecronk7183]

Fun to hear other biology youtubers say behbehs

[@larswillems9886]

Zfrank intensifies

[@lazylonewolf]

0:00 JARSCARE WARNING

[@pimpozza]

Your dry sense of humour is simply the best! Love your vids.. 💚

[@LifeinJars]

Thanks ;)

[@TheSeptemberRose]

Freshwater Limpets are AMAZING at cleaning the algae from aquarium glass! There's only one place I have been able to buy them from a store near me in Toronto, Canada. I highly recommend you get some more and eventually add them to your aquarium.

[@LifeinJars]

I have them in my aquarium already! They're great, and cute I think

[@oakygn]

please never stop making these videos and being you, these videos brighten my day

[@lagmonster7789]

Sometimes I just can't help but project thoughts & feelings onto the inhabitants of these jars: LIJ: Here we have a big diatom.. Diatom: *I* come from an _amazing_ line of prime specimens 😁 LIJ: In fact's it's the greatest I've ever seen.. Diatom: *Yeess!* I am THE ALPHA! My line will outlast _everyone_ else! 😎 LIJ: Unfortunately diatoms tend not to do well without sunlight.. Diatom: _huh.. wait_ WUT?! LIJ: I'm going to keep this jar in absolute darkness in my closet for a week.. Diatom: 😱 [One Week Later] LIJ: _Unfortunately I have not seen the diatom.._

[@nickmuffin1722]

The green screen work is done brilliantly ❤❤

[@ahmedshaharyarejaz9886]

He was so focused on if he could, he never asked if he should!!!

[@MM-op6ti]

It’s nice that the “jar guy” healed and went on to do this

[@LifeinJars]

Different jar guy :o

[@bananashaman8902]

​@@LifeinJars woah, really? are you related??

[@theoneoliveroil]

those bird noises in the background adds such a perfect vibe to this video

[@LifeinJars]

I'm glad you like it

[@ratlegttv]

this is truly the kingdom hearts of life in jars videos. as always i’m excited for updates whenever they end up happening! also, i love those mysterious worms!

[@dross2871]

this is my favorite channel on KZbin, nay the entire internet.

[@chinchepunta]

The transparent mosquito larvae is in fact a worm, an oligochaete. But I don't remember the name. I also got some from a pond

[@Mrs.M-Aquatics]

I enjoy your content! Entertaining and educational! Just wanted to mention that the red larvae you called a mosquito larvae is a midge (family Chironomidae) which is a non-biting insect. The mosquito larvae is from family Culicidae. It has a larger head, thorax and lives more freely in the water column.

[@kounter2]

i REALLy like where you are taking this channel, nice content as always

[@LifeinJars]

Thank you!

[@DrakoDragonis]

Wacky waving aquatic tentacle tubifex worm :)

[@bananashaman8902]

wow, I love your tongue twister! but what about "Wishy-Washy Wacky Wiggling Aquatic Acrobat Tentacled Tubular Tubifex Worm"?

[@molly_the_spy]

I love that intro, I love that jar, I LOVE THOSE WORMS!

[@SuenTV]

I love seeing how over time your editing style/comments have gotten more and more chaotic lol. Love it.

[@ghostarik7318]

5:08 i think it is a Branchiodrilus sp. (Naidinae, Naididae)

[@vasukinagaraj]

Tubifex tubifex

[@DrFLANKENSTEIN_Official]

Branchiodrilus Hortensis

[@vasukinagaraj]

@@DrFLANKENSTEIN_Official Yes but cf without molecular id

[@thehatest]

I still think it's an Eldritch God Offspring

[@Kilthan2050]

I just wanted to say you inspired me to take up this hobby. So far i haven’t had a lot of luck, but I do have one jar that is still alive after almost a year. There are no visible critters, but the plant is thriving and growing so it has to have microorganisms doing their thing. Its from a creek in my home town. At the end of the month i’ll be driving across the US and my daughter and I are going to try and collect materials from the Mississippi river.

[@LifeinJars]

That sounds nice! Good luck and have fun.

[@Gexps]

Hello Jarness my old friend.

[@odd9238]

I accidentally created a bunch of enclosed dark ecosystems that got to sit for about half a year. When I finally remembered their existence and opened them up they were still quite lively! The organism that survived was mostly different Oligochaeta and Chironomidae but also, surprisingly, a lot of Hydrachnidae. In one of my jars they were almost only Hydrachnidae, and a lot of them

[@Skanking-Corpse]

Something that would be really interesting is to get the genomes sequenced of the things living in the jars and see what changes have happened, if any, over so many generations? I wonder if any evolution has taken place?

[@ianaliciaperry5243]

Very cool, especially those worms! I also love the scuds. Would love to see month, 6 months, and year updates!

[@aandrus2169]

I'm 58 and finding this very interesting. I can still hear my mother's voice, "NOT IN THE HOUSE!"

