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Riffshooter: Formica sanguinea nest material (10. Sep 2012 21:22)

Would using a sand loam mixture be suitable for this species? It says so on the store page however i know in the wild they build mounds with pines needles.

Cheers for any help

mati: Re: Formica Sanguinea nest material (10. Sep 2012 22:01)

Hello Riffshooter and welcome to the forum.
I keep this species as well and use either gypsum nests or sandy loam. A couple of month back I added a nest-pond with sand and they love it.
I'm not sure about your German skills but I think you can see from the pictures already that the pond contains rather sandy material than sandy loam. I also added some chipped wood which they collect and integrate in their nest structures when building.
Good luck with your ants, they are marvelous creatures and always active.
Regards,
mati

Riffshooter: Re: Formica Sanguinea nest material (11. Sep 2012 01:07)

Thanks for the reply Mati, I was wondering whether or not a slim ant farm filled with sand loam would be suitable for them, what would your opinion be having kept the species yourself?

mati: Re: Formica sanguinea nest material (11. Sep 2012 08:03)

Mmh. Please pardon my being a tat reluctant here. I WOULD say it should suffice. Yet, I never kept them in an actual ant-farm since I always had them in a nest pond which is a bit larger.
What would "slim" mean? one cm, or two? In any case my advice would be to consider suitable sizes for your connection tubes as well. (I use 27cm openings.)
I would recommend contacting customer support, they should have more experience with farm sizes (and watering those for that matter).
Sorry I couldn't be of more help here.