The jar was nice – but it wasn’t particularly aesthetically pleasing. It was a jar fer cryin’ out loud, with bands of gunk on the outside where the label was glued to it. Not really the kind of thing you wanted to see on your desk or windowsill. As it happened, while poking around in the kitchen cabinets, I found an old wine carafe (from way back when Almaden Vineyards was selling wine in lidded carafes, for some reason) that had managed to survive in there for decades.

“This would make a much better ‘Pond in a Jar’”, I thought. “It’s larger, the outside is cleaner, and is much nicer to look at.” All I had to do was go back to the pond, get another eight ounces or so of water and bottom sediment, and carefully transfer everything into the carafe.

That was done two weeks ago.

The “upgrade” worked; seems like everything made it over without a problem. The little plant growing in the sediment established itself and is still growing. I’ve got two large snails (almost as big as peas) and several smaller ones – looks like they might battle the hornwort for dominance. There’s at least one diving beetle (every few days I see two active at the same time). Those little buggers (not much bigger than an (unshelled) sunflower seed) are mostly moving about in the mornings and evenings, as far as I can tell. Still a good number of copepods and other swimming critters. None of the creatures are big enough for me to positively identify the species.

Look! A snail!

There’s a bit more organic material – dead roots and bits of floating wood – around. I’m torn between going in and poking at things to make it “nicer looking” and just leaving it to let Nature take its course. So far, leaving it alone is winning.

It looks better in person.