Resurrection Jars: Seeding Life in Natural-Style Aquariums

Maturing resurrection jar Wander Within Life

Resurrection jars are a fascinating tool for aquarists who want a more natural, self-sustaining aquarium. Imagine scooping up a bit of mud, leaves, and water from a local pond, then watching it come alive with tiny creatures. Later, you pour some of this rich brew into your fish tank, “resurrecting” a whole food web in your aquarium.

In natural-style aquascaping (such as low-tech planted tanks common in Indonesia and Malaysia), resurrection jars help jump-start the ecosystem with beneficial microorganisms and nutrients. Fish snack on tiny critters, plants thrive on recycled nutrients, and you get to observe a mini ecosystem much like a wild pond, right in your living room.

If you’re building a natural-style shrimp tank, you might also like Natural shrimp tank – Neocaridina.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

What a resurrection jar is and why you might use one
How to make a jar step by step
The types of microorganisms that usually appear
Benefits for shrimp tanks, planted tanks, and community tanks
Practical collection tips for Southeast Asia
The main risks and how to minimize them

Let’s dive into this slow, natural approach to fishkeeping.

What Is a Resurrection Jar and Why Use One?

A resurrection jar is essentially a miniature pond ecosystem in a jar.

You create it by filling a jar with:

A bit of sediment (mulm) from the bottom of a natural water body
Decaying leaves and plant debris
Water from the same pond, stream, or swamp

Within days to weeks, this humble jar is full of life: beneficial bacteria, algae, tiny crustaceans, worms, and other microfauna multiply in the rich mix of detritus and water. After some time, the jar becomes a living culture that you can use to seed your aquarium.

Natural-style aquascaping methods (like Father Fish or Walstad) focus on ecosystem balance over high-tech equipment. A resurrection jar fits perfectly into this philosophy:

You add biodiversity from a wild environment.
Tiny creatures help break down waste, cycle nutrients, and feed your fish and invertebrates.
The food web becomes more complex, and the tank slowly moves toward self-sustaining.

Enthusiasts often find that tanks started or supplemented with resurrection jar material become more stable and low-maintenance. Fish show natural foraging behavior, shrimp graze contentedly, and plants benefit from steady nutrient recycling.

In short, a resurrection jar is a simple way to kickstart the “circle of life” in your aquarium—especially in tropical regions like Southeast Asia, where warm weather and diverse local waterways make these mini ecosystems easy to culture.

How to Make a Resurrection Jar (Step-by-Step)

Making a resurrection jar is straightforward and quite fun. It does require a bit of outdoor gathering, but that’s part of the charm—it connects you with the natural waters that your aquarium is trying to imitate.

1. Find a Clean Natural Water Source

Look for:

A pond, slow-moving stream, swamp, or irrigation canal
Away from busy roads, factories, or obvious pollution
With visible life: aquatic plants, insects, small fish, frogs

In Southeast Asia, forest ponds, jungle streams, or rain-fed park ponds can be ideal. Avoid water that has:

An oily sheen
A strong foul or chemical smell
Visible trash or sewage

If you live in the city, a relatively clean public park pond can work, as long as it looks and smells healthy.

Collecting materials from a natural source Wander Within Life

2. Scoop Up Surface Sediment (“Mulm”)

At the water’s edge, gently scoop about 2–3 cm (around 1 inch) of the top layer of sediment from the bottom:

This soft, dark muck is rich in decomposing plant matter.
It contains microorganisms and dormant eggs waiting to hatch.

Use a small plastic container, jar, or scoop. Try not to dig too deep into any very black, smelly, anaerobic mud. You mainly want the softer, brownish layer where leaves are mixing into the mud.

3. Collect Leaf Litter and Plant Debris

Grab a small handful of decaying leaves and plant bits from the same spot:

Partially rotted leaves, seed pods, or small twigs
In tropical regions, this might include banana leaves, palm fronds, or local tree leaves

Great options in Southeast Asia include:

Indian almond (ketapang) leaves – popular for tannins and biofilm
Guava or jackfruit leaves – also commonly used in shrimp tanks
Other dry brown leaves from non-toxic trees

Tips:

Avoid leaves from areas likely to be sprayed with pesticides (e.g. right beside plantations or roadsides).
A quick rinse in pond water is okay, but don’t scrub; you want to keep the natural biofilm and microbes.

