Season 1 - GAIA

15 episodes · 2023

I've always wanted to try creating the ultimate ecosystem vivarium, but I felt I wasn't quite ready to take on such a complicated project. A successful ecosystem tank would require a very large setup and a working knowledge on biology and the husbandry of various species of animals. But after over 14 years of keeping ant colonies and many other creatures, and now that I have moved the Ant Room to a larger space, I felt it was officially time to attempt the biggest project of my life - the ultimate ecosystem vivarium. This is Part 1 of making the plans and I will be needing the help of the AC Family, my subscribers, to construct it and choose which ant colonies will be living inside the vivarium.

I am creating the ultimate ecosystem vivarium in my home, an over 1,200 gallon tank complete with interdependent species of tropical plants, fungi, and animals. It's a project that challenges my decades worth of skills and knowledge on ant keeping and animal husbandry. But i knew in order for this vivarium project to work, one of the aspects I needed to decide on was the team of the vivarium's predators. I caught two from my yard, give them a home, feed them, and talk about other potential predators I hope for our vivarium. I will be needing the help of the AC Family, my subscribers, to choose which predators will be living inside the vivarium in this Part 2 episode of the vivarium series.

Building an ecosystem vivarium is no easy task. It requires an intrinsic understanding of biology, animal husbandry, and the food web. I am on a mission to construct a 1,200 gallon ecosystem vivarium with a many plant and animal species living within. I do have a strategy to ensure the greatest amount of success. This is Part 3 of the Ecosystem Vivarium Series in celebration of 5 Million Subscribers.

I created my dream tank, a cloud rainforest terrarium in an over 1,000 gallon custom built tank. Landscaping and construction of the habitat took months of planning, a lot of hard work, and days of terrarium building. But the final result was all worth the challenges. The tank hosts a variety of plants, and possesses an automated climate mimicking that of a cloud rainforest.

In my giant cloud rainforest vivarium, I call Pantdora, an unexpected war of creatures broke out, with an unfolding of a epic tale of animals vying to conquer highly coveted land and resources within the rainforest. I was shocked to discover a plethora of animals within the vivarium, each occupying different niches in the habitat as they would in the wild. But this biological experiment opened my eyes to the harsh realities of ecosystems in a way I never before considered. Hope you enjoy Part 5 of our Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.

I created my dream tank, a 1000 gallon cloud rainforest vivarium, and constructing it has been quite a journey. It is fully stocked with tropical plants, automated climate control, and even some creatures that managed to sneak in through the terrarium decor. However, the goal of the vivarium experiment was to recreate and study a rainforest ecosystem so to complete the project, I needed to add more animals. Little did I know, doing so would amp up the biological action within the vivarium in a way that I could never have predicted. Hope you enjoy Part 6 of my ecosystem vivarium series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.

I created my dream tank, a 1000 gallon cloud rainforest vivarium, called Pantdora, and it's purpose is to study how tropical ants and other exotic creatures live in the wild. I already added an initial team of animals into the terrarium, but it was missing a very important player in the food chain: an apex predator. In this episode, we release my chosen apex predator into the Pantdoran rainforest, and the result was pretty awesome. Hope you enjoy this week's episode, Part 7 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.

In my giant cloud rainforest vivarium, I call Pantdora, an unexpected revival of an ant war broke out, after adding a team of aquatic creatures to the pond. I was shocked to discover the truth about relations between three existing ant colonies within the vivarium, and watched an intense showdown of ants take place. It opened my eyes to the chilling realities of invasive vs native animal wars that occur in ecosystems, as they compete for resources, food, and space. Hope you enjoy Part 8 of our Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.

In my giant 1000 gallon cloud rainforest vivarium, called Pantdora, the established ecosystem faces the addition of a 'grim reaper', a notorious insect predator known as a praying mantis, as well as, a colony of crickets. But with the addition of these new animals, came a surprising discovery regarding the Great Ant War that was taking place within Pantdora. Hope you enjoy this episode, Part 9 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.

I created my dream rainforest vivarium, named Pantdora, but it has completely been taken over by invasive black crazy ants, who occupy one of the most coveted spots in the terrarium: the Hallelujah Tree Stump, a giant piece of driftwood hallowed out by termites that many of the inhabitants of the rainforest call home. In this episode, we use an endoscopic probe camera to look into the stump and learn about the nesting behaviours of the invasive ants in hopes to stop them from dominating the ecosystem. Hope you enjoy this week's episode, Part 10 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.

In my giant cloud rainforest vivarium of various animals and plants, an unintentionally introduced colony of invasive black crazy ants has completely taken over the tank, so my ecological solution was to add carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthes sp.) to the rainforest in hopes to curb the population growth of the black crazy ants. What ended up happening to the black crazy ants, after uncovering the feeding secrets of the pitcher plants, was nothing short of an adventure! Hope you enjoy this week's botanical episode, Part 11 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.

I created my dream tank, a 1000 gallon cloud rainforest ecosystem vivarium. The ecosystem within has had two months to mature, and there are new animals, plants, and updates to show you. Join me on a full tour of Pantdora, and witness some of the most incredible biological events never before seen. This is Part 12 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.

The War of Pantdora continues after unleashing a spider apocalypse. My giant cloud rainforest vivarium has evolved into an utter dream tank, full of interdependent flora and fauna. However, the time had come to finally add a swarm of huntsmen spiders, to would become important predators controlling populations of prey creatures within the ecosystem. But after adding in the arachnids, a war of ant powers was once again brewing, and I could do nothing also but watch the biological drama play out. Hope you enjoy this week's episode, Part 13 of my ecosystem vivarium series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.

In my giant cloud rainforest vivarium (Pantdora), I attempted the dangerous task of setting up the stage for two adult praying mantises to breed, in hopes to secure a future generation of praying mantis babies for Pantdora's rainforest ecosystem. The entire mantis courtship process was a nail-biting journey with a result I didn't expect. But after it all, I ended up with the biggest crisis in the history of Pantdora. Hope you enjoy this week's episode, Part 14 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.

It was a nightmare discovering that the doors to my giant cloud rainforest vivarium, Pantdora, were wide open, giving all the creatures within a chance to freedom into my home. It spurred an entire journey of taking inventory of the animals that were still inside the tank and an epic search for those that had escaped, not without some interesting surprises along the way. Hope you enjoy this week's episode, Part 15 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.