ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Hauntedhavoc]

i want to start an ant farm. a proper one not ant works as i found out that it a waste of time and money, much to my dismay. (have already freed the ants after two days after finding this website)

basically i want Lasius niger as i've been reading that they are quite ideal for begginers

how do i start of a colony and how big should i grow the colony in a test tube

what tank/kit do i get, and how do i prepare it (from start to finish as i have no idea how to do anything)

basically i have no idea where to begin. and would appreciate the help. sorry for being a noob lol

also dont want to spend and excesive amount of money as im saving up for a new bass amp and a holiday lol

[jeoff82]

Take the gel out the antworks fill it with sand and use that.

[Zagone]

Lasius niger can live a pretty long time in their test-tubes, I've heard of people not moving them to a proper ant-farm until they've reached around 100 workers.

[Hauntedhavoc]

so basically use the antworks as a nest (just get rid of the gel) and build a outworld?

also do i fill it with jsut sand or do i use a certain mixture?

or something like plaster?

also do i buy a queen with some workers. or do i wait till summer to go and catch one or two?
what happens next spring? will i have to get a new queen? do i have to let this one go to mate?

i have no idea. how do i keep the colony growing?

[highered]

You really are a begainner aren't you?
You could wait until this summer to catch one locally, but then you have to wait longer for a colony. You would also catch a load of them as some aren't fertile and there is no way to tell which one is which. Also don't keep Lasius queens together as the workers will eventually kill all but one or all of them.
I would advise buying a colony from an antshop with as many workers as possible.
You would use soil or sand from your garden, (not your sandpit) but I prefer to use Antstore's sand and loam mix, it is sand that has already been mixed with loam so that ants can dig in it.
To make sure that your colony keeps growing you need to feed protein (freshly killed insects) at least once a week, but as often as possible, once a day if possible. (Remove uneaten food after 24 hours). Don't forget to feed sugarry foods like jam, say twice a month at first.
Hope this helps.

[Hauntedhavoc]

ok so ive kinda got to grips with that bit. if i use my ant works farm (without the gel) as a starter nest. how do i keep it moist. i intend to use sand and loam mix.

i know i will have to modify the actuall container itself so i can add an out world to it. would modifing it futher to add a water test tube be the right corse of action or what?

sorry for the really noobish questions. like i said i know next to nothing lol

[jeoff82]

You could just put a few drops of water on top of the sand, it doesnt need to be really wet tho. With my ant works, I filled it up with sharp sand and drilled a small hole in the side near the top. I brought some rubber tubing from my local pet shop and ran the tube from the ant work to a seperate area where they can feed. You can then add food to this area without distburbing the main nest. Tuperware boxes from Tesco etc can be used as feeding areas and you can connect as many up as you want with some tubing, and they are cheap.

[Hauntedhavoc]

im sort of starting to understand now. for water could i use a small bit of tube with cotton wool in going from the bottom side of the ant works to another tube of water?

if so i've got a shed load (i don't actually have a shed, more used as a metaphor lol ) of tubing and tupaware laying around

sort of like this? its bad drawing was doing it quickly