Simulating a Desert for 100 Days

Within this tank lives a miniature world.  There are predators and prey. Wind and rain.   This desert is a dangerous place but despite  all odds, some animals have evolved to survive   it transformed from an empty Wasteland to a  thriving ecosystem to understand the Mysteries   within first we must go back to day one it all  started when I got the tank some materials and   a whole lot of cacti I proceeded to mix up  some dirt and then build up the substrate   after placing in some rock I begin to plant the  cacti ouch their spines are extremely sharp and   it was a huge pain to plant anything I added  in some final touches and the tank was complete this will serve as the foundation for a thriving  ecosystem on day three I introduced the first   animals these are called isopods as you can see I  have two varieties here clowns and zebras after I   place them in they began to search for shelter  alongside the isopods I introduced springtails   and buffalo beetles these two detrivores  will eat pretty much anything they can find   all of these tiny bugs will eventually be food for  a future predator by day 50 the isopod population   began to Boom in the shaded areas of the tank they  would form small little herds the juveniles looked   almost identical to their adult counterpart  here you can even see one shedding its skin while the zebras were thriving the clowns seemed   to have disappeared entirely on the  other hand the Buffalo beetles were   taking over I placed a dead cockroach into  the tank to show just how many there were soon there was nothing left but a hollow  skeleton they were running rampant and I   needed a predator I needed something deadly  something fast something almost as terrifying   as my mother-in-law let me introduce you to the  Dune scorpion he is a vicious predator and will   make short work of a beetle or isopod do you see  that tiny white drop on a stinger well that is a   potent Venom and I have to be extremely careful I  picked him up and prepared to place him into the   tank after a gentle love tap he took his very  first step into the new world scorpions are   almost completely blind so they don't use their  eyes to get around within just a few minutes he   managed to take down a buffalo beetle with a full  stomach he began to search for a place to burrow after a few hours his burrow was complete  and it just looked like an ordinary hole but   if we look underground we can see it is so  much more it is his home [Applause] [Music]   he would spend most of his time here  but as day turned to night he would   emerge under ultraviolet light  he will glow a radioactive green on day 60 I realized the Scorpion wasn't going  to be enough The Beatles were breeding faster   than the Scorpion could eat them I needed to add  competition meet the blue death fainting Beetle   this is no ordinary bug they have three super  powers first off they make their own sunscreen   this white powder on their shell will protect  them from the Desert Sun secondly they have a   huge abdomen to store water kind of like a camel  they can last for ages without any water at all   but if a predator tries to eat them that's where  its third superpower comes into play they are   indestructible their thick armor will protect  them from sandstorms and strong Desert Winds I added them into the tank and immediately  one was making a fatal mistake he wandered   towards the Scorpion burrow and then down  inside he was walking towards his Doom air was a stalemate the Beetle made his move he tapped the Scorpion and then retreated  deeper into his burrow foreign gave the   beetle a gentle push and then made his journey  back to the surface that was a close call I decided to let them be overnight as the sun began to rise something extremely  rare was about to happen it was rainy season   and one of the few storms of the  entire year was about to commit foreign began to flood as the storm faded away animals began to  emerge the rain brought new life to the   desert landscape this Rose of Jericho  opened its leaves after receiving water by day 63 the Water Area was  teeming with life hundreds of   tiny eggs that laid dormant  in the sand began to hatch   the pond was swarming with these tiny white dots  that were going to become something incredible   meanwhile on land I figured it was time to  introduce a new animal here is a Mexican jumping   bean and here are 30 more these are not what they  seem after I added them in they began to dance   they seemed to roll around mindlessly but each one  is on a mission find shelter they jump to escape   the desert heat it didn't take long for them to  huddle under whatever they could find now inside   every Bean lives a caterpillar one day they will  emerge into a beautiful little moth foreign by   Day 72 Life In The Water had grown substantially  these little white Crustaceans are called fairy   shrimp they glide through the water filtering  out whatever food they could find in the shadows   lives an animal much larger and less delicate  than the fairy shrimp meet the triumph [Music]   I put one on my fingers so you can get a sense  of scale they look completely prehistoric they look to be thriving now but there  is a problem every day the water level   got lower and lower the Desert Sun was  quickly drying up their little pond foreign day 81 the pond was almost dried  up but life was more active than ever   many of the triops were carrying bundles of  eggs and needed to find a safe place to lay them   here you can see a female  carefully digging her nest she would lay her eggs in this hole and they  won't hatch until the following rainy season   the fairy shrimp had also laid their eggs  and their life cycle was reaching the end   only a few days later the pond had dried up  completely the rows of Jericho had closed and   life seemed bare but after closer inspection  you will notice hundreds of tiny eggs waiting   for the next time life was booming but it was  time to introduce a new Predator this animal   will easily find her way to the top of the food  chain let me introduce you to the bearded dragon   I'm just kidding she's way too big for this  tank but I have many more projects on the way   so do me a favor and like this video subscribe  and I'll be sure to see you in the next one

Channel: Dr. Plants

Views: 23,720,277

Keywords: arid, arid terrarium, dessert, desert, scorpion, vivarium, paludarium, terrarium

Id: wir7jmefyec

Length: 8min 48sec (528 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 18 2023