Put the lid aside for now.
Fill up the jar with dechlorinated water.
New Yorkers can fill the jar with tap water and let it sit overnight.
It takes 24 hours for chlorine to evaporate.
In the mean time, let's make a planter out of the lid.
Use an awl or knife to poke holes in the lid in the spots where you want to put plants.
Apply the awl to the top of the lid to bend sharp edges inside of the jar.
In this example, I make 5 holes.
Though, you can go with just one hole.
Use round nosed pliers to widen the holes to the desired sizes.
In this example, I make the holes big enough for a 9 mm plastic straw to fit through.
Leave space between the holes, allowing plants to spread out as they would grow.
Some plants are smaller, some are bigger.
So, use tubes wide enough to fit your plants through.
Also, I have made other variations of planters for different aquariums.
I use the back of a screwdriver handle to flatten the sharp edges of the holes.
Cut about 2-3 cm long piece of a plastic straw for each hole.
I use plasticine to secure straws in the holes and to seal the gaps.
Plasticine never dries.
Check links in the description for more details about everything shown in this video.
Here I have already made the planter.
A tilted background makes any aquarium look better.
I like to put gravel in my aquariums.
Let's add a couple of rocks.
Now let's add aquatic plants.
Here I add a marimo ball.
And this is hairgrass.
A fast growing Elodea with some duckweed goes in as well.
I put common pond snails in all my aquariums.
Also, I add seed shrimp Ostracoda in all my aquariums.
They look like tiny moving dots.
Seed shrimp feed on algae and organic detritus making them natural aquarium cleaners.
Cover the aquarium with the planter.
Congratulations, we have made a self-sustainable aquarium.
Different land plants grow with roots into water.
The larger the plants, the more water evaporates, the more water you have to add.
Always add dechlorinated water.
In New York, you can fill a cup with tap water and let it sit overnight.
It takes 24 hours for chlorine to evaporate.
Some plants have long roots, as you can see here, a Wandering Jew plant, but some are short.
Add water to the level as necessary to keep roots of all plants in water.
Here you can see a planaria, quite large one.
Many other critters get from one aquarium to another along with plants we move.
Okay, let's get back to the garden.
It is very important to keep tubes of the planter above water at all times.
Roots in water, but tubes above the water.
It allows air circulation while reducing water evaporation.
Algae and plants feed on waste produced by seed shrimp and snails and other critters you may have in the tank.
Seed shrimp and snails feed on algae.
And so it goes in a cycle.
Aquarium gardens are beautiful and simple to make.
As plants grow, they need to be trimmed.
Slow growing plants need less trimming.
Provide room temperature, light coming from the window, share spare plants with friends, or build more gardens :)
Have fun and happy aquarium gardens :)
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