In this video we take a look at the Homemade ecosphere I made last year. It's funny because this ecosphere was the first ecosphere I'd shown the creation process for on my channel. I wasn't very excited over it at the time due to the dwarf ambulia not growing at all in 2 months. After the 2 month update video I remember putting it somewhere out of the way. The 6 month update was due, but I had totally forgotten about this ecosphere because it wasn't being kept with my others. I only remembered at the end of this year as I began recapping all the ecosystems I'd built over the year. I can't believe I forgot about this one! At least I got around to doing its 1 Year update eventually lol.

The producers in this ecosystem seem to be made up of primarily algae. The algae provides food and a majority of the oxygen for the inhabitants. Monte carlo also grows up against the glass. Monte carlo plant is notoriously a slow growing plant, however I think the substrate being nutrient poor could also be a factor. The Algae above shades it out a lot, however it's still able to persist beneath. I could also spot the Dwarf Ambulia plant in the center of the jar. It was impossible to film because I couldn't focus on it through the algae. It doesn't appear to have any leaves. It's basically just a long, bare stem.

The dwarf flat ramshorns are responsible for the struggling dwarf ambulia. They feed on delicate plants and prevent the ambulia from growing. During the 2 month update people commented on it's lack of growth and I've come to the conclusion the reason it doesn't appear to grow is because the snails are feeding on it any new growth it makes.

There is a healthy population of water mites present within this ecosphere. They are probably the most common significant species, followed up by the ostracods and then the dwarf flat ramshorn snails. Less notable species such as rotifers and worms also call this jar ecosystem home.

There seems to be some sort of strange organism living within this jar. It creates sticky orange balls at the waters surface. They stick to any ostracod or water mite that comes into contact with them. I have no idea what they are, but I've considered they might be dinoflagellates. I don't have enough knowledge on dinoflagellates to know for certain. Whatever they are they're new to me and I'd love some help from my subscribers with identifying them.

Watch the full journey of this ecosphere here:
   • Creating A New ECOSPHERE  Extreme Bi...