Seeding Your Tank Ecology! Diverse Micro Ecosystems: Comparing 3 Water Sources. Natural Food Web
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2024
- Your Aquarium is a miniature model of freshwater biomes and ecosystems around the world. In order to have a balanced tank, with a stable nitrogen cycle, a living food web or pyramid, and Micro Diversity of both flora and fauna, requires dedication and attention to detail.
so what is the beat way to Jumpstart a new fish tank, Aquarium or terrarium? What is the safest way to use wild lakes, ponds, streams or rivers to safely and easily gather live Micro flora and Micro fauna to create a healthy food web and a low maintenence, self contained ecosystem within your home Aquarium.
what works best for this process? live culture foods? store bought? resurrection jars or the father fish method?, or perhaps Diana Walstad methods? In This video we will look under the microscope and explore the simplest way to accomplish this and how, what and why you should think carefully about how you want to Jumpstart or fast cycle your aquarium. .... much love to you all! cheers, my friends!
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Thanks friends. Cheers
Wonderful video, this quality of information of this topic is found nowhere else on youtube. I remember a video of yours asking for ideas and id like to pitch one. On inbreeding in different species of fish and other creatures, how many you would need to have a healthy colony of them, how they may differ from one another in resistance to defects and other results of that, how many generations can you keep a colony of a certain number before their genes become too similar, etc.
I know that xiphophorus can line breed for a remarkable number of generations without any adverse effects, and for this reason they're used in a lot of genetic studies. There's a lab in San Marcos, TX that's dedicated to researching their genes.
Yes livebearers have a built in resistance to in breeding by double and triple copying genes actually. Goldfish also gave duplicate genes due to a mutation 300 years ago they think. But I've been struggling to find that info for cichlids and small charcins or cyprinids, I'll make the video if I can find out more though!
This is so interesting! I've had my planted shrimp tank going for 2.5+ years and it's been fascinating to see the boom & bust cycles of different organisms. Bladder snails & pond snails have been the dominant snail at different times. In the past, I'd see hydra & copepods. Now tiny ostracods are everywhere and I regularly see both pond & bladder snails. I also found a snail leech again the other day-hadn't seen one in years!! It's truly an ecosystem!
That is awesome!
Not even halfway through the video yet and already packed with info everyone should know!
Very interesting... but when it comes to worms, scuds, and other creepfest stuff, it gave me goosebumps. Thank you, though. You are definitely a science guy!
Oh I understand for sure. But fish love creepy crawlies
Absolutely fantastic video!!! I was pondering what I should introduce to my aquarium this has educated me a lot.
It's hard without a existing supply for microbes. But I'll find them somewhere here at home.
Thanks again bud!!!🙂
Excellent upload, Alex 👌
Happy you look and feel better, thanks for another wonderful video rich in information and insights ❤
You are so welcome! Thank YOU
living in the pacific northwest myself, i saw the levels of biodiversity in our wonderful water ways and i still found it more biodiverse than any tank i ever saw. 100% would attempt to cycle a tank with lake/river/pond water next time!
Very interesting
Really great video! Super helpful! I was about to make a BIG mistake if I didn't watch this! So thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Kismet! I just got home from my local lake. Got dirt, pieces of plants that were floating, rock and sticks to create a “lake microorganism” jar. Hope my jar looks as cool as your harvest bottle!
Coolio
Thanks!
Thank you, oh so very much Robert! I truly appreciate your kindness generosity
Thank you, very much appreciate your help with this information.
You've got it! Thanks for coming by
Personally I jumpstart my tanks with plants, stones, wood, substrate and used filter material from a seasoned tank. I’m not brave enuf to put pond , lake, river materials in my tanks. All nano fish and shrimp in my collection. When I buy plants, especially potted plants, I do add the whole plant, pot and all into my tanks for a week or more. Surprising what little creatures hitch rides in/on them. Of course snails too. This was so interesting and info packed. What a fun experiment, thank you for doing this so I don’t have to😁☮️❤️🐠🦐🪴
This is a fantastic resource, thank you so much!
You're very welcome!
Thank you Alexander. Brilliant perspective
Glad you enjoyed it!
Alex, you read my mind. I've been looking for information on the microorganisms that I can raise in the tanks to make them more natural and self-sustaining. Thank you
I ❤ this stuff! I like to say that in 4th grade I fell in love with pond scum. There were two microscopes at the back of the classroom. All the little microscopic critters fascinated me
That's about the same for me too!
