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Welcome to 'Pantdora', my 1000 gallon cloud rainforest vivarium.
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.
2024
My giant cloud rainforest vivarium, Pantdora, has been constantly transforming since its creation. The plants, fungi, and animals are involved in an interdependent, never-ending biological cycle. But, after watching the animals in the vivarium live out their lives over time, it becomes hard to say goodbye to them when they die. A new season brings new life to the ecosystem, and it was a bitter sweet reality to learn, as we say goodbye to some Pantdoran OG's in the rainforest, but not without a surprise Easter egg. Hope you enjoy Season 2, Episode 1 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
My giant cloud rainforest vivarium, Pantdora, has been facing a threat of mites infecting a colony of ants. On my quest to find out what kind of mites they are, I attempt to affect environmental conditions and observe how the mites react to the changes. In this episode, I learn and gain insight into the role of parasites in nature, as well as discover some new surprising species appearing in the rainforest. I hope you enjoy this Season 2, episode 2 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
My giant cloud rainforest vivarium, Pantdora, has been developing and evolving as an ecosystem over the past four months, but for the first time, some intruders have found their way inside the vivarium: ghost ants, some of the worlds most invasive tropical ant species enter Pantdora in search of valuable resources for their colony. Will they find something worth summoning their entire colony? What new discoveries and surprises will we find in the rainforest? Hope you enjoy today's video, Season 2 Episode 3 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
Enter the dragon! My giant cloud rainforest vivarium, Pantdora, is home to an incredible ecosystem, ever changing especially in light of the scorching summer temperatures, but the apex predator of the lands, a male sun skink, has been patiently waiting for his queen to mate with, in order to create the next generation of sun skinks in the rainforest. But the pairing didn't exactly go as planned, and the events that ensued was an epic story full of twists and turns. Hope you enjoy Episode 4, Season 2 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
My giant cloud rainforest vivarium, Pantdora, is a biological dream project, full of discovery and surprises! This week, I discover a giant huntsman that I thought had died weeks ago. I address the numerous theories you had about this mystery of the spider's resurrection. It was a complete adventure I will never forget. So many plot twists! Hope you enjoy Season 2, Ep. 5. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
My giant cloud rainforest ecosystem vivarium, Pantdora, has been a dream tank. Its unique plethora of flora and fauna, all connected via the food web, and lead to some amazing insights into the workings of Mother Nature! But the time has come to create a second ecosystem vivarium, an attachment to Pantdora, as an extension to the biological world we created. In this episode, I travel to the biodiverse island of Borneo and Australia to explore different biomes, and decide on what animals, plants, and fungi, I might be able to house in our next world. Hope you enjoy this Episode 5, Season 2 of my ecosystem vivarium series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
The rainy season has officially come to my giant cloud rainforest vivarium Pantdora, which has opened a new chapter in the evolution of the tropical ecosystem within. This is the story of how the vivarium reawakens in this new cooler, wetter season, and how I support its come back using some cool biological methods with the help of some animal friends. Hope you enjoy this 7th episode of the Second Season of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I'm building another giant ecosystem vivarium to attach to my current giant vivarium, Pantdora. I've begun making the plans, adding more neat fauna to our tropical ecosystem, but the process of preparation has already proven to be quite an adventure and journey on its own, perhaps foreshadowing the crazy events to that are to come when the second giant vivarium finally arrives. Hope you enjoy this 8th episode of the Second Season of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I added a baby crocodilian to my giant ecosystem rainforest vivarium, Pantdora. The purpose was to address the many random insects that fall into and drown in the rainforest's blackwater pond 'Aqua Noctis', and my hopes was that a baby caiman could eat them. The adventure of discovery that ensued was unpredictable, unforgettable, and utterly life-changing. Hope you enjoy this Episode 9 of Season 2 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
My new baby crocodilian (spectacled caiman) has officially learned how to crawl onto the land and hunt for the various creatures within my giant cloud rainforest vivarium, Pantdora. The rainforest ecosystem is forever changed, and I didn't expect the little croc to ever be so land born, but it turns out, it is an avid hunter in both water and land. This is a story of how I discovered what my baby croc has been up to at night during his terrestrial sprees, what creatures he's been eating, and the secrets he's been hiding. Hope you enjoy Season 2, Episode 10 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
