Reviving my Desktop Ecosystem

This is the second video of my mini desktop ecosystem. Originally set up in June 2021, this video covers the period after the tank hit 2 years old. Between the first and second year, I let the tank get out of control. It took some time to get the tank back into balance before adding another predator, more suitable than the last one.
Previous video covering the first year: • 1 Year of drama: No Fi...
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:41 Fresh start
2:30 New inhabitants
5:42 Shrimp takeover
6:58 New predators
8:23 Finishing touches
10:13 Outro
Items used:
Aquarium: amzn.to/4bAvkhR
Light bracket: amzn.to/49vqTnf
Bulb: amzn.to/49CrD9s
Aquascaping tools: amzn.to/42Hhy99
Music:
C418 - Minecraft Volume Alpha 6 Moog City
• Minecraft Volume Alpha...
C418 - Wooden Love
• Wooden Love
Kevin Macleod - Dance of the sugar plum fairy
• Dance of the Sugar Plu...
C418 - I will perhaps never meet you in person
• I Will Perhaps Never M...
Kevin Macleod - Ghost Dance
• Ghost Dance
Minecraft Volume Alpha 5 Living Mice
• Minecraft Volume Alpha...
C418 - Sometimes I Make Video Game Music
• Sometimes I Make Video...
C418
c418.org
c418.bandcamp.com/
Kevin Macleod
/ @incompetech_kmac

[@TalalTheScienceGuy]

THAT RED AND BLUE SHRIMP CROSS LOOKS SO COOL

[@creatinganecosystem]

You mean Jason Bourne 😂

[@pirate2041]

I kept sparkling gouramis last year and i didnt know that they CROAK!! When the males fight they produce a croaking sound with their fins, its loud enough to hear across the room... It freaked me out at first lol!

[@creatinganecosystem]

I have read about that, but haven't heard mine do it yet. I hope I can catch it when they do!

[@jacobpugh592]

@@creatinganecosystem they do it when fighting or mating. It was loud enough for me to hear over the tv in my bedroom. One of the coolest fish i ever kept but I couldnt get them to feel comfortable enough to be seen all the time and they never liked their tank mates so I stopped. I wanna set up a tank for them again.

[@benjaminbuckmaster]

Loved watching the journey. The sparkling gourami are a great addition. Can't wait for the next update.

[@creatinganecosystem]

Thank you! Hopefully not too long. The last clips on this were from December, so got 4 months of footage still to edit 🦐💚

[@Crystalspets]

I came across your channel so I stopped by to watch pretty interesting

[@creatinganecosystem]

Thanks for staying to watch 🦐

[@deathbyfishtanks]

im so glad you're keeping this tank going. It's one of my favorites on KZbin!😁

[@creatinganecosystem]

Thank you! 💚🦐

[@9catlover]

i love this. a load of my shrimp died then i did a 100 percent water change. now i think i should have done a 90 percent

[@creatinganecosystem]

How did you get out 100% of the water? 😅 Shrimp are quite sensitive to water changes, but it's better to put fresh water in if there is a spike in ammonia or something like that. Do you have plants? They will help remove ammonia.

[@9catlover]

@@creatinganecosystem i use tap water and distilled water. yes have a ton of plants. the tank was just getting too dirty with food and an explosion of snails

[@creatinganecosystem]

@@9catlover ahh. Do you have fish too? Shrimp don't need much food to be honest, they'll get most of their food from algae on the plants.

[@Bogwedgle]

Shrimp don't do so well with large water changes, it's better to do several 25% water changes over a couple of days in my experience, 100% is only necessary if there's something really bad in the water like copper or very high ammonia.

[@9catlover]

@@creatinganecosystem yes i think i over fed them. i do give them some veg once in a while. What cold fish do u recommend? i've seen danios and minnows. i just want something easy to keep low maintenance

[@PotooBurd]

I enjoy this so much! Amazing content, best wishes to you and your future projects! 🌻

[@creatinganecosystem]

Thank you! 🦐💚

[@fimpero994]

Ayyy, have been waiting for this, amazing video you’ve earned a subscriber

[@tanksfornothin]

Haha nice job, I've never been able to catch a rodeo on camera 6:07

[@creatinganecosystem]

Thanks haha, they were at it for a solid 20 mins so I caught it a few times 😅

[@dylanwilliams430]

9:38 looks like a caddisfly larva!

[@creatinganecosystem]

I'm pretty sure it was

[@ZeroOnehehe]

I have been waiting for this 😩

[@scribbly07]

I hope you add more blue shrimp!! I like Jason and will be sad when he’s gone :( who will continue the legacy

[@creatinganecosystem]

I know! Set up another one recently, so will probably put blues in there. Problem with mixing colours is they end up being born like a see through brown and become hard to spot.

[@darrynbancroft9812]

Really loving this! I’d love to know what you have used to start this up. If you could provide a list and let me know how you control water quality. I’d really appreciate it!

