In the world of aquariums, there is a term called "making water."
Tap water contains hypochlorous acid (chlorine) which kills microorganisms in the water, but "dechlorinating" is the process of detoxifying it by adding chemicals or exposing it to sunlight.
The important thing to note here is that you cannot raise living things in water that has only been dechlorinated.
Fish and shrimp that live in freshwater constantly emit ammonia.
This ammonia is highly toxic to the fish and shrimp themselves.
"Making water" is the process of detoxifying it.
If the concentration of ammonia in the water is kept at a certain level, bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite will appear from nowhere and begin to multiply.
This nitrite is also highly toxic, but if the concentration of nitrite is kept even higher, bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate will also appear from nowhere and begin to multiply.
When these bacteria have multiplied sufficiently, the concentrations of ammonia and nitrite will drop to the point where they cannot be detected by simple test kits.
Nitrate is very low in toxicity and can also be used as fertilizer for aquatic plants.
All of these bacteria are called "aerobic bacteria", which use oxygen to breathe.
Therefore, this process will proceed faster if you supply a large amount of oxygen to the water.
Specifically, you can do this by inserting an air pump .
Now the water is safe to keep fish and shrimp in.
In the process up to this point, it is necessary to temporarily increase the concentration of ammonia and nitrite, and you often raise hardy fish that can tolerate this in dechlorinated water.
Such fish are called pilot fish, and red fins are often used as this.
However, gardening fertilizers also contain ammonia, so it does not seem necessary to use pilot fish.
In the aquarium world, this stage is expressed as "the aquarium is set up."
If you try to set up an aquarium from scratch like this, it generally takes about several weeks, depending on the size of it.
However, this period can be significantly shortened by taking water from an aquarium that is already set up.
This is an essential part of "water making," but in the aquarium world, "water making" does not end here.
When bacteria in the water increase, the microorganisms that prey on them increase, and the microorganisms that prey on them increase, and so on, forming a food chain of microorganisms.
In particular, things like daphnia eat microorganisms smaller than themselves and also they eat and solidify small debris in the water.
At this stage, the water begins to emit a unique glow, and many people consider this state to be ideal.
In an aquarium, the next issue is how to maintain this state.
It is possible to achieve this state in a Mini-Earth if the conditions are right.
Now, let's focus on how to prepare the water for a Mini-Earth.
To increase the success rate of a Mini-Earth, it is best to use water from an aquarium that has already been prepared and set up.
If possible, after the aquarium is set up, you should reduce the number of shrimp and fish to an amount that can be kept even with the air pump removed, so that a balance is achieved with the aquatic plants.
Finally, it is best to pack the shrimp and fish into a bottle at an even lower density than that.
For example, if I wanted to make a Mini-Earth with one red fin (it's so hard to keep fish in a Mini-Earth) and ten shrimps in an 8-liter umeshu bottle, I would start by putting some water plants and four red fins and using an air pump to make water.
If the shrimps don't die when I put them in, that's proof that the tank is up and running.
Then I take out two red fins (there’s two red fins in the bottle)and stop the aeration.
This is called a balanced aquarium.
Then, I gradually increase the number of shrimps until I get to ten and wait until it's stable.
I wait another week or so, and if it seems stable, I take out one red fin( there’s only one red fin in the bottle)and close the lid.
Then it will be a perfect aquarium, also known as a Mini-Earth.
If you start by making water in a bottle with the lid closed, the chances of making a Mini-Earth are significantly lower.
You may be surprised, but it's an urban legend that only people at a researcher's level can make a perfect aquarium.
The secret to success was simply to first create a balanced aquarium and then seal it.
Also, if you have failed in your attempts to create a Mini-Earth for fish in a 1- or 2-liter container, it is simply because the container size is not sufficient, and it does not require specialized techniques such as perfect balance.
In addition, if you can gradually reduce the density of living organisms as in the example above, your chances of success will be very high.
Again, there is no need for "perfect balance."
What is needed is "The size of the container and the amount of water."
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