4. Fill the Jar with Pond Water

Place the sediment and leaves into your jar (1–2 liters is a good size), then fill it with water from the same source, leaving a bit of air space at the top.

Use a glass or plastic jar with a wide mouth.
The water will look murky at first—that’s normal.

This water is carrying plankton and microbes that will help kickstart the jar.

5. (Optional) Add Aquatic Plants

If allowed and ethical in your area, you can add a small piece of wild aquatic plant, such as:

Duckweed
A small stem of a submerged plant
A bit of algae or moss accidentally scooped with the mud

Plants provide surfaces for microorganisms, help with oxygen, and gently stabilize the jar.

6. Place the Jar in a Warm, Lighted Area

Find a place where the jar will receive indirect sunlight or gentle filtered light:

A windowsill with morning sun
A bright shaded area
Or under a simple lamp with a low-intensity light

Avoid harsh midday tropical sun that can overheat the jar or cause extreme algae blooms.

Cover the jar loosely:

Leave it open, or use a breathable cloth or mesh.
In Southeast Asia, this also helps prevent mosquitoes from breeding in the jar.

7. Observe and Wait (About 2–4 Weeks)

Now comes the patience part.

Over the first few days:

The water may turn cloudy → normal bacterial bloom.

Over the next couple of weeks:

Debris settles to the bottom.
Tiny “specks” or “wigglers” appear.
You may see small crustaceans darting, worms squiggling, or snails on the glass.

A magnifying glass makes this even more fun. Common critters include:

Copepods, ostracods (seed shrimp)
Daphnia or Moina (water fleas)
Detritus worms
Scuds (amphipods)
Tiny snails

We’ll explore these more in the next section.

8. Maintain the Jar

You don’t need to do much. Just:

Check that it smells earthy, like wet soil after rain.
If it smells like rotten eggs, it’s gone too anaerobic:
- Replace a portion of jar water with fresh dechlorinated water or more pond water.
- Add a bit of aquatic plant to help oxygenation.

A light biofilm on the surface is fine, but if it becomes thick and blocks all gas exchange, you can gently stir the surface. Top off evaporation with aged/dechlorinated tap water if needed.

Avoid shaking the jar hard—you don’t want to disturb the layered structure or kill fragile microfauna.

9. Using the Jar in Your Aquarium

After 3–4 weeks, your resurrection jar should be thriving and ready to use. You have a few options:

Option A – Pouring Water Only

Pour a small amount (e.g. ½–1 cup) of jar water into your tank, especially during top-ups.
Try to pour from the upper water layer, not all the sludge at the bottom.

Option B – Transferring Mulm and Leaves

Use a spoon or small net to transfer a bit of mulm or leaf litter to the tank.
Start with a few tablespoons in smaller tanks.

Introduce it slowly:

Add a small amount once a week rather than a big dump once.
This avoids clouding the tank or causing ammonia spikes.

For New Natural Tanks:
If you’re cycling a new dirted or natural tank, you can add jar material from the second week onward. This seeds the substrate, helps cycling, and populates filters and deep layers with microfauna.

For Live Food:
You can also treat one jar as a continuous live food culture:

Pour jar water through a fine mesh to collect daphnia/copepods.
Feed the collected critters to fish.
Keep the jar going with fresh dead leaves or a tiny pinch of spirulina powder.

If you cannot collect from the wild, you can culture a similar jar using:

Store-bought microfauna kits (“Bag of Bugs”, live daphnia, blackworms, infusoria cultures)
Dried leaves and a bit of clean soil as their food base

It won’t have quite the same diversity as wild mud, but it’s still very useful.

Tiny Life in the Jar: Who’s in There and What Do They Do?

A close-up look at the invisible life Wander Within Life

A resurrection jar is basically a hidden world revealed. Here are some of the usual residents and their roles in your aquarium:

Beneficial Bacteria

The foundation of everything:

Colonize every surface: leaves, mulm, glass, substrate.
Nitrifying bacteria convert toxic ammonia → nitrite → nitrate.
Other bacteria break down complex organic matter into plant-usable nutrients.

