I Built an Aquarium Under My Monitors

People tell me they've got no space for an aquarium on their desk, but they might be surprised at how many little lives can be nurtured in just a thin and shallow slice of nature. This story isn't without its challenges or its ugly stages, but it comes together because a variety of very different species can fill many different roles to form a mini-ecosystem that mostly takes care of itself. I'd just finished putting plants in a desk aquarium and I had some time to wait for him to grow, so I immediately started clearing space for the next project. To make the most of it, I started with a very strange shape. Then with a bit of trigonometry and some silicone, I built something that used all the space and waited for it to cure. The next day, I cleaned up the lines and slotted it into place, but I didn't want to have to get a wireless mouse and keyboard, so I raised it up just a little bit. Frosted film on the back would hide the messy wires, then everything was ready. It just needed to be aquascaped. I knew a local river that was pretty clean and had plenty of stones to choose from, so I brought a bucket and filled it with as many shapes and sizes as I could. I just brushed off the loose bits and took them home to dry. First of all, I protected the glass with some plastic and started trying out different arrangements to mimic the river. Basically, the big pieces created focal points and the pebbles got dumped in between. I only really needed a loose composition as a proof of concept, because the rocks themselves have loads of texture, and I was going to have to remove them to add a substrate anyway. The plants would need nutrients to grow, so of course I used soil and water to make mud. And even though the tank is shallow, I locked it all in with a thick layer of sand. This time, I paid a little bit more attention to detail, with a pathway leading your eyes towards the back and the occasional carefully placed stone for balance. Wide bushy plants went around the edges, and then I planted smaller tufts of a different grassy type in between clusters of stones. Since Dennerle very kindly sent me all these plants for free, I chose everything rare and unique to glue onto the surfaces. They'll need to feed directly from the water instead of the soil, so I added some. I don't want to grow as much algae as possible, so I'm using two powerful lights right on the lid. Some food for the bacteria will help with establishing biofilm quickly, and finally a pump on the floor under the desk is going to keep water flowing from one side to the other. Already, the water's been completely taken over by free-floating algae, and it's taken hold on the surfaces too. Colonies on the glass have formed these comet shapes that reveal just how it spread around the tank. I'll have to scrape it off the front walls to see what's going on, because right now you can barely see an inch inside before the green is just too dense. Obviously I turned the lights up a little bit too much for such a shallow tank, so for a while I'll just turn them on for a few hours a day. I'll add some creatures that can take advantage of the abundance of microscopic life. These snails are prone to getting stuck on their back, so I'm just holding them against the glass until they latch on. If I just drop them in, they could get lost, and they might never be able to flip themselves upright again. Anyway, they'll wander off when they recover from being moved. I did put a second clam in the background here, but it just disappeared. This one's using its foot to feel for the ground so it can crawl away. The pipes and wires are all hidden behind the tank, but because there's nothing much going on, I'll take the opportunity to improve the pump system. If I'm going to have water pipes hanging around my computer, I don't want them knocked and stretched when this motorised desk moves up and down, so I took the computer holder that came with the desk and used it to suspend a heated filter instead. I'm using zip ties so I can move it easily if I mismeasure anything, and now everything moves up and down with the desk. All that's left is to wait for the greens clear up a bit. I've got another tank across the room that's full of scuds, and I'm thinking a little colony for my desk wouldn't hurt anybody, so I'll abduct a lucky few with a turkey baster and squirt them into the green soup. The haze has dissipated enough to see some of what's actually happening. Like clean patches on the rocks that show where the snails have been grazing, there are signs that the plants have started to compete with the algae for nutrients, and one of the clams has settled out in the open. It draws water into its shell and feeds on whatever's been floating around. On the other side, visibility's even worse, but if you look carefully, you will see something strange. A faint stream of colour coming from one particular point, somewhere deep in the bushes. Somehow the second clam has wedged itself between all the plants and rocks. It's also still digging deeper, so I don't think it wants to be found. I can see where the snails have been, but I thought it'd be funny to pick a species that looks like a rock, so I've no idea where they are now. I probably won't find them until the algae and fungus clear up. And the colour has faded to a grey mist, and a curious little fish pokes his head out from under a rock. He checks if the coast is clear, to see if he can leave his cave in search of food. After spending his first day in isolation, it's time for a tasting tour around the riverbed. He finds nothing in a suspicious burrow, and swiftly moves on, but it doesn't take long before he stumbles into someone else's territory. Just like that, they became friends. I added four of these gobies, and they spent the whole day grazing together. But at nightfall, a mysterious shape looms in the burrow. Slowly it emerges, with one purpose. To wreak havoc on the aquarium. Nah, he's just here to eat sand. Why did I add a crab to the tank? Look at him! What role does he fill in the ecosystem? What role doesn't he fill in the ecosystem? He may not be able to swim, but he has no trouble at all with the uneven terrain. Constantly shuffling between cover, it's like he's got some kind of master plan going on. He never really sits still for more than about two seconds, unlike the other residents. I don't know how, but he caught a massive scud for his breakfast. He prefers to eat alone though. After finishing a meal, he usually retreats into the fog to scavenge out of sight. Everyone in the river is at least mildly territorial. Sometimes they just like to defend a random little corner, or even make their own hole to hide in. I added another crab, who moved straight into one of the caves, but occasionally waits patiently in the corner where I usually drop food in. He's surprisingly dexterous and delicate, and the clams just continue to dig deeper every