Problem with atta not growing

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Shamual
Pupa
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Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:27 pm

Re: Problem with atta not growing

Post by Shamual » Fri Mar 25, 2016 12:49 pm

I'm really sorry to hear that. Having lost a colony myself I know how tough it can feel. But best of luck with the future colony!

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Deansie26
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Location: Scotland

Re: Problem with atta not growing

Post by Deansie26 » Fri Mar 25, 2016 1:04 pm

That's a shame Martin, not a nice feeling when you see the queen dead. Sure they will do better next time.

RichardP
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Re: Problem with atta not growing

Post by RichardP » Fri Mar 25, 2016 3:33 pm

I'm really sorry to hear that. I think anyone who gets involved in keeping ants has a real affection for them so it is sad when they are not successful.

I would really recommend an aquarium set up. I've been on this forum for about 4 months now and I see so many problems arising. Now not all of the problems can be directly attributed to the type of set up obviously but having gone down the aquarium route I can say that when my Atta colony arrived, I tipped them into a glass box in my aquarium and I haven't had to do anything since except feed them. I haven't added water, I haven't had to change the position of my heat mat, I haven't even had any climate monitoring since about day 7.

*Touches wood*

I do accept that I may be lucky but I copied the basic idea from the method they use to house colonies at the University of Gloucestershire under the auspices of Prof. Adam Hart. He has about 7 colonies and the day I went into visit was when they were coming back from a break. No one had tended to the ants for seven days as we started putting leaves in to break their fast.

I think was the first time I thought.. this could be doable. If I can go on holiday for a week and not have to worry.. this is the set up.

FYI I have a 150L aquarium I fill with about 60L of water heated to 27 degrees. I also use a massive external filter to make sure I don't have difficulties in cleaning out the water that they dump in.

Get back on the horse... :)

MartinD
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Re: Problem with atta not growing

Post by MartinD » Fri Mar 25, 2016 5:45 pm

Richard p - that sounds interesting. Only reason i didn't really want aquarium setup was due to ants dumping in water when I had the last one. Interested to know how your filter/pump works. You mentioned heat mat, how do you use this? To heat the water? Or do you have proper water heater?
Thanks!for your kind words, yep not nice losing a colony :-( had it for year almost :-(

RichardP
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Re: Problem with atta not growing

Post by RichardP » Fri Mar 25, 2016 6:21 pm

The filter is a standard aquarium external filter. Cost about £60. Not cheap. But the water stays clear and it takes about 10 minutes to clean it every two weeks. I have fish in my water so that's why I do it so often. It's a bit of a luxury but it's a great solution.

I mentioned the heat mat in the negative.. I don't have a heat mat or any of the associated worries. The aquarium water is heated using a standard internal aquarium heater with built in thermostat.. Cost about £20 for a good one.

I did want to retrospectively balance my comments by acknowledging that there are very many examples of successful colonies being maintained outside of aquariums. Equally, if your colony failed after a year then there's no reason to think that my set up may fail in the future. It's only 8 months old at the moment. I'll keep my fingers crossed!!

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