@@Fishtorysame although I forgot all that for 25 years, now I'm back 😂
This is the type of content I come for. There are plenty of beginner level channels targeting the beginners with top ten videos. Looking forward to more educational style videos. Thanks for sharing, and I hope the views are good. 😊
Thanks brother 🙏. It's interesting in that I hear that same sort of opinion on some videos... like the billion dollar+ amazon carbon credits emissions scam in Brazil video...but then most my community that may actually enjoy those subjects, ends up never seeing them unless they manually browse my home page. So frustrating. It's why I try and get every 2nd or 3rd video to be more open to beginners, in hopes that it keeps serving the real content I spend time researching to all you awesome community members
Awesome video! I’m 7 months into the fish keeping hobby and your channel has been instrumental to my success. I got a friend to start fish keeping after showing him a bunch of your videos two months ago. You are improving the hobby and making it much better for beginners!
Glad to hear it! Thank you
@@Fishtory No problem! Thanks for all the awesome videos!
Amazing! I brought home some wild plants from a pond a few weeks ago and planted them in a quarantine "tank" (water jug with the top cut off). Yesterday I thought I saw a little something moving, so I wonder what else came home!
I've watched a few of completly closed jars from lakes for like 1 year. It's so fascinating to see its cycle.
Only on Fishstory would we learn that cells were named by the monks who discovered them👍Thanks Alex🙏
Hehe random tid bit, they looked like the 1600s era monastery dorms that were grid patterned rooms ...also we get the jail "cell" slang from catholic monks too haha
Such a good idea for a video
Thank you! Very well done. My favorite episode here so far!
I used pondwater, but kept it in a jar for weeks. I haven't seen planaria, leeches, nimphs, hydra. I decided to go for it. I also wouldn't collect from a part of a pond where there are a lot of plants, like reeds, or something that would logically attract species that don't thrive in open water.
I'm sure it's all about location location location:) I'd feel fine collecting from a stream most places
Perfect timing !!! Down time at work 😉
Perfect!
Wow!! I appreciate your time sharing the types of different pests, good and bad. I knew not to collect from the wild. Great job!! Appreciate you!
I mean everything we keep is wild at some point, but I think until we understand an organism , it's best to keep only what we know
Great video Alex, Thank you! Could possibly do a video about safe leaves and wood that can be found outdoors and added to tanks for cover/food? Also, any information on tank species (snails,plecos, shrimp,etc...) that would use said leaves/wood? Just throwing that out there for a video idea.
Great suggestion. I have 2 videos on driftwood and plants safe for the aquarium... also one on rocks and minerals as well :)
Loved the interesting and educational post!
I've learnt so much by watching your contents.
I'm going to have a look at my tanks tomorrow. 😊
They are all between 6 - 7 months old and still maturing.
It's a steep learning curve and at times I make stupid mistakes, but listening to you is an enormous help.
We are having a massive amount of rain and wind up to 75 miles per hour.
Cape Town gets rain in winter.
Before the Suez canal all marine traffic sailed past the south of Africa and sailors call it the Cape of storms.
Also, the seals here have contracted rabies from an unknown source. Very sad.
Thank you again for your interesting content 🎉
PS:
I realised we have nearly the same hair cut, only mine is curly😂
Haha right on. You just told me loads of interesting things... crazy about the seals! Rabid dog perhaps?
@@Fishtory
The possibility of it being dogs is a definite option.
Dogs get rabies vaccination from the government, but, as in anywhere else, we have aban
Sorry
Abandoned dogs.
Quite a few launch sites for small fishing boats attract seals when they dock late evening with the catch of the day.
Many fish are prepared and sold on site. Innards are thrown back in the water. So these seals wait for the arrival of the boats for supper.
There is a a lot of wildlife here which can transmit especially rabies to dogs roaming around.
Because we walk our dogs on the same beach daily, we found 2 carcasses.
They are such amazing creatures.
Such a pity so many of them are displayed at marine Parks.
But I won't go to that topic.
Have a great day!
I think if you are ever using like the water from lake or anything like that, you would need to use a very little ammount, so you don't unbalance your whole aquarium ecosystem, adding too many new predators or preys. Diversity and Stability are key.
Agreee
Fascinating stuff mate! I'm going to have to watch this again later. Awesome!
This is a great experiment Alex! Great topic and research
Great work Alex. Hydra keep wiping out my daphnia cultures I think.
I heard if you let the tank dry up completly, hydras will die, and daphnas will regenerate. Might be worth a test, on a small sample
Awesome thanks Alex! That was super cool!!! Thanks for showing us! Dang that was a lot of worms/planeria.
I think I'll be taking my net and jar for a walk today it's been a while hehehe ❤️🐟
excellent video and info,,shared it to my aquarium group on fb..hoping others will learn from it..I personaly have never liked the idea of lake water in my nano tanks, thanks Alex for making and sharing this with us..