[@Safran282]

You want to be inside my head? Okay, the moment you said that I was having the chicken and egg debate with myself. Why? Well you made the "every egg is a product of an egg" comment and that's how my brain works.

[@KasumiRose77]

I'm enjoying my ostrocod jars with algae and duckweed still. They can't be closed entirely because they are too small and require a tiny bit of air flow. But the pin sized holes also helps most the evaporation to a minimum. Thanks for encouraging me to do this, I've always wanted to! I've make many off shoots from the mother jar over the years. 6 years going now!

[@TheSeptemberRose]

OH NO! I want to see you compare it to another jar of the exact same stuff that is given a regular cycle of day and night light and compare it to the total darkness one! It seems a shame to kill off all those creatures and diatoms!

[@kowhaifan1249]

He he, the little microbes zooming around was so funny.

[@mothysmill5964]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, good times, and good looks with us. You're the best!

[@animespace9564]

glad to see you back on youtube with your amazing content.

[@daftpatience]

i am here for little things in water but your charm and sillyness are a huge bonus

[@bananashaman8902]

I am here for thr same thing. i already watch "Journey to the Microcosmos" and "Ants Canada" but omg i found another one guys

[@zeshwonsos]

I love your channel. You helped me get my first few terrariums going and one of them lasted 2 years and was beautiful every spring. Keep it up as long as you're loving it cause we're loving it.

[@Windswept7]

Love these experiments! I wonder if you had a closed ecosystem where one part was in darkness and one part was in light whether enough oxygen could be generated to support life in both.

[@dell2115]

gotta say, I've been watching for a while, and I love your new format. Awesome videos man, keep it up, love all your content!

[@epicgamertool]

I don’t own a terrarium (and probably never will) but it’s always very interesting to see people like you pour their time and effort into this type of hobby

[@Ynthunt]

At the end of the year you should combine all the jars together and see what survives

[@Sam3532]

I’m not sure if that was as dark as u think it was! I know for instance that growing plants in a cabinet, when you want to switch from ‘lots of light’, imitating spring/summer (so the plant can’t grow as much as possible) .. to lessening light, late summer/autumn (to make the plant switch to fruit/seed producing) .. you have to make sure all the cracks & seams are taped so that no light can get in, or it confuses the plant still

[@JorgenRomeMojo]

I have a jar that looks like a hellskape, with hundreds of sewageworms as the only bigger lifeform. My other jar on the other hand has crustacuans , snails and planaria and the water is crystal clear! Fascinating how this ecosystems take different evelutionary paths.

[@SarkastikSwami]

okay i have also an idea for a video What would happen if you froze a jar over a month and then unfreeze it and check what survived a week after the unfreeze

[@ronnydarko9046]

I remember subbing back when you had had around 1k subscribers. I was blown away back then. You have come so far from then! So happy every time you post a new video! Congratulations my boy!!!!!

[@LifeinJars]

Thank you :)

[@YAFONOOB]

10:03 “Ah you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding!”

[@trumancremers6337]

Came for the jars stayed for the sense of humor

[@bananashaman8902]

Ditto Dude

[@curvingfyre6810]

Oh, I've seen a worm like that. Freshwater polychaete worm, I beleive. That, or an oligaechaete worm with a lot of congruent evolution. Regardless, its basically just a less prolific, more graceful tubifex.

[@TheCommuted]

Entropy is real, it will wind down. Maybe it could have a hot spot, say an aquarium heater in the mud.

[@Rimmsolin]

I didn’t expect worms to have tentacles

[@psychopowner101]

I was an egg once. then the egg cracked.

[@Sauce787]

Based

[@alur_chip8271]

🤨🏳️‍⚧️?

[@psychopowner101]

@@alur_chip8271 yes

[@tracybowling1156]

This was a really interesting episode! I want to see any closed jar ecosystem that you want to make. I found all the new creatures in this ecosystem very exciting. I hope they all make it and I think they'd be interesting characters in even an aquarium! I hope you're still feeding the birds.

[@FuadMikayilov-en2dn]

Complex topics are broken down so easily. Everything is made so understandable.

[@Wtfzipcode]

you should do some other ones where fuck with the light cycle to see how it effects the plant and animal life. like make some twinscapes with a 12/12 control, then more rapid cycles lke 6/6, 3/3, 1/1

[@LifeinJars]

Sounds cool

[@Wtfzipcode]

@@LifeinJars thanks

[@drekfletch]

When topping off the water, pour it into a spoon that's just at the water surface. That will disturb the sediment less.

[@Anomalocaris-hy4kv]

I would like to see a jar with the limpets separately or the other species like with the copepods video

[@sandro5535]

Can you combine two ecosystems via a thin pipe and have one receive a lot more light while the other having more nutrients? Will the two jars have local ecosystems? How much will they mix?

[@yberlebenskynstler]

experimental experiments are the best!

