FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Alright here is the mega update I have making you all wait for! Tons of pictures to go around this update, however I did filter through them, and deleted the unnecessary ones, so it won't be SUUuuuper big!

However...

I did record a video, and I will post it on this post, as well as the newly introduced ToC (Table of Contents) post on the first page of this thread. I also have some updates on the other Specimen Jars, if anybody is interested, along with a couple bonus pictures at the end.

So to start off, let's focus on Specimen Jar 'I' where we left off. A lot has changed in terms of growth for both plants, and animals.

Utricularia Gibba (Humped Bladderwort), from its humble beginnings slowly acclimated back to the reality it was now in, and has surged back from its tiny stems like a Phoenix rebirthed from ash. With the growth of new traps, it has managed to suck in multiple prey, and fertilize itself even further than through the nutrients present within the water. Growth is noticeable within days.

Duckweed now fully established, and dominating the jarrarium as a major food source, and oxygen source. Its collective roots hang like jungle vines, almost reaching the surface floor. It has boosted population capacity by providing extra resting space, and breathable oxygen for the residents inside.

Hornwort is budding within the jarrarium. What I have observed is that it always seems to stay at a certain size, either because of (a.) not enough sunlight, and nutrients to absorb, combined with the competition it has with its other cousins (b.) algae tends to fester around the tendrils of the Hornwort, and usually becomes a bid of whether the HW manages to weather it out or not. Whatever the cause, I believe it will prosper in this current state.

Anubius is now falling to pieces, literally. The seed shrimp society along with other detrivores present, slowly breaks down the decaying plant. Once a skeleton of its former shell, now a heap of plant matter, and that is the result of not acclimating new plants. Along with the help of our next subject.

Algae has constantly been in decline. However, it may have setup beneath the soil, safe from the competition of its more advanced cousins, and predators. I am unsure if the organisms have attempted to farm the algae, but I have noticed that there always tends to be a little patch of algae that never seems to fade away.

Ostracod (Seed Shrimp) litter the jar, working constantly beneath the thin layer of detritus mixed w/soil doing lord knows what. They constantly shuffle beneath the layer coming in constant contact with the detritus worms. Their volume is so great, that swarms of them migrate into the northern Duckweed wilderness. They seem to have mostly forgotten about the Gibba plant; not their fault though, oral legends usually aren't the best methods of preserving knowledge.

Malaysian Trumpet Snail population has been dormant. I see them from time to time rather than constantly like I used to. Could be good or bad, as it could signify good oxygen content. Could also mean that they are being outcompeted for food, and their population is slowly withering away. I will have to observe them at night *mental note*.

Naididae (Detritus Worms) population has decreased as seed shrimp outcompete them. I constantly see them spazzing the **** out when the little ostracods swarm them. Seed shrimp seem to be quite an annoyance for everyone else I have noticed.

Cyclops, went extinct many generations ago. However, a cousin might be introduced in its place.

Here is the link to the most recent video: https://youtu.be/j5JAzcEaBSU

Will list pictures in chronological order:
Here's an example of when the Ostracods weigh plant matter down onto the soil:
Here's a couple closeups of the U. Gibba stem: ...And here is the last picture for Specimen Jar 'I':

As for Specimen Jar 'II', I don't really have much to input other than that it's growth has slowed. I decided to do a water change in it to help combat the algae growth. I have also noticed that the U. Gibba in jar 'II' has begun to root beneath the soil, as demonstrated in these pictures I will post.
Water change: Here is the long awaited for update on Specimen Jar 'III'


*BONUS PICTURES*

So during my observation today, I decided to focus even closer onto the soil. Since over the past days I have been realizing that the seed shrimp would appear in the mid to late afternoon, just to disappear out of no where, and stay out of sight until the next sundown.

I figured they had to burrow beneath the soil to accomplish this magicians act, and my theory was correct. Here is a gif of about 46 pictures. Unfortunately this site cannot handle a bigger file, so I had a backup one that was smaller, thankfully.

Enjoy
Below that I cannot observe as a very thick film of sludge, and algae cover the glass. Maybe the dormant MTS reign this land free of the Ostracods; who knows?

EDIT: Here is the bigger, clearer version. Might take a while to fully load on some rigs, so I'd recommend to set it aside for a couple minutes or so, if that's the case.
https://j.gifs.com/pQ6NOV.gif

EDIT: I just realized how hard it is to see the smaller MTS shells in the first two GIFs, I apologize. I guess the GIFing process really ruins the quality of the pictures. Next update I will hopefully have learned how to create my own GIF with a type of photoshop app, like GIMP for example.

So from now on to save space and loading time (for people with slow internet) I will be posting GIFs rather than normal pictures. Although I will still post pictures, just not as much as previously before. However, the amount of time it takes to make these posts will relatively stay the same, as one of the sites I use for the GIF process takes forever to translate pictures into MP4 format, and then I have to convert the MP4 format into GIF format; on top of that, I have to limit the size of my GIFs (because idk, free website?). One day I will take the time to learn how to make GIF's, but as of now I am just going to be lazy.

