Man turned a pregnancy test into a tiny aquarium. 30 days later, it was teeming with life
Kaan Yaracikli added copepods, a sea shrimp, and, accidentally, a water mite, which was predatory.
Building anything from scratch can be a fun and rewarding project, but creating a mini aquarium inside a pregnancy test takes creativity and experimentation to a whole new level. Kaan Yakacikli (@kaaaaaaann) may be the very first person to say he did it. On November 8, 2026, he shared a YouTube video in which he created a 7 ml, half-inch-deep aquarium tank. The goal was to keep the ecosystem alive for 30 days. The video has garnered 386,645 views, more than 8,400 likes, and 536 comments.
Half-inch aquarium
Yakacikli had built an aquarium to keep on his bedside table to help him sleep. He also built an aquarium inside a lightbulb. Now, he wanted to create the tiniest aquarium he's ever made inside a pregnancy test. The "tank" held less than two teaspoons of water, but he was determined to keep the ecosystem alive for a month. He began by taking the pregnancy test apart and removing all the electronics from it.
Then, he made all the necessary cuts inside to make space for the ecosystem. He filled it with some soil and bark to give it a more realistic look, then secured it using aquarium-safe silicone. He waited two weeks for the silicone to dry before he could test it to see if it was waterproof. Thankfully, there were no leaks. Otherwise, he would have to start the process again from square one.
'Cars from a tall building'
The next step was to fill the tank and decorate it. Yaracikli drew 7 ml of water from his bedside aquarium and filled the pregnancy test. He took some sand from the same aquarium and added plants such as pearlweed, water pelia, java fern, and java moss. He added a few hammered-down pumice rocks and used a dollhouse light to brighten the tank. Then it was time to add in the organisms, but since the tank was extremely small, he had to go to his local suburban lake to find the "moving dots" that he needed. He ended up adding copepods, a sea shrimp, and a water mite, which was a predator.
Seven days later, Yaracikli checked his tank and was pleased to see the organisms swimming around. He could also see bits of microscopic life. After 30 days, he checked the tank again and saw a layer of biofilm and algae on it. Surprisingly, the copepods and water mites were still alive. But there were also hundreds of microorganisms floating in the water. He used a microscope to get a better look and described what he saw as "looking at a highway of cars from a tall building." He added, "It's cool to think this world we're looking at right now came from a tiny drop of water. It's amazing to see this much life persist in such an unassuming object."
Scientific hobbies
There are 8.3 billion people in the world today, and each has their own unique interests and hobbies. A 2017 Pew Research Center survey discovered that only 18% of American adults had science-related hobbies. Of these, 5% were interested in environment and nature-related activities, while only 1% were interested in science experiments and research. Since very few people were interested in science-related hobbies, Yakacikli kept mentioning that he might be the first person to ever "[engineer] a pregnancy test to hold an aquarium."
Another 2019 Ipsos survey found that 88% of respondents felt happy after successfully completing a creative project. 79% reported that they enjoyed the process of making something from scratch.
'Original thoughts'
Viewers were extremely impressed by Yakacikli's creation. @clonoyoudidnt commented, "I guess we genuinely do still have original thoughts." @HackerBilly13 chimed in, "Damn. Never thought I'd see the day a pregnancy test got pregnant with life."
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