After months of planning and anticipation, I've built my second giant ecosystem vivarium, which will be an extened biological world of my cloud rainforest vivarium, Pantdora, however this new vivarium will simulate a tree canopy. Building the structure for the tank was truly a mission, and I couldn't wait to start landscaping, but a certain volcanic eruption event nearby had greatly altered my plans. Hope you enjoy this Season 2, Episode 11 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
A swarm of fire ants had a nuptial flight in my home. The Crimson Knights, my ravenous pet fire ant colony living on their open-concept, volcanic island ant farm, called Volcania, decided to spontaneously launch a nuptial flight, i.e. an annual ant breeding event. Usually captive ant colonies don't have nuptial flights indoors, but this fire ant colony unexpectedly did, and the escaped fire ant queens and males were everywhere. What was worse was that a pregnant queen ant may have gotten into my giant ecosystem vivarium, Pantdora, which if so, would be disasterous for my ecosystem project. But I had a wicked solution! Hope you enjoy this Season 2, Episode 12 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I created the ultimate tree canopy vivarium, called Orchadia, a world of trees, an extension vivarium to my first giant cloud rainforest vivarium, Pantdora. The whole biological project of executing a canopy habitat was extremely challenging to construct, requiring me to stretch my terrarium-building skills. There were unique obstacles I faced creating this tree layer, which science knows contains the highest concentration of life in the rainforest. I researched, constructed, and even got a tip from a special creature already living within the vivarium. Hope you enjoy this Episode 13, Season 2 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I created a giant 2-storey cloud rainforest ecosystem vivarium and the result blew my mind. The double vivarium world consists of a rainforest floor vivarium (Pantdora) on the first floor and my new tree top canopy vivarium (Orchadia) on the second floor. Upon unblocking the glass bridge that joins the two biological worlds, I was shocked by all the life that moved upward into the trees, as well as the variety of new creatures already existing in the new canopy vivarium. Hope you enjoy this Season 2, Episode 14 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I added more animals into Orchadia, my new giant rainforest canopy vivarium. It was an event I call GAIA II, i.e. the second Great Animal Integration Advent, whose purpose is to seed the treetop ecosystem with life. But with the addition of these new and exciting creatures, the resident caiman had adapted a new diurnal schedule for hunting and exploring on land. This new behaviour put pressure on the sunk skinks, who were now direct competitors for food and territory, forcing me to come up with a really tough solution lest things got grim. In the end, everything changed! Hope you enjoy this Season 2 finale of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
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2024
The most unexpected baby creature was born in my gaint rainforest vivarium, and there may possibly be more! It seems to be breeding season for many of the exotic animals living within our double rainforest vivarium kingdom of Pantdora & Orchadia. But with the new animals emerging into our forest, comes a special newborn that could change the course of this whole biological project. Hope you enjoy Season 3, Episode of 1 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I'm conspiring with special termites to grow a highly valued mushroom species called Termitomyces. It's a fungus that is known to only be cultivated in the wild by termites, who farm the fungus as a food source within their nests. Scientists still don't know how to artificially cultivate the fungus in a lab or grow it agriculturally like most other edible mushrooms. The issue is that the mushroom and the termites are involved in a symbioitic relationship, where one cannot survive without the other, and so, using the natural conditions of my giant rainforest vivarium, I hope to be the first in the world to grow Termitomyces indoors. This is the epic story of how I intend to do it. Hope you enjoy Season 3, Episode 2 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I started the biggest Ant War in my giant cloud rainforest vivarium. I felt Pantdora and Orchadia, my two connected tropical ecosystem tanks, required a greater biodiversity of ant species, especially because one of the ant species within, i.e Gnome Ants (Pheidole parva) have completely run a monopoly of the rainforest. In an attempt to balance the ant ecology out, I decided to add six more ant species into the vivarium. The result was a war, greater than anything the rainforest had ever seen. Hope you enjoy this Season 3, Episode 3 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series, and our celebratory video for hitting 6 million subscribers. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
