ANTSTORE World of Ants

[irishantman]

Hi everyone, I am just starting out with ant keeping and have a few questions. I have decided to keep Lasius niger in an Antstore starter kit including out world and this is the question, I want to use natural sand in the out world which I bought in a plant store sometime ago. It is sold for use with potted plants and is a hard grainy texture even though the box states it is natural sand. I am wondering if it is safe to use with the ants or could there be some chemical in the sand that may have negative effects on them? Would appreciate any advice or opinions on this. Thanks

[jbc]

Welcome to our community. If it is said that the sand is "natural" sand then the risk of harmful chemicals in it is lower. But to be sure maybe you should read whats said on the label, what kind of chemicals are there. And the size of your desired starter kit would be...?

[irishantman]

Hi jbc thanks for your reply. The size of the outworld is 20 x10 x 10cm. Unfortunately there is no label as such, just printed on the lid of the jar are the words natural sand. It is very grainy and hard and feels more like tiny pebbles really and would look really good in the outworld. I guess it is not worth taking the risk though, would rather use safe sand from AntStore than risk harming my ants. I will probably use it for decor in a plant display or something. Thanks again for advice.

[Niallr2012]

What part of Ireland you from?

[General1977]

Hi,

Can´t u wash it out? I mean if your sand is more like pebbles then the interior of the material is no danger to ur ants. So take a bucket and wash it out with boiling hot water a couple of times and you should be good to go. I realy don´t think you are taking a risk the way it is anyway if the soil is sold as "natural" no company would not take the risk to have chemicals in it to harm any biological matter. I seriously would´nt worry that much ants living in the city have far greater problems living with chemicals. I, for example use regular sand found in any sandbox mixed with 1mm aquarium pebbles wich can be bought in many colors. Of course for safety reasons I wash it out aswell but I don´t need to. Anyway your ants should still be in hypernation so you have 2 or 3 weeks left before your outland needs to be ready, thats enough time to wash your soil and let it dry out again.

[irishantman]

That is a good suggestion General I think I will try that out. The boiling water would wash away most chemicals I imagine. Yes you are right my ants are still hibernating but I like to plan ahead that's why I'm working on a formicarium for them. For the guy who asked what part of Ireland I'm from, i'm from Meath. Take care guys