ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Raga-Hemp]

Hello all, Hy Bianca

I want to set up a colony, and although I'm a beginner i would like to start with a Camponotus. My question is with which one?

I have two big criteria in mind:

-doesn't need extra heating, other than room temperature,

-doesn't need a lot of space. I know that Camponotus are the largest ants in Europe and that they need lots of room, but I'm concerned that if I put them in a let's say 70X30X40 glass fish tank I wouldn't be able to observe them very good.


1-----If you have time, I would like you to give me an advice, starting from which Camponotus should I choose and going thru antfarm dimensions, types of soil, foraging area, humidity, you know, stuff we all newbies would like to know
Also, after you tell me all that, please suggest what items should I buy from the shop.


The bottom line is that I want an ant species that is big and spectacular, but that doesn't need extra heating and a very big antfarm.

Another option would be Pheidologeton diversus, and considering that they also have soldiers, I think I would like them even more than Camponotus.

2-----By the way, how big is the difference between Camponotus and Pheidologeton diversus, in body length I mean, and also, which one is more demanding/hard to keep?


Thank you very much (in advance) and hope you won't mind me asking for so much information

[gonzobey]

I just want to say that I need some times to make up my mind for this question and I also want to talk with our specialist of Champonutus. So please don´t be angry when it tooks one or two days for the answer.

Greetings
Bianca

[Raga-Hemp]

Angry?
I would be extreamly glad if you could answer them, no matter how long it takes

[gonzobey]

Hello Rega-Hemp,

I talked with one of our specialist and he had also the same trhoughts of your request.

I would recommend you Camponotus ligniperda. This specie is suitable for beginnes, is very resistance and undemanding regarding feeding them. The biggest workers could have a size of approx. 1,2 cm and the queen approx. 1,8 cm.

If you let shine a normal lamp in one edge of the formicarium the ants will be pleasured by this. More isn´t necessary for them.

Pheidologeton is at this time not the best choise for you, because they need some accesories to get the right heat for this specie. Also this ant specie is a little bit more difficult to keep than C. ligniperda.

So this to your possible choise what kind of ant specie I would adveise to you. Now to your other questions, soil....

Do you want to digg the ants into the soil, where you mostly can´t see the activities in the nest or do you want to have a look into the nest?

[Raga-Hemp]

Ok, thank you.

I've done some thinking and decided to convert a whole table in my bed room to an AntHill .

The dimensions of the table are 130X40. On it I was thinking of puting two 55X40 aquarium which will be the Formicariums, 2X Ant Islands used as Feeders and 1 Ant Box, which will be the Meeting Ground, connected to both Formicariums, in order to permit the two species of ants to interact

Now the questions:

1- How much "little bit more difficult" are the Pheidologeton? I'm asking because i want to keep
them in one of the Formicariums

2- What "accesories" do they need for heating?

3- What type of lamp sould I use? Are the normal 100W lighting bulbs enough?

4- I would like C.herculaneanus better than C.lighiperda. What conditions should I create for them?

5- Are the dimensions of the Formicariums large enough for a colony of C.herculaneanus and one of Pheidologeton?

6- Is it a good ideea to make that "Meeting ground"? I would like to study their interactions and was wondering
if the two types of ant are "balanced enough" for one another (the C.herculaneanus beeing large would compensate
for the soldiers of Pheidologeton?).
I'm asking because I don't want to lose a colony because the other destroyed it.

Of course, I would connect the two colonies after the queens are accomodated and are
producing eggs, so that if one invades the other, the invaded would have anough population to defend themselves.

7- The Feeding Area would be your Ant Islands (the large one); the meting area would be the the Ant Box. Are they
big enough?

8- The Ant Island and the Ant Box have 10mm wide holes. Will that diameter be big enough for the ants?
Also, will the 10mm PVC tubing be large enough?