Another comment to say, this is an excellent topic and technique for a video. Let's explore and learn together!
Glad you enjoyed it!
fascinating.
Now I'm curious if a lake/stream sample can be selectively cleansed using common hobby reagents or methodologies (heat/light/mechanical filtration). get rid of the planaria, flat worms, hydra etc without killing off the critters we want to keep and culture.
Observation and a week in warm , well lit environment is the best bet from my trials and experiences. Any insects hatch or you see them and worms search for food or a host or can be killed with dewormer
Soooo fascinating!!
I've set up just a snail tank. One week on both types,pink ramshorns and faucets have laid eggs. It was a bit green and murky but the last 2 days it looks nice and clear. They ate the weed I bought on ebay,but havnt touched the weed out of a nearby pond. Fingers crossed the tank continues healthy. The water is full of microscopic and just about visible stuff bobbing around. There is no aeration or filter as its just 10litres.
Thank you this video saved me a great deal of time. I'm a big fan of elaine ingham and I've done a lot of research into building healthy soil through biologically balanced compost. I'm on a journey to find what good aquatic "compost" is. How can we reliably make it in any part of the world like terrestrial compost? I don't know the answer but it would have a positive impact on the planet if somebody could figure it out.
Totally
I hope this isn’t too complicated of a question to ask here….Let’s say you want to start a new culture of Daphnia with some wild caught. How do you make sure there’s no parasites or is there a way that you can treat them overtime to get rid of the parasites?
Excellent!
I miss this
I did my water change on my one tank and drained that 20% into my new tank 3 weeks ago which really helped jumpstart the tank
Pro tip!
This is why i love you
It took me like 4 days and a ton of footage I may share later... but I'm really glad you like these style of episodes.
Great video Alex. I been putting water from pond that i made myself.
Sounds great!
AWESOME !!!! Been wondering this recently exactly how to go about this ❤❤❤ your a mind reader alex pure gold as always ❤❤❤❤ everytime I ask father fish about bringing in random gunk from a stream or pond he allways has vague not helpful responses If at all just says put it in a resurrection Jar first and I'm like ooookkkaaaayyyyy??????? Super not helpful 😅
You are so welcome!
Alex, if you took the really nasty water and kept it in a tank for 3-4 months, wouldn't all the creatures that harm fish die off as they have no fish to live off? Or do you think they would stay dormant long enough to wait it out? Interesting video.
Most would die, however some trematodes and nematodes live life cycles of several years, or in the gut of a bird or some strange egg that is dehydrated for several years. ( but most of the worst stuff won't survive)
fun
Great video! What's a decent budget microscope to get?
Any analog brand is probably good. The digital ones and phone attachment ones are terrible.
@@Fishtory I appreciate it!
Hey Alex! Such great content. What kinda microscope are you using? And what resources (academic or otherwise) do you use for identifying the little buddies in the water?
So I was writing my friend who studied freshwater ecology who teaches at U of WA for help with ID.. but I use a 1978 old school compound microscope lol and a piece of plastic I bought on Amazon that holds your phone onto the eye piece .it was like 20 or 30 dollars. Don't buy any of the cell phone digital ones...they're awful
@@Fishtory Ah nice! I'm thinking about getting one of those AmScope ones for kids
Brutha, I try to get green water going, and keep getting filamentous instead. Not a real problem, I just need to keep trying and learning.
Too many dragon flies around for me to feel comfortable with the risk of lake sourcing stuff. Real shame because there are some amazing waterlilies around here.
Green water can be tricky. You need a little extra light and nutrients ( which varries wildly from tank to tank lol... bummer.)
Really cool, say, what do you think about lowering pH by using vinegar?
Truth is, I have been experimenting with it and lost a bunch of fish, and on top of that, the pH bounces right back up.
I am still working on it though, collecting rain water and such I just want to keep working at it until I overcome the buffering capacity
Yeah vinegar always killed my fish or shrimp too when I've experimented with vinegar
Could you let me know what your microscope filming setup is? Excellent, clear footage. Is there an affordable way to get light transmission microscope footage? Or is this a "better be using this for work" kind of piece of gear?
No this is down, dirty and affordable. Just get a good analog scope, I literally got mine from a buddy who got it for under 100 bucks from a middle or high-school auction of old furniture and equipment. It's called "the skope kit" as it's only branding 1978 , and then I bought a 10x eyepiece adapter insert for smart phones... it's plastic and 20 or 30 bucks. Then just dial in at 3 to 5x zoom on the phone. It's a nice way to do it, if your eyes get fatigue on traditional scopes too!
But don't buy the digital hand held or want ones..even up to 400$ those have been utterly crap in my experience.