Now in the first two GIFs I focus on MTS that have breached the surface, although it seems like they're all dead, I speculate that they're all alive as their shells disappear over time, although I am unsure about the two closer to the glass as they stayed in one position in the span of two days (for the days that I paid attention to, at least).

If you have bad sight like me, than check out the original links!
Original: https://j.gifs.com/Jq2B4P.gif
Original: https://j.gifs.com/PZ9LRn.gif
https://j.gifs.com/G52lZQ.gif
https://j.gifs.com/6RvERQ.gif
https://j.gifs.com/Q02ykM.gif

I should also note that the Hornwort has grown considerably, and is now finally able to establish itself. Utric Gibba is also growing like a magic weed, and is the only thing that can curb the evergrowing Seed Shrimp population. Triops insertion was a failure as I have noticed no offspring, eggs may have gone bunk having them in the freezer for 1-2 years.

I also found a throwback video of the jararrium when I introduced the first MTS, but it's only 3 seconds long so I decided not to post it in this update. Maybe I will in the future if anybody is interested, it's quite a huge change from what is originally started out as.

Here are the gifs that were supposed to come out in april. Some of the posts after this mention these gifs if anyone is confused about what I'm talking about in updates past this.

https://j.gifs.com/Q0zmQ5.gif https://j.gifs.com/mQx6lR.gif https://j.gifs.com/oQzKpY.gif https://j.gifs.com/wmL5Mr.gif https://j.gifs.com/yrN5Q6.gif

Oooh what's this? Achievement unlocked! Gibba Pride
As a small cutting, manage to survive into spring and flower throughout the process.


04/24/2018

Hey all, just wanted to chime in that everything is okay, I have amassed a lot of pictures but mostly for gifs that were supposed to be posted 2 months ago.. Yeah I'm a bit late, and I blame it on life issues mixed with lack of motivation/laziness, but I am back, and have some interesting details to tell.

As of now, both specimen jars I, and II are prospering, but one of my gifs meant for release in April, had shown evidence that the MTS had been out-competed into extinction unfortunately. It seemed as if the seed shrimp reveled in this as they had devoured the rotting slimy carcass. This was a double whammy for them as a whole as it created a new home for many more of the Ostracod horde while serving as a food source. I do not have a specific date, but I will just have to guesstimate around the time after I had posted that GIF of the empty MTS shells being hounded by Seed shrimp. On another note, the Utricularia G. has prospered in both jars:

- In jar number one, the Gibba has managed to reach the soil, and begin the anchoring process (this happened around mid-April), but because of this process it has drastically lowered the number of seed shrimp, and truly has become the Apex predator within the mini-biosphere; however, because of this burst of constant energy, and growth I have noticed that the Gibba has shed most of its traps except for the ones closer to the surface. I am unsure as to why this change is happening, especially the benefit of keeping the traps at the top rather than the bottom. I speculate the higher ammonia content combined with the fact that the Utric is heavily established reduces the need for predatory traps.

P.S. the Hornwort has grown tremendously, and comfortably intertwines within the tangled vines of the Utric.

- In jar number two, the Gibba has sprouted at least twice... however because of the enclosed space, the bud at the tip of the sprouts would lean against the very moist glass, and rot to death. Unfortunately we're gonna have to wait until the Gibba sprouts in the middle or somewhere that avoids the glass. On another note, I have discovered life lounging around within the soil, among the intruding vines of the Gibba. Seed Shrimp, possibly descendants of the first colony I had established back in the very start of Specimen Jar II. Honestly, I thought they had become prey to the overwhelming swathes of Gibba, but they instead burrowed into the less dense, and airy, peat substrate.
When the Utric began to root into the soil, and create a network of vines, it also increased the amount of trapped oxygen bubbles within the soil, on top of creating more room for the Ostracods to reproduce (by pushing out the soil to compensate for plant growth). I've noticed however that these Seed shrimp (the adults mostly) tend to not move around, if at all, and was quite hard for me to point out for a moment, but seeing the seedlin- *cough* shrimplings zoom around in the subterranean tunnels was quite the sight! I assume this change in movement patterns is because of the lack of space for optimal swimming combined with the dangers of underground Gibba traps, trapped pockets of air, and light penetration.

I would post pictures of my recent observations, but it is quite late right now, and have work in the morning. So hopefully I can update tomorrow, but if not, then sometime this weekend.

I've been growing my utric subulata now for about 7 months in a terrestrial jar setup, I am now going to venture into an aquatic adventure with from gibba. I have a plan now, but I am curious to ask what you used for your layer of soil at the bottom?

nate7891 wrote:I've been growing my utric subulata now for about 7 months in a terrestrial jar setup, I am now going to venture into an aquatic adventure with from gibba. I have a plan now, but I am curious to ask what you used for your layer of soil at the bottom?

