Formica123's Acromyrmex Octospinosus

[Formica123]

The white box is actually a digital hydrometer / thermometer lol.

I was thinking about what you say and had the exact same thoughts! I was thinking keeping them inside of a heated tank so when the lid opens its the exact same temp / humidity? So I would put their current setup inside of the tank.

Or even I was thinking that I could put it inside
One of those kids 'grow your own' mini plastic greenhouses? My sister had one and it heated up nicely under a heatmat.

I'll have a think

[Formica123]

They've now kind of split up the fungus gardens. There's 2 now. 1. Is fe successfully converted fungus, which now looks exactly like Acromyrmex fungus and 2. Has slowly been left out and this is just normal atta fungus.
Meaning this project is a 100% success!

http://youtu.be/PNPA1-i2Ui0

They are still carrying some of the converted fungus over

[Formica123]

OH NO!
Big problem!
The thermostat has failed and the plug has blown - meaning today the setup went up to 33 degrees inside the nesting chamber!!!!
I'm worried if te queen will ever lay again now Sad Sad

What to do !!??

[Formica123]

By the plug blowing I meant it's just not working properly - just a normal current of electricity passing through so the heatmat was a normal temp.

The thermostat I use is off eBay from Hong Kong labelled as 'Exo Terra Thermostat' however came in a normal box and looks nothing like exo terra to me.


Since the incident - no leaves have been added to the fungus. Fungus is now white and actually looks crispy Surprised
Workers are just lazing around (about 30 deaths....) and the queen isn't being tended to Sad

[Formica123]

Yeah I've heard they're good.

This is what I've designed, a fungus box and outworld. I connected via tubing to the old setup - and they moved in ASAP!
http://youtu.be/nfW5YucBfAg

Good news is queens now being tended too and conditions are a lot better. They've had some sugar water and cut they're first small leaf!! Whoop whoop

[Formica123]

Got the fingus today. Added it and some of the workers started fighting!! But calmed down a bit now. I can definetely see the difference in coarseness between atta and acro fungus - it's really milky kind of texture.



Thanks for the fungus Andrew!!

[Formica123]

Quick vid:
http://youtu.be/SwonlWMzpJs

[Formica123]

Andrew said:
Marco, I watched your video above. I have a couple of questions.
Where is your probe to monitor the temperature in the nest box. Can you measure the temperature in the soil please. There is a problem with these heat mats. The fungus is sitting on the soil. The soil is in contact with the base of the tub which is in contact with the heat mat. This means heat is transferred from the heater directly to the fungus. I suspect the temperature on the bottom of the fungus is much hotter than where the probe is situated from the thermostat. I think the heat mat should be attached to the back of the tub, not directly underneath the fungus. This may account for problems with the fungus. Not sure from your film but that may be the case.
Secondly, are you heating the feeding area? What is the ambient temperature in the room? The ants in the feeding area will forage over a wide range of temperatures, I am just interested. I have always heated the feeding area. The reason I have for this is that it would be a very unusual set of circumstances in nature for the temperature to be higher in the nest than outside. In the tropics the temperature underground will generally be around 23C and above ground considerably higher than this, even at night. If the reverse is the case in captivity then there may be a reluctance on the part of the workers to forage. Not because its too cold where the leaves are but because its lower than the nest. I have considered these highly technical issues over the years but have yet to find enough instances to say this is the case with any certainty. However there are many times ants refuse to forage without any apparent reason and I am throwing this into the pot as a possible, invisible cause.

[Formica123]

The probs inside the soil is a small temperature/humidity reader inside the nesting box. It's at 27*C

I'll attach te heatmat to the side - will this help?



And I read on I think deansies post that he keeps his outworld in the garage not heated? Or at a low temperature on the winter and they still forage?

I can heat it if they won't forage

[Formica123]

Fungus is growing well! You can see the darker part on top in te video Very Happy

Half of the fungus is underneath the ground and half of it on top which is why it looks like so less. I created a heated moat round the outworld and temp is 23C and humidity 75% is this good?

Vid of te fungus:
http://youtu.be/hR639MHREGc

Glad this setups now working!

Shoutout to Antkit.uk for supplying the nest area (actually it's just an acrylic outworld, but works great Razz )