[@creatinganecosystem]

Thank you. I did show the set up of the tank in the previous video, but here's the breakdown: Thin layer of garden soil as the base with a small amount of some clay substrate mixed in. Topped this off with aquarium gravel (but I wouldn't use this again, would go with sand). Add as many fast growing stem plants and floating plants as possible (without completely covering the surface). These will maintain the water quality by using up excess nutrients. I used a product called seachem prime to treat any water before adding it in, these removes all the harmful chemicals from tap water. And that is all of it really. Just don't overstock with fish and it looks after itself. When you trim the plants, that removes all the ammonia etc. they absorbed, like doing a water change. So you don't need to do water changes really.

[@JakonDeluxe]

Nice!

[@MrHillbilly]

Dude you have an underwater inch worm in your tank!! 😂

[@MrHillbilly]

Beautiful tank by the way! Can’t wait to see how it evolves this time around

[@creatinganecosystem]

Haha! It seems like that might be the case. Not sure it ever got into the tank to be honest, may have gone into the pond instead. Thanks for the comment! Kinda weird, my son and I sat and watched your dessert simulation video like 3 days ago! Awesome by the way!

[@MrHillbilly]

@@creatinganecosystem thanks! KZbin works in mysterious ways!

[@theorganicmemejuice316]

I think that you should add a thin layer of sand to cover the floor of the tank, I think it will make it look better

[@creatinganecosystem]

I should have used sand in the beginning to be honest. Next one will be sand 👍

[@ReaperRamsy]

Sparkling gourami were my first fish! I kept a few in a 2 gallon jar and they would make the coolest clicking noises when getting frisky 😂

[@creatinganecosystem]

I still haven't heard it yet! Maybe they are all female! Awesome to watch though

[@ReaperRamsy]

@@creatinganecosystem they will come together and almost hug is what it looks like and it sounds like a little cicada burst it’s cool!!

[@creatinganecosystem]

@@ReaperRamsy I hope I hear it!

[@Neptuno22no]

maybe you could add a shrimp tube decoration? the tank looks super good!! :D

[@creatinganecosystem]

Thanks. Yeah, might look to do that axtually

[@Neptuno22no]

@@creatinganecosystem no worries! excited for the next update :) turned notifs on!!

[@Lord_AB]

so cool

[@robotslug]

Lol, my sparkling gourami pair were better shrimp murderers than the betta. They didn't mess with them at first, but after eating a baby or two they got a taste for shrimp and would pair up and tear them apart. Godspeed.

[@creatinganecosystem]

Jeez. I guess it's just luck of the draw then 😅😭

[@ialrakis5173]

Built one of those things myself a couple of months ago 🙂. was going to comment the water change might not a good idea after such a long time but yeah... I'm not expecting a Jason Bourne because I've only red shrimp in there and 2 yellow, transparent ones but still curious about the possible babies

[@Ghost-mo3eh]

A good channel.

[@creatinganecosystem]

Thank you 💚

[@Bogwedgle]

Very good video, the wtf thing was some kind of leech. Probably harmless but better safe than sorry especially with small fish.

[@creatinganecosystem]

Thank you! I think it was a Caddisfly larva

[@Bogwedgle]

@@creatinganecosystem Oh yes, you're right, the leech is the next thing shown

[@creatinganecosystem]

@@Bogwedgle aaaah. The thing that like walks around, not slides? I know one of them is a flatworm too haha thanks

[@NIGEL-MORGZZ1100]

😂😂😂😂😂I love it 2:39

[@abdullahatlas226]

How do you control the shrimp population? I don't want that many shrimp

[@creatinganecosystem]

Add a fish that will eat the babies before they breed. I waited until after they had the first batch of babies before adding a predator as I wanted more shrimp. If you have fish with them, chances are you won't see babies. I have a bunch of leaves and some moss in there now, so I may get the odd one survive, but not 100's.

[@beegchunguz7425]

I just got into the hobby, and if I would recommend a new main character in your tank, the Honey Gourami is such an awesome fish, as well as Pygmy Corydoras. I would recommend one Honey, as they will bully the other.

[@creatinganecosystem]

Hmmm... A good choice. Possibility for the future. Pygmy Cory's also good, but so expensive here!

[@beegchunguz7425]

@@creatinganecosystem How much? Theyre expensive here too. But, I have to say you get what you pay for! Very great personalities and hardy.

[@creatinganecosystem]

@@beegchunguz7425 the last time I saw them they were close to £10 per fish! If I wanted a school I'd be paying like £40-50! 😱

[@leytonmcnamee]

Flame gourami is better

[@creatinganecosystem]

@@leytonmcnamee are they basically red versions of the honeys?

[@ivyyhays4289]

What plant was the one that took over?

[@creatinganecosystem]

Guppy grass (Najas guadalupensis). Be careful if you're thinking of getting some!

[@adamnagy4544]

My sparkling gouramie pack is went after of all the shrimps 😅 they got even the adults...

[@creatinganecosystem]

Nooooo! That sucks. Mine are still leaving the adults alone, thank god! How many did you have? And were yours cherry shrimp?

