ANTSTORE World of Ants

[JimmyVe]

The copper won't do the trick, like you said it is just a myth.
You are making a nice farm, i'm sure they will like it when it is finished but i would recommend using it for a few days/weeks to check the humidity and temperature before you put your ants in there.

[JimmyVe]

Hey mate,
sorry to dampen the spirits... i think your setup has some flaws. Its gonna be very hard for your to cover the entire basin, with that corner missing... i know its a bit of a mantra, but Polyrhachis are likely to commit incestuous copulation, and the winged males and females could well fly out and form colonies in your living area or the outside... also they do form sidenests outside the basin when able to cross the PTFE, which is hard to apply and maintain. You always need 2 kinds of escape protection when dealing with possibly invasive species. and even if the ecosystem is not your priority, if they get lose in your home/apartment and spread, you are responsible for the removal, which may well cost a whole lot of money.
So for the best of all, please figure out a way to cover that place up properly
No offense,
Necturus

[JimmyVe]

Thanks for your comment Necturus. I built a lid for it, which covers the basin. It has glass strips glued all around it that fit perfectly into the glass basin, so that I can make an airtight seal using vaseline. I'm going to make a sliding section on the lid, so I can open it, also using glass strips that slide over vaseline to seal it. The lighting will be integrated into the lid. Also I have ventilation in the soil and 2 fans.
Other means of protection are PTFE and 2 electrified strips that will be mounted into the basin. Will post some pictures later today, and some photographs.

[Peenmeister]

A picture of the lid. Obviously it is far from finished, but it fits good enough to make it escape proof.

download/file.php?id=10770&mode=view

Other pictures @ viewtopic.php?f=133&t=10321&p=92427#p92427

[JimmyVe]

Looks nice.

[Peenmeister]

My ants arrived today and seem to be in perfect condition. Don't know exactly how many they are, but probably around 400. They are very active, even though the heatpack was cold on arrival. After scouting for about half an hour, the colony left its nest and is now rapidly building a new one underneath a tree (which is positioned at the back of my formicarium). About 30 ants were scouting in the first hour, and suddenly hundreds came out in one single group, amazing to see. Few ants still try to climb the PTFE, but none have succesfully passed the first strip of it.
I spotted at least 2 queens and about 3 males already, along with about 10-20 larvae and a number of eggs. They don't yet seem interested in food, but are very active and I've spotted some interesting behaviour, such as one ant that has been carrying the head of a diseased ant for the last 5 hours, and doesn't seem to know what to do with it. Also 2 or 3 ants are always on top of the highest branch, sitting there and signalling to others, as if they are on the lookout.
As it seems, they are now (as I just now spotted) planning to make a nest in the soil of all 3 plants that I put in the formicarium. They seem to prefer it over the peyotenut or branches I put in place. They probably won't be able to expand the nest because most of the basin is filled with sand/loam mixture instead of regular soil. They now seem to be making tunnels within the roots of the plants.

for pictures:

viewtopic.php?f=133&t=10321&p=92756#p92756

Will try and make some macro's with another camera later.

[Peenmeister]

The ants are still very hard at work setting up new nest(s?).
Also I discovered that the ant that is walking around with the upper half of a dead ant ever since I've spotted him, is actually carrying a dead queen, judging from the size of the 'midsection' of that ant. He's also one of the few ants that still climbs the glass.
The colony has discovered the sugerwater I gave them and are drinking there in bigger numbers every time I look.
Also the hottest spot in the basin has been discovered by a small number of workers, who spend most of their time just warming up and communicating, while the rest is hard at work building the new nest and destroying (or rebuilding, I can't really tell) their old nest in which they arrived.
Monday I'm going to feed them some live insects, since they don't really seem to care for anything dead yet. But that might also just be because they are to busy to start collecting food.

[JimmyVe]

Very nice Peenmeister, good luck with your ants.

[SteveUK28]

Yes good luck with them.. and please post us some nice macro pics

[Peenmeister]

Thanks for all of your helpfull comments!!!
I will definately post that macro's soon. This has been one of the best things to waste my money on and everyone who looks at it can't stop looking .
I'm also thinking about making a timelapse video sometime soon. Anyway, I'll keep you posted.

[Peenmeister]

When I checked this morning, something strange was going on. Alot of the ants were on the front window just sitting there, later alot of them died. And it seems like a big part of the colony died. The old nest is adbandoned, but the new nests don't have much activity either.
My humidity is 80% and they ate all the crickets I fed them. Something is going on but I dont know what.
Also the dying ants were strugling walking over the cork-pulp I have in the tank, while another part of the population had absolutely no problem coordinating there.

[JimmyVe]

That is a bit weird. Maybe they where stressed out from the trip ? Could be they are ill. If the workers keep dyeing you have to handle soon.

The humidity seems wright, what temperature do you keep them on ?
Is there enough fresh air ?
What do you give them for sweets ?

[Peenmeister]

Temperature is between 23 and 26 degrees, I have 2 fans for ventilation and feed them sugerwater or honeywater.
I think the problem is with the ants that were in the old nest, maybe they are too stressed out.
The rest of the population seems fine now though.
Im wondering if I should blind the basin at night to reduce stress.

[JimmyVe]

hm.... you have a heat spot on it that produces light ?
It could be better if you use a karmic heat spot. So the ants have day and night times.

[Peenmeister]

I have a ceramic heat spot along with seperate lighting.
I really think it's because of stress due to transport and maybe slight changes I had to make in the terrarium while the ants already moved in.
Their old nest was moved about 2 inches, so maybe that upset them in some way. They are now restoring their old nest and are eating quite alot of protein, so I'm suspecting everything will be alright within a number of weeks.