Vivariums, Terrariums and Paludariums my dude.

A blog by a college student that loves creating vivariums, but can't afford to do so. Pictures are not mine (even if I wish they were) unless stated; that being said, the header photo with the horrifically dirty glass is mine!

[chasingcoyotes]

yo sometimes i just forget leafy sea dragons exist and just

i share a planet with these funky little men?? i feel HONORED

[sabertoothwalrus]

sometimes I think about how red is the first color in the visible light spectrum to be absorbed in ocean water

and how many deep-sea creatures evolved to be red as a stealth adaptation, making them near invisible when there’s little to no light present

and it makes me think. If there’s never any visible light present in these animals’ lifetimes, if no ROV shines a little flashlight in depths that would otherwise not have light, would these animals ever get the opportunity to actually be red? that might be a stupid question.

imagine being a little deep sea creature and having no idea you’re red until something comes along and shines a light on you except you still wouldn’t be able to tell because you’re probably colorblind. anyway. I don’t know where I was going with this post

[sabertoothwalrus]

Is color relative? Or inherent? Or both???

Like is color physiological and determined by the shape of whatever pigment cells that will always absorb certain wavelengths and reflect others?

or is color meaningless if there’s no light to absorb and reflect?

Is it completely relative because the way we percieve color is subjective, how even within our own species there are so many different kinds of ways people can observe color?

makes you think

[bogleech]

Red light doesn’t make it to the deep ocean from the sun, but that doesn’t mean red light doesn’t exist at that depth!

The stomiidae, which include the viperfish, dragonfish, and loosejaws, are one example of a deep sea animal that evolved to perceive and produce red light because it isn’t naturally present in their environment and most other organisms never hit on that adaptation. In most of this group, tiny red lights can be switched on and off throughout their skin to communicate with their own kind in secret. More threateningly, some of them have high-powered “floodlights” of pure red just beneath their eyes; almost no other deep sea fish emit actual BEAMS of light to illuminate what they’re looking at because that’d make them a shining beacon to every larger predator in the area, but since it’s red, the only risk ends up coming from their fellow red-light hunters and those remain just uncommon enough to be worth the chance. In many members of this group, most of all the loosejaws (hence the name), almost the entire skull can naturally detach from the rest of the body on specialized stalks at lightning speed so that their long, hooked jaws can grab prey in an instant, almost the same exact motion as the arm of a preying mantis:

If you were a little fish in this scenario you would see absolutely nothing but darkness around you and possibly feel pretty safe, because maybe you’ve evolved to blend in perfectly with the surrounding void and you can’t see any blue or yellow or green lights coming to get you. You have no idea that there’s been a spotlight right on you all along until its owner’s face flies off to impale you and shove you whole into its giant throat all in less than half of a second :)

[byasuga]

someone explain why deep sea creatures are so fucking scary like is there a logical reason was god like hey that’s deep and dark so I shall create absolutely terrifying creatures who will haunt humans in their dreams

[bogleech]

Think about the predators up here on land; bigger eyes, longer teeth and bigger mouths. We know these things indicate something that can harm us, or stalk us in the dark. Now you multiply that the farther you go down the ocean. If it’s darker, then they need bigger eyes. If it’s a LOT darker, then their eyes need more and more specialized anatomy nothing could ever possibly need up here in the sun, so by necessity they do not have the kind of eyes we know:

And food is so far between, the predators need even longer teeth, to make sure those rare meals they encounter really can’t escape:

And because it’s dark AND food is scarce, they need big, expandable jaws and bodies that are almost all stomach, to guarantee they can take advantage of more meals and don’t have too much more body to have to nourish:

effervescent c:

[seafoodmomma-deactivated2021121]

I think there’s a lot more to it than just ‘big teeth and eyes’. I think it’s that adaptations for the dark in general are unnerving.These creatures don’t HIDE their teeth. Most creatures have their teeth protected and concealed, but deep sea fish don’t. Not only are they large, but they are on constant display. On top of this, due to the oppressive pressure the consistency of their bodies is often unnerving and alien. It really is their ‘otherness’ that makes us feel like we see something we shouldn’t have. 

The scariest deep sea creature isn’t even a monster with big teeth and eyes. 

Meet the Flying Spaghetti Monster. A siphonophore. 

I think it speaks for itself. 

[themarchingbeetle]

By Godswhisper on twitter

[adelicateculturecell]

“We also got a question wanting to know whether James has discovered something that’s not just new to him, but new to science. And it turns out he has! He found this ciliate a few months ago and couldn’t identify it, so he contacted some scientists working on this group of organisms. There are reports of similar species from the 1930s, but so far no description matches what he’s found. So James is working on trying to culture them and maybe do some genomic analysis, and hopefully he’ll get to write a paper and name the organism. If he gets to do that, we might even ask you all tho pitch some ideas!“

Journey to the Microcosmos- Why Did We Start This Channel? (And Other Questions You’ve Been Asking)

Images Originally Captured by Jam’s Germs

[pastrygeckos]

She hold own hand

[geopsych]

I got a surprise for Valentines Day! I hope I can keep it alive for a few years. I need to learn how to repot orchids.

[m--ood-deactivated20181217]

This is how far into the earth humans have dug so far.

[jumpingjacktrash]

perspective

[theeldritchbeesechurger]

oh my god

[frnkieroismydaddy]

Scienceeee

[arc-gx]

Minecraft needs to expand build height a bit

[catchymemes]

[amalgamationofspirits-deactivat]

These tags!!!! Yes!!! 1,000,000 times yes!!

[milky-mami]

WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE THOSE IN THE TAGS

[scalestails]

Look at this big ass crab at work.

[geopsych]

The lake’s edge.

[gay-irl]

Gay📑Irl

[eilti]

[random-shit-writing]

[a-rory-borealis]

Link the essay tho

[geopsych]

[matchagirl]

sorry but if your bed isn’t against at least one wall you’re not valid

[heartsdesire456]

I used to think this post was stupid because most people like both sides of the bed free but then I realized some psychopaths put their bed like this so not even the headboard is against a wall and this post is about these animals.

[ranger-truth]

A single person’s bed is generally against 2 walls, a couple’s bed is generally against 1 wall, and people with 0 walls have no fear of the dark/unseen with direct access to their head, and therefore cannot be human.

[unnonexistence]

ok the bed just out in the middle of the room is bad but have you considered: only the footboard end against a wall

[crumplelush]

no i hadn’t. why would you put that image into my head?

[aceofsquiddles]

[demansiabites]

Okay, but how is this

[time-traveling-fetus]

[dashbork]

I’m at a loss for words

[pyramidschemeofthesun]

This was the bed of Thomas Jefferson. 

[froginakettle]

STay out of my study unless you intend to have sex with me

[everythingfox]

Weird looking dog

(via)

[useful-creature]

This is a fucking Gaboon Viper.

[betta-every-day]

Water Puppy 🥺🐶🥺

[whywolfprincess]

The Chihiros WRGB II makes such an intense light in RL, but I need to adjust it a bit. It is is still a bit too red especially on pictures, even if the red swimming plant is too blame, too.

Also because I have hardly any green plants in this tank left.

The old RGB for comparison. A steady 3600K always looks nice. Will lean towards this more natural colours again, I thinkm

Fish and shrimp colours look amazing though.

[cottagelf]

Came across this fallen Chaffinch nest, fortunately fallen before any eggs laid it seems. Absolutely gorgeous nests