[@adamnagy4544]

@@creatinganecosystem umm yeah, but I always has a tons of shrimp, it is kind of pleasant. A school of 10, they literally hunt in packs like wolves 😅 It was fascinating to see how in the world are they hunt down a creature not much smaller than themselves.... yeah, wild type cherry shrimps.

[@creatinganecosystem]

@@adamnagy4544 that's crazy! Sounds very interesting, but I don't want another shrimp massacre situation haha

[@adamnagy4544]

@@creatinganecosystem haha I can see why 😂 I hope you won't experience something similar :D

[@ThemissingJem_09]

👍

[@jeffreyrichardson9568]

I am a month late.. but curious if you ended up with a planaria outbreak in that tank.. iwould say there was a good chance... good luck! No planaria will take care of it.

[@creatinganecosystem]

Hey. Fortunately no planaria outbreak. I think the fish took care of them. No tiny moving creature was safe 😅

[@darklegionnaire8304]

are those shrimp from bolton aqautics on ebay?

[@creatinganecosystem]

No, different seller 🦐

[@HAGCY]

Hey don’t know if you will answer this but I got a blood shrimp about 3 months after my tank was set up and I didn’t have any live plants or anything but I had a chocolate chip starfish, chromis, engineer goby, Scooter goby, and a Banggai Cardinalfish, and 2 new tiny clownfish I introduced. The blood shrimp suddenly died only after a night or two and i am not to sure why. My only guesses to why it might have died is rather early molting or from shock from constantly having to quarantine my clownfish from each other since they were being aggressive. Then now just yesterday my starfish died and was on the bottom lately before he died… do you happen to know why my shrimp might have died and if it could’ve led to the cause of my starfish death aswell? Id like to figure out why they died before seeing if I should try again with them or get any new fish… Tank info: 20 gallons Temp around 76-78 Salinity 30-32 Nitrates we’re at almost 0 and ammonia too No live plants all fake ones Lots of hiding spots Tank was a little foggy (dk why still) And all the other fish I added were fine discluding one of the clownfish since the other clownfish got to him… I’m a little new to taking care of a saltwater tank and I’d like some reasons to why my shrimp and starfish might’ve died if you know before I make another mistake :/ If you could help I would really appreciate it!

[@creatinganecosystem]

Hey, I don't think I'm the best person to answer this as I've never had a salt water tank and I have never looked into it too much. If all your parameters are ok, it could be that your angry fish is attacking and killing them. Other than that, I really can't help I'm afraid, sorry! Maybe try asking in some forums or on Reddit.

[@HAGCY]

@@creatinganecosystem thanks for taking your time to help anyways! I rlly appreciate it!

[@creatinganecosystem]

@@HAGCY no problem, sorry I couldn't be more helpful. I hope you get it sorted!

[@HAGCY]

@@creatinganecosystem you still took the time to try and figure out why and to me that’s what really matters, and thanks!

[@liamshabu]

How Maby liters ?

[@creatinganecosystem]

27 👍

[@NIGEL-MORGZZ1100]

9:30 those leafs are not safe

[@creatinganecosystem]

What makes you say that? They've been in there for 4 months (mostly been eaten now) and everything is still going well.

[@muskratgg]

9:33 looks like planaria

[@creatinganecosystem]

Yeah, they are. There were quite a few of them.

[@muskratgg]

The planaria and any dragonfly larvae will eat your shrimp

[@creatinganecosystem]

@@muskratgg I didn't put the damselfly larva in there, released it in my pond to be safe. But as for the planaria, I haven't actually seen those large ones in the tank. They might still be in the jar to be honest lol, there are still leaves in there.

[@Alexander75120]

The tank is pretty okay

[@naved705]

No filter???

[@creatinganecosystem]

Nope. The plants do all the filtering 🌱

[@ROOSTER18TB]

Bro added the leafs just to get planaria

[@creatinganecosystem]

What's wrong with planaria? All part of the ecosystem!

[@ROOSTER18TB]

@@creatinganecosystem it eats shrimp from the inside out

[@creatinganecosystem]

@@ROOSTER18TB never had an issue with them. I know they might be in the tank, but not getting any shrimp deaths. The fish will eat them if they dare to come out 😅 Everything plays a role in a tank like this

[@Stoic_beliefs]

add badis

[@creatinganecosystem]

Maybe one for my next tank I recently set up!

[@tokk3]

4:26 planaria?

[@creatinganecosystem]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is. They are always on the glass.

[@tokk3]

​@@creatinganecosystemget a planaria trap. Don't try to kill them. It might take out your shrimps... Trust me, I made a big mistake a couple of weeks ago 😢

[@creatinganecosystem]

@@tokk3 I hadn't thought about getting rid of them to be honest, they haven't caused me issues so far. What made you try to remove them? And what happened?

[@megazillasaurus]

Put more species in it including sigma guppies

[@creatinganecosystem]

Will be adding new fish, not decided which ones yet. Will check out sigma guppies though

[@bengXDD]

When my family got fishes, they lasted for a few months, but they died one by one. 🥲

[@creatinganecosystem]

I think that's what happens to most people. Fill your tank with plants and it helps a lot!