@Fishtory thanks brother. It's nice to know that a solid, traditional scope will work with those phone holder holster thingies well enough. There does seem to be an utter flood of low cost, low quality usb type scopes. Some of the more skookum ones seem like they're more appropriate for looking at surfaces, rather than into liquids, like the ones for surface mount soldering. High $, high quality, inappropriate for my use case. But if I can get on old science class castaway, and pop an adapter on it, and have that work, I'll be golden.
Also, thanks for taking the time and answering my same question on two of your videos separately. Very kind. I will stop asking now.
Hail hydra
XD
Alex your rock btw. I guess my concern is in parasites. Couod a daphnia from a lake or pond not be a callamanus worm carrier. Or different protozoans that you don’t want in your tank. Causing Hex or something? lol kept watching you cover parasites.
Yeah that IS a possibility. But if it makes you feel better, Anton lamboj, heiko bleher, and Oliver lucanis all go net totally wild insects and larvae and feed it to their fish from local ponds lol. I've seen it on Facebook
What do you think of phillips fishworks?
Dunno, I'll have to look them up!
@Fishtory he specializes in colonizing all manner of microbiota in a controlled indoor setting. He sells different packages of things on his website. Takes the mucky work out of it. I recommend it.
What kind of microscope do you have? Is it the only microscope you've had? Why do you prefer this one? Thank you!!
It's just an analog "skope kit" brand 1978 middle school supply surplus 10x-1000x ( the 1000x is broken so 400x haha). Microscope. I love how sturdy and simple it is. It's heavy and can take abuse or water... it still works with most microscope gear from the 90s and earlier, which is inexpensive, and it is silent.
Downside... not portable really, and the glass can fog or get scratched pretty easily, plus it has no UV light, and the light bulb actually warms the slides and evaporates drops of water 3 or 4x faster than the ambient room.
I highly recommend them... especially second hand and maybe by extra lenses if needed, on ebay or whatnot. And I bet for 60 to 120 bucks you could get a pretty solid station to work with.
I've tried at least 6 digital scopes for phones, and fiber optic micro-filament scopes too... all were terrible even up to 4 or 500 dollar range
@@Fishtory Thank you for taking the time to give me a thorough answer. You are awesome, brother. I am praying for you and your health issues to heal. Shalom and blessings.
Now knowing this imagine how many microbes and micro bio material is on your body when you go swimming in bodies of water open to the public.
Oh totally
Can you keep mosquitoes out of the outdoor tub? If so, how?
Yes, Just toss a hairnet or cheese cloth over it in the fish room for a week or so first
Thanks.
So how can I manage to get live food for Puffers in the winter?
If you have a big puffer, or a hen and are local to me, I'm happy to share mystery snails.
Big question: I have run into an issue where my livebearers are wasting and have been diligent in caring for my tanks, water quality, tds, ph etc. But i have had this outbreak and I wonder if it is due to moss I introduced to the tank. Im trying to think of all the things ive changed over the last 2 months and i feel like it has to be something other than quarantining fish. The Otocinclus i got stayed in quarantine for 3 weeks and had a treatment of General cure and paraguard. But now im loosing livebearers left and right to the wasting parasites, despite treating the tanks. Used general cure, paraguard, kanaplex, and Nitrofurazone. Only thing ive managed to cure was dropsy in one of my neon tetra. Im worried now that my whole systems is going to crash. 😢
I had a bit of that going on with mine, and starting to add botanicals at water changes, along with a little extra alkaline buffer seemed to help improve the overall health of the colony. Heard from a dude on youtube in India that was keeping guppies outdoors, and he started adding leaf litter, and it cleared everything up. Alex's video on catapa leaves also swayed me to try it out
Get levamisol/ fritz expel p ... that's my go to for live bearer nematode or flat worms.. the meds you have tried won't kill true worms- levamisol will. Sorry to hear about your fish! Good luck
Fun day today won’t mention no names, but my snap together siphon pick up on the bottom of my tank pump unsnapped and overnight 27 Corey Dorries swam up and got stuck in the pump and died .
Most were 2 inches long it is zip tied now .
Got about 20 mature ones left and 20 babies.
Oh no! I'm so gutted for you!! 😢💔🫂
This reads like a private chat message. Gotta be an older person 🤣
@@dimitrijekrstic7567Never worked at Walmart
Oh no! I'm so sorry. That's awful
I live in SC i think its too hot for daphnia culture outside
You can aerate a old hot tub in the shade ...I have friends in Florida who manage it... but no doubt it's tricky
Don't ford a river for your fish tank! That's how you get diphtheria 😜
lol don’t use sea water to start your salt water tank learning that the hard way
NEVER DRINK THE WATER !!!!!!!!
beer is much safer...
So true
Thanks!