[JuanTutors]

Hi all! First post! I created a closed 1 gallon water vivarium out of a clear sangria bottle filled with my currently neon green pool water. It has maybe a few crawling things. I saw one maggot and some other bug coiled up. It has LOTS of algae. It DOES NOT have any specific aquatic plant that I saw coming from the water. I didn't even see accidental seeds. What it does have a lot of is plant litter, including lots of leaves and lots of flower petals that flew onto the pool and eventually into the skimmer, since I did not want to put anything in there that didn't come from the pool and the pool has no soil. My question is, is there any danger of the closed water vivarium exploding due to fermentation or decomposition?

 

[Ewest]

Yeah its possible, however if the bottle was holding a carbonated beverage then it would lake a lot. The reason its possible is because decomposition or fermentation can release gases that in a closed bottle will build up creating pressure. I have first had experience with this unfortunately! I brew kombucha and part of the process is a 1-2 day closed ferment at the end to create carbon dioxide gas and because its in a closed glass it ends up carbonating itself. Once I forgot about the final ferment and left it for 4-5 days, I only remembered it because the glass jar it was in exploded on my counter, rather violently as well.

Thats all to say that its possible, it might be a good idea to keep the jar in a place where if it does blow up it wont hurt anything, or just crack the top to let out some pressure periodically.

 

[JuanTutors]

Yep kinda what I was afraid of. I used to brew my own wine too. Never had an explosion but I've always been careful there. I got afraid of the possibility of explosion when I added all the flower petals that fell into the skimmer. They are very high in nutrients and float/clog access to the top so they might not let the CO2 out slowly enough. I might have to do the occasional shake and open, which I was hoping not to do.