barnettgs: Received Lasius Niger ants with farm setup... (11. Mai 2005 15:11)

Pleased to receive them today! The worker ants looked tiny, nice to see something that doesn't exisit in N Ireland! The Queen looked fine.

I got 500ml of sand, 250ml of loam and 250ml clay, are these enough for Ant Display Standard? Just checking, they seemed to be not enough in my eyes.

However, I didn't have time to fill up the display today but I have put in tiny piece of apple & a drop of honey/water/sugar in Ant box and put in tube inside it for a while until I get the time to fill up the ant display standard this weekend. Should they be ok until this weekend then?

Thanks!

uta: (11. Mai 2005 19:18)

Hello barnettgs,

fine, that you got today the package with the accessoieres and ants.

I got 500ml of sand, 250ml of loam and 250ml clay, are these enough for Ant Display Standard? Just checking, they seemed to be not enough in my eyes.

I think, it's enough!

However, I didn't have time to fill up the display today but I have put in tiny piece of apple & a drop of honey/water/sugar in Ant box and put in tube inside it for a while until I get the time to fill up the ant display standard this weekend. Should they be ok until this weekend then?

it's okay.

Now, I hope, you have fun with the ants.

greetings from Berlin,
Uta :sun02:

barnettgs: (12. Mai 2005 23:17)

Thanks, I have done filled up the display. I have just put water in moisture tube now, the water is going down so should I add more water? I have realised that I don't know if I should fill up whole tube with water or just fill in water when it needs?

Thanks

Stefan_K: (13. Mai 2005 09:09)

Hi barnettgs,

fill in some water and wait for the water to be soaked up by the sand. Then fill some more water so that the whole sand gets wet.

Only fill water in small steps - don't fill too much water at the same time. The sand needs some time to soak up the water completely.

:)

Stefan

barnettgs: (13. Mai 2005 09:17)

Thanks, I understand. I didn't know about this.

I am having problem with sand/loam in display, they get cracked leaving some gaps in display after filling water. Is it to do with too much water?

How long should whole sand/loam get soaked? I have no idea as there is no information on this.

Thanks

Stefan_K: (13. Mai 2005 09:21)

The cracks might be caused by the fact that there's too much loam in your sand/loam mixture.

The colour of the sand/loam mix will change where it is soaked with water. Its much darker compared to areas that are still dry. So, carefully fill water in, wait a while for the water to be soaked, then fill some more water so that the whole sand/loam mix gets wet. But don't flood it. ;)

Stefan

barnettgs: (13. Mai 2005 09:29)

I understand. I had two boxes of sand and one box of loam, they all mixed throughly in a big box.

There are crack on half way to the top but the large right/top is still dry. I'm going to add some water.

About the crack, nothing else I can do about it apart from adding the water?

I'm going to put in a link to my photo in 5 mins to show you what it's like.

Cheers

barnettgs: (13. Mai 2005 09:41)

Here's the picture link:

Photo

barnettgs: (13. Mai 2005 11:04)

Hmmm...I'm waiting for a reply. I don't know whether to carry on or take it out and start again? I just want to get it sorted as soon as possible.

Cheers

Stefan_K: (13. Mai 2005 12:06)

I would slightly shake it so that the cracks get filled with sand again.

As far as I can tell from my experiences: a mixture of 2:1 (sand:loam) is not the best. I always did a 3:1 or even a 4:1 mixture - that worked great for me...

Since the sand mix shrinks when it gets wet, you can fill some more sand on top.

Stefan

One note: since I am not on-line all the day, please do not expect answers to your questions within a few minutes only. This is not my job here - I'm a moderator only - beside my regular job. ;)

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