day. Believe it or not, the snails do their own share of terraforming as well. They move like a robot vacuum that can actually move furniture out of the way. Normally I'd wait a couple of months for everything to grow without any help, but in this case I should turbocharge the growth with carbon dioxide, because I want to get the most out of these rare colourful plants. My other desk aquarium has an inline CO2 diffuser, so I'm just going to borrow it by moving it from here, over to here on the pipework for the riverbed, and then I'll check back in a couple of weeks. The water becomes more clear every day, since the green stuff just can't compete anymore. The scuds in the microphone are help, but the plants are doing the heavy lifting. The clams do some filtering, but really their contributions are negligible. The algae's been systematically stripped and eaten from most of the rockwork, but there's so much texture in the landscape, that there's always a surface with food left on it. So far every species lives off the land, which in turn keeps their home in equilibrium, so I'm going to watch to see if it remains stable for a few weeks before adding more fish. For now there are other ways to improve the setup. Since I work at this desk a lot in the evenings, I use a program that reduces eyestrain by switching to warmer colours after sunset, so I've adjusted the automatic lighting schedule on the aquarium to match. It's easier to see the difference if you turn it off suddenly. Anyway, while I was playing around with different software, I stumbled across Opera, who were kind enough to be a paid sponsor for this video. Their web browser's perfect for me because of how customisable it is. Even my fish have made the switch, and they each have their own favourite features. The gobies immediately started exploring the themes gallery, where you can set up custom backgrounds, animations and sounds. After you choose one, you can customise it with endless combinations of colour. Opera AI has recently been upgraded to be faster and smarter, so I can ask it to do things like summarise a webpage, without even leaving the tab that I'm on. The sidebar is unique to Opera, and lets you pin your favourite apps, like Gmail and Google Calendar. It's great for productivity since they're all usable from within the browser. I find myself using split-screen to see up to four pages at once, that way I can stay productive even when I only have access to one monitor. So why don't you try Opera for yourself, by using my link in the video description. Crabs will take any opportunity to escape, so I have to close the gaps in the lid. And sadly, they have to look for food somewhere else. But the gobies are happy to graze on rocks all day, and they don't care at all about live food, because they're not carnivores. However, the river's full of tiny scavengers, and in such high numbers, their eating habits can really have an impact. Amphipods are everywhere you look, picking every leaf clean of albion detritus. They're exactly what you want for a healthy ecosystem, but it means they're competing with the gobies for food. So while these calm little fish are minding their own business, I'm adding four of their carnivorous cousins, to bring some balance to the food chain. An ambassador is sent right away to greet the newcomers. Although, they're in shock because of the new environment. He's doing his best to make friends, but the panic has already set in. They've been dropped into a foreign land, and they need to claim their own corner as soon as possible to feel safe. This guy's not interested in hiding under a rock like everyone else, and decided to take matters into his own hands. It took some convincing, but the locals were eventually able to calm three of them down. And in the evening, they scouted for a safe place to spend the night. While the fourth continued to create one, the shift from scared to curious didn't take long, which means exploration is the priority for today. There's no expectation of hidden dangers, and once revealed, they'll happily sit just out of range to observe. They easily become fixated on any tiny movement. It reminds me of how kittens creep up on their targets. They spend a lot of time hunting, but look really embarrassed when prey slips away. Sometimes, though, the meal can be found again. Usually, food likes to hide in the dense foliage that's difficult to access, and it can take a lot of wriggling to catch it. Occasionally, their attention turns to me, and if I get too close, they push me out of their territory. Then, when they realize they can tell me what to do, they'll take some time to find a comfy spot where there's a good view to sit and watch me work. I think I've probably created the ultimate get-nothing-done tank for my desk, because despite my best efforts, it's difficult to ignore when I'm working on the computer. Don't get me wrong, I've got absolutely no regrets. It just means there's another piece of the puzzle needed to complete the design. I deliberately chose bottom-dwelling species that stay low so they're visible from above, and made sure that they like to hide so they're not endlessly distracting. But actually, in a scene where things are still most of the time, I've found that sudden movements grab my attention the most. So in the end, I've decided to add some mid-water fish to reduce distraction by providing some constant background movement. These tiny emerald rasboras are going straight into an established ecosystem, and will help cement the stability it already has. Just by swimming around, they'll make the whole community stronger, because it shows other inhabitants there's no danger in the open water, and that'll encourage everyone to come out of hiding more often. The overgrowth of microfauna on every surface will be kept in check, with the seed shrimp all over the leaves providing a natural food source. They'll learn to hide with the amphipods in harder-to-reach places, because any that don't will be picked off by these terrifying predators. Every other species likes to constantly modify the landscape, so it's a good job the rocks and plant roots keep it from shifting too much. The deepest digs seem to happen just before the lights go off, as if they're tucking themselves into bed. I was watching this guy make his nest for 20 minutes, before he discovered someone else was already buried there. I added a third crab, and he's so much smaller I've got to feed him with mini blood worms. His size also means he can slip through the grass to scavenge, where the other crabs have to climb over. He's barely the size of a fish. All the crabs seem to avoid each other as much as possible anyway. I've ended up with a lot of life packed into an otherwise unused space, and I've got a front row seat where I can watch the story continue to unfold. Thank you to my supporters on Patreon who make these videos possible. You are all very kind and very, very cool.