A healthy detritus layer in your tank is full of these bacteria. The jar simply brings a big starter culture to help your tank become more stable, faster.

Protozoa and Infusoria

Single-celled organisms like Paramecium, Euglena, and tiny rotifers.
Often seen as cloudy water at first; later as tiny specks under magnification.
Excellent first food for fry and shrimplets that are too small for powdered foods.

Resurrection jars are a very natural way to ensure microscopic food is always available in a planted or shrimp tank.

Copepods and Cyclops

Tiny white dots that skitter along surfaces or jerk through the water.
Graze on biofilm, algae, and bacteria.
Serve as snacks for fish fry and dwarf shrimp.

Their presence usually indicates a mature, healthy ecosystem.

Ostracods (Seed Shrimp)

Look like moving sesame seeds with clam-like shells.
Eat decaying plant material and microalgae.
Excellent small live food for fish and shrimplets.

They may multiply well if there’s lots of leaf litter, but in a balanced tank they remain harmless and useful.

Daphnia and Moina (Water Fleas)

Swim in a bouncing motion.
Filter-feed on algae and bacteria.
Helpful for clearing green water; great fish food.

They may not establish long-term in a tank full of hungry fish, but they still provide a short burst of live food and water polishing.

Scuds (Amphipods)

Small, shrimp-like crustaceans that hop and cling to leaves.
Voracious detritus eaters and leaf shredders.
In larger community tanks, they are part of the cleanup crew and occasional snack.

Caution in shrimp-only tanks:

Some keepers report scuds outcompeting shrimp for food or nipping shrimplets.
Others see peaceful coexistence.
If you notice shrimp hiding or stressed with lots of scuds around, consider manually removing scuds.

Detritus Worms and Rhabdocoela Worms

Thin white worms in mulm or along glass.
Detritus worms (annelids) eat decaying matter and help aerate substrate.
Rhabdocoela are tiny flatworms that graze on microfauna and biofilm.

Both are usually harmless and useful. A population explosion is a sign of overfeeding, not a disease.

Snails

Tiny pond or ramshorn snails often hitchhike in.
Eat algae, dead leaves, and leftover food.
Act as cleaners and part of the food web (fish may eat eggs and babies).

They become “pests” mainly when there is too much food. In a controlled, natural tank, they are more of a blessing than a curse.

“Bonus” Critters

Depending on your local waters, you might see:

Springtails on the surface
Aquatic insect larvae (dragonfly, damselfly nymphs)
Hydra (tiny, sticky, anemone-like predators)

These need more attention:

Dragonfly/damselfly nymphs: predatory. Best removed before using jar contents in your tank.
Hydra: can sting fry and shrimplets. A few may be controlled by fish; in shrimp tanks you may want to treat or avoid transferring them.

The vast majority of organisms from a resurrection jar, however, are either neutral or beneficial and together create a more complete food web.

Benefits of Resurrection Jars in Different Aquarium Types

Enjoying the food web created by the jar Wander Within life

1. Shrimp Tanks: Endless Snacks and Cleaner Water

Shrimp such as Neocaridina and Caridina love biofilm and tiny critters. A resurrection jar helps by:

Providing constant natural food – biofilm on leaves, infusoria, small crustaceans.
Boosting survival of shrimplets – they always find microscopic food on leaf litter.
Improving water quality – worms and micro-crustaceans eat leftover food and detritus, preventing fouling.
Strengthening biological filtration – more bacteria means more stability and gentler parameter changes.

If you want to see how I keep this stable long-term, here’s the full setup: Shrimp that thrive naturally (Neocaridina tank setup).

Possible hitchhikers to watch in shrimp tanks:

Planaria (triangle-headed flatworms) – can harm shrimplets if overpopulated.
Hydra – stinging tentacles that can catch baby shrimp.
Scuds – possibly competitive in very small, shrimp-only tanks.

If these appear:

Reduce feeding; they thrive on excess food.
Consider shrimp-safe treatments (e.g. fenbendazole for planaria/hydra, used carefully).
Manually remove problematic critters when seen.