Peat, layered with sand. The sand I used came from outside, I rinsed it out until water was clear, then put it in the oven for around 30-50 minutes to sterilize it (stray cats probably used it as a litter box so I threw the pan out). I also broke up a little clay tile and clay pottery, rinsed it, then put it in along with dead sticks and leaves. I added that before the peat/sandy mix.

To answer another persons question through PM, no i did not buy any organisms, it is all self made with no intervention other than dropping some wood chips into the water (I'm assuming that's where the seed shrimp came from). However I did go to PetSmart to get the MTS's.

Apologies for lack of update but at this point I've lost motivation for the project. Both jars are doing exceptionally well. I also found a whole bunch of Dragonfly nymphs in my rainwater filled pool (monsoon season) along with one survivor out of the batch of triops eggs that I dropped in there a couple months ago (surprised the heck out of me when I saw it swimming around my feet). I have pictures, but I'm just super lazy and dis-motivated to post them atm. I will post them when I decide to but I wouldn't plan on it.

Apologies to anybody who finds this project interesting and has been patiently awaiting an update.

https://j.gifs.com/nryXwY.gif https://j.gifs.com/N9wjqK.gif I eventually released the triop back into my pool the same day, I felt bad for it since it kept getting caught in the utric.

Here's something else I noticed about the Jararrium. Particularly the Duckweed.
https://j.gifs.com/APZoj9.gif
*This contains gifs that were meant to be released in April. Please click this link if interested. I edited one of my recent posts to include these so it wouldn't mess with the flow of the timeline.*
>>>>>post313590.html#p313590<<<<<

Oh, I forgot to show off the second jar (Specimen Jar II) and it's inhabitants. They are mostly descended from one culture sample I introduced in there. These are the descendants of around maybe 10-15.

As stated in the previous updates, the Ostracods use the Gibba vines to find areas to settle and feed. In turn this has created more air pockets because of the shifting of the soil/rocks that has been caused by the web-like growth from the Utric.
This poses as an extra danger for the seed shrimp as they can accidentally be pulled into an air bubble and suffocate if there is no present water nearby. Another issue is that the vines are intricately formed to layer the sides of the tunnels it creates and place traps in peculiar places.
What this has done is forced the seed shrimp in this jararrium to become more clever at surviving these conditions. I have noticed they move little to none, disregarding the younger forms. I usually have to sit their and argue whether it's a lazy Ostracod or some remnant argonite sand (recycled my aquarium rocks and they got mixed with some argonite on accident), but it's definite.. the little buggers somehow survived the conditions and prospered. This only proves that Seed Shrimp are not shy to get down and dirty if need be.

I love your posts still, and I've linked multiple random people not from the forums to check out this post.

Thank you, sorry for lack of updates but it has pretty much slowed down now with not much really happening.

In specimen jar 1 algae is beginning to take over once again, however instead of coating the glass, it is like a clump of stringy algae hanging at the floor. Unfortunately it has killed some of my Hornwort plant, and is actually forcing the Gibba to recede back to the top. Ostracods benefit greatly from this as it increases oxygen while providing another home for them, on top of killing off the apex predator of the seed shrimps, Utricularia Gibba. I'm debating on whether to keep the algae or take it out, but opinions would be appreciated.

In specimen jar 2 the Gibba has overtaken 60-80% of the jar. I do not see any movement or any signs of Ostracod life anymore and on one side of the jar, something caused the Gibba to form some weird yellowy rust-like stuff around their vines. Possibly mineral buildup from the soil and rocks but I have absolutely no idea.. It's been like that for a month or two now with no significant issues. I do see little white specks, but those are most likely Ostracod corpses as they are quite stagnant.

One day, my hope is to get a huge specimen jar and turn it into a diverse ecosphere, but that's easier said then done.

Heads up, will update tonight for sure, for sure!

I managed to capture something amazing for this project!

Meanwhile, to summarize the past events:

I have managed to remove most of the algae without regret. I haven't affected the oxygen content much as there were many oxygen bubbles being formed without the algae's presence. Even my remaining pieces of hornwort, and gibba produced copious amounts of bubbles as if gleefully expressing their appreciation by producing extra oxygen.

I also managed to revive the extinct MTS. I snuck some into specimen jar 3 before they were wiped out in specimen jar 1, and luckily they managed to reproduce. I also introduced a couple more into specimen 3 just to bolster their chances of survival as that jar was mostly filled with dirt, and clumped up moldy algae.

If they manage to over populate the jar, I will reintroduce them into the first project. I'm a bit curious to how they would react in specimen jar 2, so maybe I will also add some of them in there just to observe how they will react.

Will provide pictures, and gifs.