Plastic Bottle Aquarium DIY

Wash a 2 liter plastic bottle.

I prefer to use plain cylindrical bottles.

Use a sharp knife to cut off the top part of the bottle.

Use scissors to trim off the edge of the cylinder.

 The top should be of the same or couple millimeters smaller diameter than the cylinder.

Let's make four handles at the base of the top.
 Make two up to 1 cm long cuts about 1 cm apart from each other.
 It is one handle.
Space 4 handles evenly around the circumference of the top.

 Pull handles away from the center.
That is how the handle looks.

Place the top on the cylinder with handles pointing out.
The spaces between handles go inside of the cylinder.

Use scissors to trim the edge of the top if necessary.

Here you can take a closer look.

The rest of the setup is the same as described in my previous videos.
November 11th, 2017

 Add a handful of gravel. 

 Here are some of my nurseries with samples of land moss growing underwater.

 Let's take this fast growing moss.

This sample already has parts that have grown underwater.

 Place it in a new nursery.

 Next, I am going to add a slow growing land moss.
 Here you can see seed shrimps.

I am going to use driftwood made of toothpicks to anchor the moss.

Cut about 5 mm pieces of air tube.

Force the ends of the toothpicks inside of the air tube piece.

 Place moss between toothpicks.

 Lock the free ends of the toothpicks with another piece of air tube.

Place the anchored moss in the new nursery.
 Fill up the nursery with dechlorinated water.

Drop some gravel on top of the fast growing moss to keep it at the bottom.

Use a sturdy piece of paper as a background - tilt it for better effect!
I populate all my nurseries with seed shrimps.

 Use a pipette to transfer them.

Also, I add freshwater snails to all aquariums.

Cover the top.
The cover helps to greatly reduce water evaporation.

I keep the nursery without fish for at least two weeks, sometimes months, on a windowsill exposed to direct sunlight.
Direct sunlight boosts algae grow.

Seed shrimps and snails eat algae.
Add dechlorinated water as need (once every month or two ;)
 And so it goes all year round without any additional input.

January 10th, 2018
This parenting couple has babies!

 4 babies of the 2nd generation in the 1st breeding line.

Use a pipette to transfer newborn to the nursery.

 The 2 months old nursery full of seed shrimps makes a nice home for them.

 January 30th, 2018
 I upgraded all nurseries with covers.
With temperature in my apartment between 72-76 F I add water now once per couple of months.
It is a great improvement compared to my previous weekly routine!
 Check links in description for more details.

Have fun and happy aquariums :)