Inside My Flooded Cave Ecosystem (One Year of Growth)

Making a nocturnal, underground paludarium was not the plan when I set out to build a DIY fish tank rack. After carving foam into the shape of a shallow cavern with a waterfall and wild moss, I knew exactly what tropical species would be right at home inside. I never expected the aquarium section would lend itself to amphibious life, but after a year of careful adjustments it has become an (almost) self-sustaining oasis. Follow along as the fish tank develops the natural way; with no filter, and no co2 injection. Behind-the-scenes, sneak peaks and a Discord community: https://www.patreon.com/tanksfornothin Chapters: 0:00 - Opening 0:28 - Construction time 2:05 - Carving a cavern 5:20 - Introducing inverts 7:11 - 3 month society 8:28 - Wild waterfall 10:01 - Loachy personality 12:52 - Bug squad 14:23 - Upgrades 15:55 - Safe zones 17:06 - Blind and boisterous 20:00 - Water vs land 21:50 - Meet the goofballs 24:45 - Nightlife 25:27 - Watching and waiting 26:32 - Diversity = stability Music: Kevin MacLeod - Danse Macabre ¹ Baroque - RuneScape We Always Thought the Future Would Be Kind of Fun - Chris Zabriskie ² Words You Will Never Understand - C418 ³ Kitchens Are Best for Making Sound Effects - C418 ³ Axolotl - C418 ³ Mining by Moonlight - Kevin MacLeod ¹ English Country Garden - Aaron Kenny Comfortable Mystery 1 - Kevin MacLeod ¹ Atempause - C418 ³ Black Mass - Brian Bolger I Will Perhaps Never Meet You in Person - C418 ³ The Curious Kitten - Aaron Kenny Drunks on Bicycles - Martin Landström Who Cares but Me - C418 ³ Around - Modulogeek ⁴ ¹ (https://incompetech.com) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ ² (http://chriszabriskie.com) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ³ (https://c418.org) ⁴ (https://modulogeek.com) Additional sound design by @CoffeeWaffee Additional illustration by Mia Moore (www.miamoore.studio) Where I get all my hardscaping materials: https://aquatix.co.uk Using code TANKSFORNOTHIN will get you an exclusive 20% off 😉 The lights I used in this video: https://amzn.to/4cgjUzI The pump I used in this video: https://amzn.to/4eERMb3 Please note that these are affiliate links and an affiliate code, which means the sellers may provide me with a small commission if you purchase any of their products.