ANTSTORE World of Ants

[bigbibble]

I have a tank that needs filling for my new ants but i dont have enough money for the sand/loam mix. Is there any home made things i could use? Also it is an antstore tub, how high should i fill it? Thanks!

[JimmyVe]

Maybe you can by some sand in your local pet shop. Make sure it is sterile. Which species are you going to keep in there ?

[bigbibble]

i am hoppefully going to keep Camponotus ligniperda.

=> edit Mod
Post from 3:32pm

whats better ligniperda or herculeanus?

[tail__]

What means "better ant"? They are very similar, lingiperdus is a little bigger. Both make nests in dead wood and I don't think the sand and loam nest would be good for them.

[miszt]

Soil or Peat is excellent for keeping ants in recomend you put it in a Blender first to make it very fine, but it works well, only reason people use Sand is coz it shows the ants up better, but for a big species, this doesnt matter to much

[bigbibble]

cheers miszt i have some potting soil would that work? Also could they dig in something like play sand or even compost?

[Skippy]

Yes ligniperda and herculeanus are similar but queens are different ... ligniperda is a bit bigger.
Ligniperda in soil? , I think , for this ant is better to keep it in some nice decoration wooden nest or ytong nest ... but in soil hmm , they live in soil only under stones

[miszt]

I've yet to find a forest that has sand instead of soil skippy lol

[Skippy]

no ? ... I know about forest in Slovakia where is big concetration of sand and it looks like desert in summer

[Phasmid]

I have my colony in a large tank so they have loads of nesting and foraging space. This is with a peat and sand mix and they are very happy in there.

[badman]

I have herculaneus and ligniperda in sand/loam. They are similar in appearance but not in behaviour. The ligniperda queen has a much arger gastor and looks less badass than the herculaneus queen. But the ligniperda are easier to keep and more active.