With reasonable caution, the pros for shrimp tanks usually far outweigh the cons. Many shrimp keepers report bigger, healthier colonies after seeding with wild microfauna and regularly adding pre-soaked leaves.

2. Planted Tanks: Natural Fertilizer and Less Algae

A planted tank with leaf litter and microfauna is like an underwater forest floor:

Nutrient Recycling
- Dead leaves and fish waste are shredded by worms and crustaceans.
- Bacteria break them down into nitrates, phosphates, and trace elements.
- Plants feed on this slow-release “compost” in the substrate.
Cleaner Substrate, Less Algae
- Microfauna graze on algae films and biofilm.
- A balanced tank often has algae, but not in overwhelming amounts.
Reduced Maintenance
- Less need to vacuum substrate aggressively (in dirted tanks, you usually don’t).
- Water changes can often be smaller and less frequent, as plants and microbes handle much of the nutrient load.

This style suits natural, “jungle” or biotope-style aquascapes. If you aim for a pristine competition-style scape with no visible detritus or snails, resurrection jars are less aligned with that look.

3. Natural Community Tanks: A Self-Sustaining Food Web

Even in a simple community tank with just fish and a few plants, a resurrection jar can:

Provide ongoing live food
- Guppies, tetras, bettas, gouramis and many others happily graze on copepods, seed shrimp, and worms.
- This improves nutrition, colour, and breeding readiness.
Encourage Natural Behavior
- Fish spend more time foraging, hunting tiny prey, and exploring.
- This can reduce stress and boredom-related aggression.
Help Manage Waste and Spikes
- Microfauna and snails clean up missed food and detritus.
- The system becomes more forgiving if you skip a water change or slightly overfeed.

It’s a quiet way of shifting the tank from being a glass box that you constantly “fix” to a small ecosystem that largely regulates itself.

Collection Tips for Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, etc.)

Southeast Asia is rich in warm, biodiverse waters—but also has pollution hotspots. A few local-minded tips:

Choose Cleaner Sites

Prefer:

Forest reserves, hill streams, rain-fed ponds, rural lakes
Irrigation canals only if you’re confident there’s minimal pesticide use

Avoid:

Ditches with sewage smell
Waters near heavy industry
Obvious trash or dead fish

A good sign: clear or tea-coloured water, visible plants, insects, and small fish.

Timing and Personal Safety

Collect a day or two after good rain, when water is refreshed but not in flood.
Morning is cooler and often calmer.
Be aware of local wildlife (snakes, crocodiles in some regions). Don’t wade into risky waters.

Leaf Choices in the Tropics

Great leaf options:

Indian almond (ketapang)
Guava
Jackfruit
Dried banana leaves (break down faster, but usable)
Other dry, brown hardwood leaves that aren’t resinous or strongly aromatic

Avoid:

Eucalyptus, pine, or very resinous/oily leaves
Leaves that look moldy or treated

Avoiding Invasive and Harmful Species

Watch out for:

Apple snails (bright pink egg clumps) – very destructive to plants.
Large insect larvae (dragonfly/damselfly) – best kept in the jar, not in your shrimp tank.
Fast-spreading floating plants like water hyacinth or giant salvinia – okay in a jar, but don’t release them back into nature and manage them in your tank.

If you accidentally net small fish or tadpoles, gently return them to the water. They don’t belong in a jar or home aquarium.

Hygiene

Some tropical waters can carry human pathogens:

Wear gloves if you have cuts on your hands.
Wash hands and feet after contact.
Keep children from directly drinking or handling jar water.

Once at home, basic aquarium hygiene (wash hands after working in tanks/jars) is enough for most people.

Transport and Quarantine

Use a sturdy container with a lid; keep it shaded during transport.
Don’t let it overheat in a parked car.

Optional “extra-safe” approach:

Culture the jar for 2–3 months before using it in your display tank.
Observe what appears and disappears over time.
You can add a test snail to see if it thrives.

Take only small amounts from nature—a few handfuls of mud and leaves and a liter or two of water are plenty.

Limitations and Risks (and How to Minimize Them)

Resurrection jars are powerful tools, but not magic solutions. It helps to be aware of their limitations.

