ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Zagone]

So I was doing some thinking... And since there's allready a Substitutus thread here, I figured I could ask in here.

Right now, I'm pretty content with my ants, but in the fututre, I'm certainly planning on expanding my collection.

So I figure in about a year from now, I'll have accumulated a small fortune whcih I''m planning to spend on ants. (i.e I'm planning to put away alittle moeny now and then for future ant setup).

Substitutus is the species I've decided for for now.

I was thinking of having a 60x30x20 basin for them, and attach this to a y-tong nest.

So basically my questions are these:

1) What kind of areas are these ants naturally found in? Soil conditions and flora etc.
2) I read that I need to keep these ants in proper humidity, so I'm wondering if a small
fogger/mister is over-kill for the comparatively small basin I've chosen?
3) Antstore also recommend these ants need "air" which I assume means I need to make sure I have fans or an air pump. So I'm wondering if it's necessary to have the complete fan setups, or is air-pumps like you use in aquariums sufficient? Or are there other reasons to chose one over the other?
4) And lastly, am I reading too much into this species? Do I really need all these things for these to live well?

Thanks in advance!

[SteveUK28]

lol mine have a small ytong connected to an icecream tub... with a heat mat against one side of the ytong.. and that is it.. and they are doing brilliant.. so id have to say.. No u dont need all that stuff at all.

[Zagone]

But what I want is a setup that looks good and will last.

So yeah. For instance I don't wanna have to spray it with water every now and then etc.

[SteveUK28]

As long as your ytong has a leg system you'd be fine.. and it would last a fair old while.. just make sure you make it expandable.

[Zagone]

Yeah, I was planning to amke or buy 3/4 way connectors if I need to add more basins or nests.

And about the spraying I meant mainly for the basin.

So for an aesthetic purpose, is a mister too much for a small(60x30x20) basin, or is it adjustable?

[SteveUK28]

i honesly couldnt say.. Im guessing your gonna be putting sand into the basin then?? If you are then you want to be carefull they dont try and nest in the basin. my basins never have anything in them tbh.

[Zagone]

Well, I relaly want it to look good, and I'm planning to make sure they don't nest in the basin by forming hills and valleys with filtercotton, which makes it so I only need to put a thin layer of sand so even if they try to nest there, they'll soon find it's not as ideal as the y-tong. And if not the filtercotton I'd use some other means of forming the terrain in the basin that makes it unsuitable for nesting ,even though it looks good.

But since you mention sand it bring me back to their natural enviornement. Anyone got a clue what kind of ground they'd normall live around? I'm assuming something along the lines of soil and humus mixture maybe. I know it doens't amtter much to them, but I want it to look good.

I know of a very good type of sand that is hard for them to make tunnels in, because it collapses,
but I'd prefer to use soil if that's what they'd normally walk on.