[@flora_7719]

Dude I was really hoping someone in the comments pinpointed that worm species, they were really cute

[@1darknightkiller460]

this channel certainly has gotten more quirky as of late uwU i quite enjoy it :3 glad it seems like your having more fun being yoruself making videosss i wish this channel even greater success ^W^

[@LifeinJars]

Thanks!

[@hugoalvord2779]

Have you considered adding a bubbler to increase oxygen further? I know it’s an investment but I’m curious

[@-41337]

what would the external energy input be keeping the jar alive? in this case is it additional oxygen? since there is no sunlight

[@maurocananzi]

This is going to be a fun experiment. Can't wait for the future!

[@Sticks_And_Glue]

15:01 bros trying to reach a word count on an essay

[@peopleeps4756]

Experimental experiment as all experiments are

[@tannerpickle]

That worm is straight out of Bloodborne

[@mme.veronica735]

How are you handling evaporation? Not just of water but other waste compounds that may be made by the organisms in the jar? Once those leave they can't come back unless you add them in

[@Kram1032]

are you making sure the water you top off with is sufficiently clean and pure to avoid introducing new nutrients and, perhaps, species?

[@fugueine]

Always fun to watch your experiments. Thanks for sharing.

[@TheIcyWizard705]

It should be very interesting to see how this ecosystem responds to no light, I'd imagine that pond sediment already is fairly low light so it might tolerate it better than most but only time will tell

[@thebeatlesloveisallyouneed]

Pretty little world you created!

[@LoarvicLoarvic]

I just wonder, what if you film them somehow without having to put them in darkness? Nightvision camera maybe? Although those are quite pricey... I just think that some of the organisms used to darkness may change their behaviour or even get sick when brought to light.

[@mysticthecatninja]

those limpet snails are so cute

[@HeroinYoda]

This worm is probably known to science, but if not, lets call it "Hydria Saltator" or jar dancer

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

I would like an ecosystem with fast blinking lights or one which has RGB lights which constantly change colour

[@WhatInTheBiome]

I started watching your content from before it was well known and just want you to know your reach went as far as Humboldt and Hawaii. I made my own jars but not nearly as successful

[@itsthereal_k]

that's a worm from attack on titan, if you consume it, it gives you founding titan power

[@DrFLANKENSTEIN_Official]

Branchiodrilus Hortensis. 4:53

[@bananashaman8902]

woah! either you're an Entomologist or you watch these types of videos frequently! I don't care which, because the information is still sick!

[@thymii]

lovin the chaotic energy

[@curtiss5781]

dude thats crazy I just had the idea to do this last week. so cool to see it

[@GalaIxIy]

i love how funny you are, 😂 you make the video x100 times more interesting

[@jimoldenkotte7579]

ik ben blij dat je weer regelmatig videos post :)

[@LifeinJars]

Dankjewel verse driewieler

[@deppenfamily3329]

i love the idea of playing god inside a jar, theres so many possibilities, especially if you dont interact with these jars for years on end. keep it up

[@kowhaifan1249]

Oh no I'm having an existential crisis!

[@hilliard665]

I'm not 100% sure, but carnivorous plants may be able to live in complete darkness. They can be finiky plants to grow in good conditions so it may not be viable for something like this but who knows, maybe you can do something with this idea 😊

[@YudokunaSekai]

Could it be a Syllid worm? Looks similar I feel

[@MichaelHolloway]

Enjoy your life in jars series. So with this experiment you changed the orbit of the planet the sample was extant in (from earth orbit to a 7 'day' night, with a one(?) hour 'day') ... Thus you have initiated a 'catastrophic periodic speciation event'. :) Expect an explosion of speciation. You should come up with an hypothesis before you start a next observational experiment. Perhaps one where you change the ambient temperature say 10 degrees C and a similar life sample (as a control) that stays the same temp. Might be fun! Cheers. mh/

[@MichaelHolloway]

check. day = 55 minutes :)

[@thatdude3361]

You should put a cloth over the top so the mosquitoes can't escape.

[@Cupit29]

I'm almost certain that eventually everything will die. A systems needs energy. It's physics.

[@DanceForMe13]

That is pretty much true everywhere. Eventually everything will die.

[@Cupit29]

@@DanceForMe13 obviously I meant the entire ecosystem not individual organisms 😅

[@LifeinJars]

It gets energy in the form of heat ofcourse, but that's way way less than heat and light. It will be interesting to see how long different critters will do well.

[@yairakatz8688]

Love this video. You speak to my soul; so funny and informational at the same time! Thank you!

[@DJG-cq1jl]

Dude I'm gonna tell you this Already did it my snails are slowly clean white And there are no plants and all your bubblers in there And a i feed them once a year

[@BlasAlguienDelInternet]

liked it, yo also im thinking on starting a close ecosistem in a jar, any tips on how to start pretty please?