Presuming that the Formicarium dimensions are large enough:

9- How high should be the wall for the ants in order for them to not be able to escape?
The normal dimensions of the aquarium at this size is about 50X40X30. But I would build mine especially for the
ants, so I get to decide the dimensions when I order the aquarium.
The question is do they need a 30 cm high wall (let's say I put 10 cm of soil + 10 cm the moat, they still have
10 cm of free space. Is that too much or too little?)

10- If I construct a moat on the inside of the rim of the glass aquariums -which will be filled with water- ,
will it be enough to prevent the ants from escaping?

11- About the soil.

You asked me if I want to be able to see the inside of the nest or not. Well, I don't really
want to see the nest, because that will mean that I would have to do a combination between an Ytong nest and
the formicarium no?. I've seen pictures with this type of combination on the german forum, and i myself don't find
it quite esthetic.
So no, I don't want to see the nest.

Now that we've cleared that, how much soil, and what type should I put in (for the C.herculaneanus and for the
Pheidologeton)?.
And how high sould the earth column be?(like in a tank when you put water in, you don't fill it to the top, you leave some space. How much space should I leave?)


If you don't think that C.herculaneanus+Pheidologeton is good, what other comb. do your recommend (big and interesting ants of course

Thank you again for the time spent answering my enormous questions

[gonzobey]

Hello Rega-Hemp,

sorry had a lot of stuff to do, so I didn´t find the time, but now:

- I would recommend you to start with Champonotus ligniperda or herculeanus and after holding them with success for some month you can try it with Pheidologeton.

- Pelase don´t connect the two formicariums, because the only interaction you will see is fighting and that could be end in a desaster.

Tell me if you decided for c. ligniperda or herculeanus. Than we can talk about the nest and area and other accessoiries you´ll need.

[Raga-Hemp]

Oki dokei

So, it's C. herculaneanus then.
The same questions, but now regarding only to herculaneanus: soil, accesories, escape preventions; tank dimensions; how high should the soil column be; are the ant Islands big enough; are the PVC tubes big enough, etc.
So, the same questions.

P.S- And I don't necessary want to see the nest

[gonzobey]

Hello Rega-Hemp,

I´m trying to answer to your questions as good as possible:

You can use your glass basin with the size of 50x40x30 for I think 1-2 years and can connect the other one after growing up of the colony. You need lots of sand and loam - mixed it in a ration 1:1 that makes the grond a little bit non-sensetive regarding vibrances. You can let the ants digg into the sand or give then some wood (like small stumps) to create their nest in it.

Also you can take some other braches to give the ants more room (better: to avail more the size of the aquarium). Create a small forest climate with moss and little palnts if you want.

As accessories you only need a normal Lamp whicht shine at a part of the formicarium. To be sure that the ants can´t brak out I would recommend you a safety mesh guard to close the formicarium. The ants fit in in a felxible tube with 10mm diameter.

I hope that everything is answered and it will helped you forward.

[Raga-Hemp]

Thank you for the answers.
I'm still not convinced that it's that hard to keep Pheidologeton. The thing is that I really like the idea of having ants with a soldier's caste, and if I can't have the two species togheter, I would prefer Pheidologeton, even if it's a little risky for a beginner.

Since i'm just starting, I want to start with a species of ant that I would like , not with an "easy" species that I don't appreciate.
I allready have a lot of pets (fish tanks, a dog, turtles) so I think that I can handle animals responsably. That's why I'm confident that keeping Pheidologeton wouldn't be that much harder to keep compared to C. herculaneanus. In the end, they are all ants

I don't want to upset you with all my questions, I just want to learn how to keep ants.

So, do you still think that I shouldn't order Pheidologeton?

P.S- Could you please tell me what are the needs of Pheidologeton, compared to other ants? In the description on the site it says that they need conditions that are not that diferent from C.herculaneanus (with a little difference of temperatureand "living" habits from what I could understand). And the tank dimensions I would offer them are about the same as stated in the description.

Please don't be mad because of my insistence, but I would really like to have Pheidologeton, and I would like to try to give them the best conditions possible.