Weaver ants are some of the most aggressive ants I've ever worked with, but I felt our giant rainforest double vivarium was ready to host such an arboreal ant species. I was curious to see how the weaver ants would integrate into our contained ecosystem. Would they completely eat everything, attack other ant species, and lead to ecosystem collapse, or will they integrate harmoniously into the foodweb? Through this experiment, I was determined to find out, but the weaver ants had a few surprise plans. Hope you enjoy Episode 4, Season 3 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I spotted a species in my giant rainforest vivarium, that could end my whole ecosystem project for good, but the true mystery of its identity required the help of scientists to classify the animal appropriately and determine whether or not the creature was truly a threat to the vivarium and all its creatures within, or if it simply was a false alarm. Hope you enjoy this episode on ant taxonomy and the dangers of invasive species on ecosystems. Special thanks to Dr. Davide General and Perry Buenavente from UPLB National Museum of Natural History Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
My giant cloud rainforest ecosystem vivarium has hit 9 months of age, and has certainly evolved into a biological wonder in such a short amount of time. The flora and fauna within have become so biodiverse, the relationships and symbioses complex, and the tropical ecosystem robust. Walking through our rainforest within glass today is a truly mind blowing experience, as I continue to discover new creatures never before seen, and plants growing from places I least expected. But our 9 monthsary tour was not without some surprises. Hope you enjoy this Season 3, Episode 6 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I found a mysterious egg in my yard and I couldn't figure out what animal it was. I wanted to add it to my giant rainforest vivarium, but before doing that I needed to seek the help of some animal experts to help me identify the egg. Their analysis was interesting, to say the least! Big thank you to Tyler Nolan, Jay Brewer of Prehistoric Pets, Clint's Reptiles, Dingo Dinkelman, and Coyote Peterson of Brave Wilderness for the help! Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I am leaving my giant rainforest vivarium Pantdora on autopilot, as I travel to Canada and the US to attend Animal Con USA. However, a crisis has hit the rainforest and there couldn't be a worse time. Will our rainforest be able to survive without me? Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I was speechless finding a new baby creature inside my giant rainforest vivarium (called Pantdora), after leaving for 18 days. Returning from abroad, I needed to assess if there had been any damages to the ecosystem while I was away. It turns out, inspecting the vivaria and taking inventory of its various animals was quite the adventure, especially what I discovered regarding a certain mystery egg. Hope you enjoy Episode 9, Season 3 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I dug up a mystery reptilian egg that I found in my yard, from my giant rainforest vivarium, Pantdora. I had thought it was dead, but it seems the ecosystem and conditions within the vivarium were perfect for the egg's incubation, as it failed to rot and decompose even after over a month later. I felt, for my safety and that of the animals within the vivarium, it was time to take matters into my own hands and dig up the mystery egg to candle it and check for a living fetus. Doing so was quite the adventure. Hope you enjoy this Episode 10, Season 3 of my Eocsystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
Journey with me on a full tour inside my two-story, giant rainforest vivarium called Pantdora and Orchadia. The rainforest will be hitting its 1 year anniversary next month, so I felt it was the perfect time to do a complete tour of the lands, its creatures, and updates. One such update also involves a mystery egg I found my yard. I found out if it was alive and the animal that laid it! Hope you enjoy this Season 3, Episode 12 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
An ant war between invasive and native ants was brewing in my giant rainforest vivarium. A red ant colony known scientifically as Tetramorium insolens is an invasive species and posed a danger to the balanced ecosystem within our rainforest floor vivarium, Pantdora. I had to execute with a plan to stop the invasion. Turns out, Mother Nature had some plans of the own. Enjoy this Season 3, Episode 12 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
I discovered a ton of new animals in my giant rainforest canopy vivarium. After some renovations to my canopy vivarium, which involved moving in a large banyan tree, I was surprised to discover many species of animals had been introduced into the ecosystem. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
My giant rainforest vivarium becomes an entirely different beast at night, I explored my ecosystem vivaria, Orchadia and Pantdora, to see what life was like in the night. The nocturnal species of animals in our rainforest was mind blowing! Hope you enjoy Episode 14, Season 3 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
The rainforest vivarium hits 1 year old, but something had caused an extinction event. The cause of the species disappearances was not known, but after researching the state of the ecosystem and its biological relationships further, the rainforest provided me with the clues I needed to piece the puzzle together. Hope you enjoy this Season 3 Finale of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.