ANTSTORE World of Ants

[thave]

I just cant figure out how often you have to make your "cage" wet. I am going to get my first ant colonie. (Lasius niger) I am afraid that if i dont make the ground wet, the ants wont be able to dig.
I am going to purchase this starter kit: https://www.antstore.net/shop/en/starte ... -1993.html

Pls help !!! <3

[baumarkthammer]

Hello thave,

the arena does not need to be kept moist, however the farm needs.
You simply fill the farm bottom with the loamy granulate (the red one) and then insert the tube into it vertically. Onto that you fill the rest of the soil.
When you want to moisten the ground for the ants you fill water into the tube and the red granulate absorbs it.

By wetting the red loamy granulate at the bottom you ensure that the whole farm will be moist enough for your ants. You don't need to do this very often, the ground absorbs lots of water and the farm can stay moist enough for up to two months but repeating every 3-4 weeks brings the best results in my experience, however that may vary.

Regards,
Kaj.

[pristic89]

Hello,

I have a slightly different problem, but includes granulate as well. I have purchased a 20x10cm nest & arena combined formicarium at Antstore.
The nesting part was prepared as described in the "How to". Now my problem is with ants emptying out the granulate from the bottom - removing the moisturizing element from the nest!

I really don't know what to do right now, because I cannot use the straw for putting in the water as I will drown the ants.. I noticed the two side holes on the side of the nest leading into the arena are too low, so basically ants enter through those holes directly on the granulate.

Please advise!

Thanks
Pristic

[Serafine]

Just give them a water test tube. This gives them an easy-to-access water source and a nesting spot if the farm dries out.
A small ant colony (<100-300 workers) shouldn't be in a nest anyway.

[pristic89]

Hi,

I have a water test tube inside as well. I currently have somewhere 50 - 100 ants.

What happens when the numbers increase?

Thanks for answering
pristic

[Serafine]

Well, if there are so many ants that they completely fill the tube you can always add additional tubes but I think they're probably ready to move into a larger nest by then.

[Adam91]

Hello thave,

the arena does not need to be kept moist, however the farm needs.
You simply fill the farm bottom with the loamy granulate (the red one) and then insert the tube into it vertically. Onto that you fill the rest of the soil.
When you want to moisten the ground for the ants you fill water into the tube and the red granulate absorbs it.
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By wetting the red loamy granulate at the bottom you ensure that the whole farm will be moist enough for your ants. You don't need to do this very often, the ground absorbs lots of water and the farm can stay moist enough for up to two months but repeating every 3-4 weeks brings the best results in my experience, however that may vary.

Regards,
Kaj.

Thank you very much