[gonzobey]

Hello Rega-Hemp,

sorry that I write so late, I wasn´t mad because of your insistance but very bussy. At the moment my uncle from australia and my cousin from england are visiting me....

But now again to your questions:

I talked once again with our specialist (he don´t speak english so I do it for you):

- At the beginning (I think for 1-2 years) one basin of your size is suitable. After growing up of the colony you must give them more place for "walking" - where the ants can search their food and place their trush.

So I would recommend you to go to glazier: He can make you a opening into your glass basin (aquarium, but used for the ants) which you can first close with buckler. So you don´t have so much trouble to connect this one with a another one later.

- To give the ants the temperature they need you have to possibilities: Use a heating stone or a heater mat. Choose a size of the mat, that will be smaller than the basin, so you can heat only a small part of the formicarium and the ants can choose by themselves what they need in time.

Also I would recommend you to by a clock timer and thermometer for controlling this point. In nature (also where these ants come from) it will get warmer when the sun goes up and get cooler when the sun goes down - its easier to manage with the clock timer and easy to control with the thermometer.

- The soil conditions are similar to Camponotus: sand and loam. Pheidole needs it a little bit dry, but you can also give them a water reservoir, where the ants can get some water if they needed it. You can use for this a test tube with cotton wool (so the ants can´t drown).

- Nutrition: give them honeywater and death insects or oat flakes. Please be sure theat the smaller ants cant get drown in the honeywater. I use the small plastic bowl and put the honeywater on a cotton wool. When you found the insects in the garden or somewehre else in the nature, everything is ok. When you buy some insects in a pet shop, please put hot water over the insects before feeding them, because you don´t want to get mites or ther parasites.

So I think that all, if you have more questions, don´t be shy to aks me!

[MMoudry]

Hi,
I just wanted to say that you should seriousely consider reading a short story from George R. R. Martin called Sandkings. It's an excellent story (if you like science-fiction) about a man who that tried to keep a species not so unsimillar to ants in his home. He treated them badly so to say (made them fight for pleasure etc.)

When I read your posts about keeping a gigant anthill on your table in your bedroom (the room you SLEEP IN??) and making two colonies fight... SOMEHOW I couldn't get this book out of my mind.

If you are interested I can send you this story (it's not very long) by email

What could be interesting though is to have a slave-keeping colony and a normal colony separated, and sometimes drop some larvae from the normal colony into the slave keeping colony. You could have this way two species of ants in one colony. (Like REALLY huge slaves hehe)

Also a friend of mie asked me once how to keep an ant colony in the open and we came with a simple solution.

We used a large rectangular basin that was filled with water. The basin wasnt very tall about 5 cm. We placed a large rectangular pot in the middle. Now inside the pot we put a tree and the ants.

Tree ants nest :
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It looks EXTREMELY cool and works equally well with ground and tree ants. It's like you have in your room a tree with LOTS of ants on it. And they can't break loose because of the water and of course you don't have to worry about giving water to them.

Only major problem with this setup is when you forget to add water to the lower basin since your ants will get free in an instant ! We created a small electronic circuit that actions a water pump. Two electrodes float inside the basin and when the water level gets below a certain level a rele actions the water pump to add water to the lower basin automatically.
Also the tree shouldn't be very large since sometimes ants fall from it and you don't want to drown them in the lower basin or falling on the floor of your chamber. a bonsai works the best.

In the image on the link I gave you they use a small container apart for ant waste. You can keep the ants from escaping that container by vaseline. Coat the top edges of the container with it and it should keep the ants inside.

You can also train your ants to use the container as waste disposal by putting some of their waste into it.

If you you use the other setups keep the waste container below the level of the nest so that the gases that are produced by the waste and are heavier than air are kept inside that waster container.

Mipam Moudry

[ralphdrake]

hi

I have a c. ligniperda queen is there anything I should know about her and keeping her at the moment I have her in a test tube with cotton wool of water and at the end a cotton bud.


thxs seeya ralph