Dump Chamber should be as dry as possible!

Ideas, techniques, problems and issues associated with keeping Leaf Cutting Ants in Captivity
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Andyj
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Re: Dump Chamber should be as dry as possible!

Post by Andyj » Thu May 17, 2018 2:15 pm

A couple of weeks ago all the rubbish in my dump was dry, you could blow it away like dust, and i know that the humidity had gone down. After replacing the humidity meter and adding some water in the fungus tank, the waste is now wet. Perhaps this is another condition of balancing the right humidity in the fungus tank. Mine were tunneling through the wet waste and i think we said something about them trying to dry it by making an air flow through it .... maybe also to not attract unwanted guests to the smell. ( MY WIFE !!!) :) Dunno Jackie. Do what Richard did, add fish and a filter :)

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Re: Dump Chamber should be as dry as possible!

Post by Jackie62 » Thu May 17, 2018 4:24 pm

Andyj wrote:A couple of weeks ago all the rubbish in my dump was dry, you could blow it away like dust, and i know that the humidity had gone down. After replacing the humidity meter and adding some water in the fungus tank, the waste is now wet. Perhaps this is another condition of balancing the right humidity in the fungus tank. Mine were tunneling through the wet waste and i think we said something about them trying to dry it by making an air flow through it .... maybe also to not attract unwanted guests to the smell. ( MY WIFE !!!) :) Dunno Jackie. Do what Richard did, add fish and a filter :)
That's weird, because someone said that to me today about adding the fish!!

They are making a lot of tunnels though, hopefully they will settle down..... :?

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Re: Dump Chamber should be as dry as possible!

Post by Andyj » Thu May 17, 2018 4:28 pm

just imagine the ammonia thats going to be present in the water. Your filter will have to be pretty mature before you ad any live fish to it.. or they will be floating,,,youll get the cane.

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Re: Dump Chamber should be as dry as possible!

Post by Acromyrmexbob » Thu May 17, 2018 9:18 pm

Problem with adding fish is they eat the ants in the water. As soon as they get the ants into their mouths the ants bite them in their soft tissue and then the ants die. The fish then die because they cant swallow their meal or spit it out. Best avoid fish other than perhaps plecs, some have used freshwater crabs and snails to good effect.

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Re: Dump Chamber should be as dry as possible!

Post by Jackie62 » Fri May 18, 2018 11:34 am

Acromyrmexbob wrote:Problem with adding fish is they eat the ants in the water. As soon as they get the ants into their mouths the ants bite them in their soft tissue and then the ants die. The fish then die because they cant swallow their meal or spit it out. Best avoid fish other than perhaps plecs, some have used freshwater crabs and snails to good effect.
I'm not serious about fish....anyway, we're not allowed to have them here anymore, too many students objected to when we used to keep them, because during lab classes the fish were jumping out of their tanks onto the floor...this made the students scream...can't stand the screaming.

Anyhow, our Atta are slowing down with the dumping in the water and normal service is being resumed...thank god (or should that be Andrew?)

And water snails make A LOT of poo!! I know, we kept them here last year!

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Re: Dump Chamber should be as dry as possible!

Post by Jackie62 » Fri May 18, 2018 1:10 pm

Andyj wrote:just imagine the ammonia thats going to be present in the water. Your filter will have to be pretty mature before you ad any live fish to it.. or they will be floating,,,youll get the cane.
We get the slipper here....

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