ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Azzer]

Hello, I would like to start an ant colony (I live in the UK), and would like to order, well, everything I need from one place!

I know no German, so find it very hard browsing the site, and so would like some help/advice on which items to purchase.

Firstly, I would like a "Lasius niger" colony.

For a start, I need the basic ant-farm itself. I'd like a large but "thin" one that can handle a decent sized colony and allow me to view most of the tunnels easily. Is the "Ameisenfarm Delux" (490 x 220 mm) going to be large enough for this? Is there much difference between this and the "Formicarium Highland"?

Would it be possible to combine two ant-farms using some of the plastic tubes in "Building material"? Would a single colony utilise a second "ant-farm" at all?

What accessories do I need for the ant-farm? Do I need any of the "Outbreak safety" products (some kind of fine gauze/mesh)?

Which of the "Antfarms accessories" items are recommended? I'll break that question down in to sections;
* Which of the "Ground" products should I use for Lazius Niger? How many/how much do I need to fill the above ant-form to a sensible amount?
* Which of the ventilation/moistening/temperature products should I get? My room can be fairly warm, stuffy, and dry. The location would probably never get direct sunlight (but would get plenty of daylight). What should I get, and is it easy to use/figure out?
* Will I be able to use the infra-red light ("InfraRed Strahler") to observe the ants clearly without "disturbing" them?

Finally, food. What would I be able to feed the ants regularly that would be easy for me to obtain? How often would I feed them, and with how much? Is any of the food products available on the site recommended for lasius niger, perhap sjust to "start them off" in early days until their colony is well established? Is feeding them easy (do I need to open something up that might allow ants to escape when I feed them?). What about water? The same questions regarding water apply - how often, how much, and might some ants try to escape when I provide the water? Are there any of the "Ant farm accessories" that might "automate" or make watering the ants easier?

I know I am asking a lot, but would really appreciate somebody being able to provide me with a complete list of the recommended products to purchase, and answering any of my "questions" here.

Thanks you very much in advance

[gonzobey]

Surely I can answer your questions, therefore I´m here! *happy that anybody don´t be afraid to ask* :O)

But please waite a short time, because to answer all your questions I need some minutes... and I´ll do it faithful! I´ll promise to answer tomorrow!

[gonzobey]

Hello Azzer,

sorry that I didn´t write yesterday but I´d had problems with the login. I understand that at the moment it is very difficult to make the order because the most articles are wrote in german. I hope that everything is till the end of the year translated so that the ordering become more easier.

Lasius niger is a good specie to start keeping ants – I just want to ask if these ants live regularly also in the UK?

If you want to observe the ants the “Antfarm” or “Antfarm Deluxe” is the best choise. The “Formicarium Highlang” is usefull for greater ants – you can also took this one, but for Lasius niger it is not thin enough and there will be the risk that you couldn´t see all of the tunnels. If you want an antfarm which you can fix at the wall choose the “Antfarm Deluxe”; if you want one to put it f.e. on a table select the “Antfarm”.

At the beginning the ants will first use the antfarm, but in the future you need a second basin where you could feed them. This must not be another antfarm, better an PVC-Basin (look at the shop-page “antfarms” and then on this side right above “container”…) which you can connect with an plastic tube 10 mm diameter (you must prepare the PVC-Basin to get a hole in it – use f.e. a boring tool).

You need as “Antfarm accessories” ground products: 1x clay granules; 1x loam and 2x sand (use this amount for the “Antfarm Deluxe”). The clay helps you to keep the right humidity and the loam-sand-composite give more stability to the tunnels. Ventilation-, moistening- and temperature-products are not necessary. With a “pipette” (look at the shop-page “antfarm const.” and then “untensils/tools” on the second page) it would be very easy to get the Antfarm moist(wheter if you use the normal or Deluxe-version). Insect eyes like these from ants are not able to see red light, so I recommend you the red PVC-foil (look …”antfarm-const.” and the “building material”, second page). So you don´t disturbe the ants by watching them trough the foil. The infra-red light is for warming up the antfarm, but it is not necessary for Lasius niger.

Lasius niger eat honey-water (very easy to obtain) and sometimes some death insects. You can get them from the nature, like some spiders or flys or you can by some insects or flour worms (look … “food” “konservierte Insekten = conserved insects or two product under this “Mehlwürmer = flour worms”. That will suffice a long time! How often you must feed them is not easy to say because you must adjust this point to the colony size… just try – better give them too much than too little – after a few weeks you will get more experience. We can talk also a little bit later separate over this subject. Even there is the same info with the humidity – how often you must gave them water is dependent from many points so that you also must try. The best is to gave the ants a second way to get water – take one or two test tubes with water and put them in the PVC-Basin equally the food.

I hope that I could answered all your questions – if there are some problems just ask me!

[gonzobey]

Hello Azzer!

There´s one thing I´ve vergotten: You need also a "safty-poduct" for the PVC-Basin. I would recommend you the "Schutznetz = protection net" (look at the shop page... antfarm const. ... outbreak safty... the first net on the page). This net have very small meshes, so no ant can break out, surely.

Greeting
Bianca