1. Unwanted “Hitchhikers”

Potential issues:

Planaria
Hydra
Leeches
Predatory insect larvae

Mitigation:

Use the jar as a quarantine/observation zone.
Inspect the glass regularly; remove visible hydra or large larvae with tweezers.
When pouring into the tank, pour through a fine net or cloth to block bigger critters.
Avoid overfeeding your tank, as pests boom on excess food.
If something does slip into the tank, targeted treatments and manual removal are available.

2. Parasites and Disease

Any wild collection carries some disease risk, though it’s lower when there are no fish in the jar.

To reduce risk:

Avoid collecting from waters with clearly sick or dying fish.
Seed new tanks before fish are added, giving any fish-specific parasites time to die off without a host.
For high-value fish, you can first seed a quarantine tank and observe.
If very cautious, transfer only netted microfauna (like daphnia) rather than raw water.

In practice, many hobbyists use resurrection jars for years without disease outbreaks, but caution is still wise.

3. Water Quality Spikes and Algae Blooms

Dumping a full jar of muck into a small tank can:

Cause a temporary ammonia spike
Make the water cloudy
Introduce green water if your jar is full of algae

Prevention:

Add small amounts gradually (weekly or fortnightly).
Mostly pour off clearer water from above the sediment, not the entire sludge.
Strain water through a cloth or net if you want fewer particulates.
If a bloom happens:
- Do partial water changes
- Add fast-growing plants
- In stubborn green water, a short run of UV can help (optional).

4. Inconsistent Results

Nature isn’t factory-controlled:

One jar might be rich in daphnia, another mostly worms.
In a fish-heavy tank, some critters will be eaten faster than they can reproduce.

How to work with this:

Run more than one jar if you want a steady supply of certain microfauna.
Provide refuge in the tank: dense plants, moss, leaf litter, and nooks in the substrate.
Accept that much of the action is invisible—critters may hide in substrate or filter media but still benefit the system.

5. Time and “Messy” Aesthetic

Natural tanks:

Take weeks to months to mature.
Often have visible detritus, a bit of algae, and tannin-tinted water.

For some aquarists, this looks “messy”; for others, it looks alive.

Mindset shift:

See leaf litter and biofilm as part of the ecosystem, not as failure.
You can still gently tidy or polish water if you like, but aim for balance, not sterility.
Treat the jar as a slow project—something to watch and learn from, not a quick fix.

6. Overconfidence in “No Maintenance”

A natural tank can reduce work, but not eliminate it.

You still need to:

Avoid overstocking and overfeeding.
Observe your animals’ behavior and health.
Do occasional water changes to remove things the ecosystem can’t process (e.g. certain minerals, hormones).
Test parameters occasionally, especially early on.

Think of the resurrection jar as a helper, not a full replacement for good husbandry.

Conclusion: Becoming a Gardener of a Tiny World

A resurrection jar invites us to change how we see our aquariums.

Instead of fighting nature with constant cleaning, dosing, and correcting, we collaborate with it. We bring in bacteria, microfauna, plants, and soil, then give them space and time to do the work they evolved to do. The aquarium slowly becomes more than glass and water; it turns into a miniature ecosystem.

For aquarists in Indonesia, Malaysia, and across Southeast Asia, this approach also connects you with your local environment. The same fallen leaves and rain-fed waters that nourish wild streams and rice paddies can quietly support the little world in your living room.

In practice, resurrection jars can:

Improve animal welfare through cleaner water and natural food
Strengthen ecosystem balance and stability
Reduce maintenance over time
Offer endless chances to observe, learn, and gently adjust

It’s not always neat, and it’s not instant—but that’s part of the beauty. You’ll likely find yourself spending more time simply watching your tank, noticing small interactions and new critters, and less time wrestling with algae or chasing “perfect” numbers.

A resurrection jar doesn’t solve everything, but it does something more interesting: it pours life into your aquarium. From there, with a calm and patient approach, you can guide that life into a thriving, self-supporting world.

Happy fishkeeping, and may your tanks quietly flourish.

Related posts (if you want to go deeper):
• Biofilm in aquariums: how it forms and why it matters
• Natural shrimp tank – Neocaridina

Sources

Wander Within Life

Wednesday, December 17, 2025