Atta - Aquarium setup

[Vendayn]

Hello. This is an awesome looking setup and I think I might try something similar for my Acromyrmex versicolor.

I do have one question about heating/humidity. I am guessing the heat pad goes under the tank, and not actually in the setup? If it goes inside the tank, how would it create enough humidity since I don't think its a good idea to put the heat pad actually in the water. Or did I miss somewhere where you said you heated the water in some way?

My Acromyrmex versicolor currently have about 100 workers, and still have quite a bit of room in their current setup. But it is at the stage I need to start planning for their future, as they are starting to grow really fast. And I like your design a lot and something I can do.

Also for substrate, would you recommend something like peat moss or something? I know for Acromyrmex they like soil I guess more. But, soil around here tends to mold pretty easily. And even buying it in bags from Home Depot, still gets mold quite easily.

[RichardP]

Hi Ven,

To heat the water I use a 100w aquarium heater like this for example (you can get cheaper ones)

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/products/ ... Agou8P8HAQ

You just plug it in, set the temperature, and drop it in the water. This heats the water to 30 degrees (I actually heat my water to 26 degrees) and this creates a stable temperature but also the warm water evaporates and saturates the air above the surface creating a very humid atmosphere. This effect will be greatly enhanced if you keep a lid on (or partially on) the aquarium tank.

In terms of substrate the current thinking in John Innes No. 6 or (No. 3 maybe I think I can't quite remember). I've personally never had any trouble with mold on or around my soil.

[RichardP]

Hi, all going well. I just thought I'd document a small development. I'm very conscious of any potential smell arising from my set up as it is in my office.. where clients visit.

Up until about 10 days ago there was never a noticeable smell but I began to notice a pretty strong aroma that was very slightly "wee" like in it's character. In the course of a couple of days that smell became more like a sort of halitosis smell.

I was worried that perhaps the growth or size of the colony might be to blame so was a bit worried as I can never move the tank without massive issues.

Anyways, it lasted for about 4 days and then entirely disappeared.

Just thought I'd mention it for completeness.

[Deansie26]

Strange, usuall y it's the water turning with rotten fungus that causes that small but I'm sure you would have noticed that,
Did you notice any change in ant behaviour?

[RichardP]

Strange, usuall y it's the water turning with rotten fungus that causes that small but I'm sure you would have noticed that,
Did you notice any change in ant behaviour?

I didn't notice any change in their behaviour.

It seems more likely that it was the water (I have about 70 Litres) but I am pretty obsessive about water quality, I have an eheim surface skimmer, a massive external canister filter, I clean the filter every two weeks and change 25% of the water at the same time.

Strange. Does anyone else notice any smell produced from their ants?

While I'm on though, I thought it worth mentioning that the fish/ants set up is possibly an eco system. I can't be entirely sure but I think that the fish eat the fungus waste that gets dropped in the water. I base this conclusion on the fact that my fish don't particularly react now when I drop food in (I now feed about a third in quantity from when the tank was newly established). If I drop flake food in, it'll sit untouched on the surface for an hour or so.

Equally it could just be that the tank is a year old now and as a mature, planted, tank there would be more for the fish to naturally eat anyways.

Anyways, pure speculation on my part of course. #notscience

[RichardP]

Update - lots of activity in my third nest box (external to the aquarium). I anticipate being a three fungus family before very long..

[RichardP]

I did my first cull yesterday. Bit of trial and error. First I put a qtr of an apple in with the intention of letting it get full and them plucking it out with long handled tweezers and straight into an easy seal sandwich bag then into the freezer.

As I went to pluck out the apple with the tweezers I realised, with about 9 ants making their way up the tweezers towards my soft delicate accountant's hands that this wasn't going to work. The apple was too big to grab quickly.

Plan B - a smaller piece of apple. Again it was too difficult to pick up quickly with tweezers.

Plan C - I used a smallish piece of apple. I then got a skewer and coated it half way up with fluon. I then quickly stabbed the apple (quicker than trying to grab with tweezers), out and into the bag, pulling the skewer out leaving the ants and apple in the bag. Sealed it double quick.

Bingo... 35 or so ants less.

at least I know I can do it now and may need to thin out numbers going forward.

[Deansie26]

Think you may need to be more brutal than that if your colony gets really big Richard lol. When do you foresee culling being required? How many nest boxes do you still have to fill?

[RichardP]

Think you may need to be more brutal than that if your colony gets really big Richard lol. When do you foresee culling being required? How many nest boxes do you still have to fill?

I still have one 15*20*15 nest box to fill. But to be honest I'm kind of happy with my colony size as it is.

The one issue I am now getting is the sheer volume of discarded fungus garden in the aquarium water. I'm having to change my surface filter three or four times a day now. It seems that hey have pretty much replaced 30% of the fungus garden in the first chamber. They basically ripped out all the old and built new.

[Deansie26]

Sounds like you need a better solution to the dump chamber Richard