Re: Atta - Aquarium setup
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2016 4:09 pm
Quick update.. I will do a video with commentary very soon so you can see for yourself what's happening but in the interim...
The colony is about a year old now. I started with about 100 ants and I now have, I would estimate, as a minimum 3,000 ants.
I now have four decent sized fungus gardens. One in each available chamber. This is a mass of about 7,000 square centimeters of fungus garden.
There are now lots of soldiers and they are very often visible. Generally at the entrance to the main (original) nest. They are massive!! Extremely impressive and I take great delight in showing them off when clients/friends are visiting.
I was away for two separate weeks in august and my sister did one week and my dad did the other week. Everything survived with them visiting every 2 days to add leaves and change filters. My dad must have seen a soldier as he described with some horror seeing an "ant the size of a wasp with a head like a table tennis ball."
I explained that the massive head was filled almost entirely with the muscles needed to close it's razor sharp jaws. I don't think that helped.
They are extending their living quarters in the tank by building mud/clay/leaf structures extending away from the nest over the glass bridge. I'll show this in my video. They are also building back from the pipe exit so they should meet in the middle of the bridge.
As I say, video soon (with commentary, ha).
The colony is about a year old now. I started with about 100 ants and I now have, I would estimate, as a minimum 3,000 ants.
I now have four decent sized fungus gardens. One in each available chamber. This is a mass of about 7,000 square centimeters of fungus garden.
There are now lots of soldiers and they are very often visible. Generally at the entrance to the main (original) nest. They are massive!! Extremely impressive and I take great delight in showing them off when clients/friends are visiting.
I was away for two separate weeks in august and my sister did one week and my dad did the other week. Everything survived with them visiting every 2 days to add leaves and change filters. My dad must have seen a soldier as he described with some horror seeing an "ant the size of a wasp with a head like a table tennis ball."
I explained that the massive head was filled almost entirely with the muscles needed to close it's razor sharp jaws. I don't think that helped.
They are extending their living quarters in the tank by building mud/clay/leaf structures extending away from the nest over the glass bridge. I'll show this in my video. They are also building back from the pipe exit so they should meet in the middle of the bridge.
As I say, video soon (with commentary, ha).