Leaf Cutting Ant Forum

Until I wait for my colony to grow and be big enough for their 180l - I've put them in a 100l aquarium.. But the problem with where I live, is in summer temperatures regularly hit 40+ C, so I was thinking of a way to keep the hot air out, and the warm air in...

Now, I definetely wanted to stick with the aquarium setup style, but that setup is designed to keep the cold air out and the hot air in...
So, I've mixed the incubator method with aquarium styles, and fungus growth has improved already.

I've layered the inside of the aquarium with polystyrene to insulate it, and temperatures are staying 24-25, 23 in the fungus garden. Still need to order some more polystyrene to finish the project, but it will come soon.

I use the same method as this in my ant room. It is lined with 75mm polystyrene. On hot days the room is cool, on cold days it is warm. The good thing though is that I can heat the entire ant room using a 200W aquarium heater in water. Humid heat which costs buttons. Perfect.

I do worry about our colony over the winter, when we all disappear for Christmas, as the heating goes off. I actually do come in over Christmas and any long breaks to make sure they are doing OK. If anyone has any tips on warmth for the colony in a cold lab over the winter, I would appreciate it. I tend to keep the light on in the tank permanently at this time as it at least keeps the warmth going for them, rather than it turning off at night.

Jackie62 wrote:I do worry about our colony over the winter, when we all disappear for Christmas, as the heating goes off. I actually do come in over Christmas and any long breaks to make sure they are doing OK. If anyone has any tips on warmth for the colony in a cold lab over the winter, I would appreciate it. I tend to keep the light on in the tank permanently at this time as it at least keeps the warmth going for them, rather than it turning off at night.

If you have a water area in the bottom of the tank you should place an aquarium heater stat in it and set it at around 28C. This will transfer highly humid heat to the air of around 23C. If you wrap the whole tank in bubble wrap or polystyrene you will get perfect temperature. However I worry that if you try to keep the colony heated and warm you will find that they require regular food because their activity will be up to normal. So I wonder if your success over the years has possibly been based on the fact that when there is noone around to feed them they are very cold and so do not require any food. Cooling the ants will reduce the fungus's appetite to almost zero and the ants will become inactive also. Maybe a good, accidental strategy!