27 replies to this topic

[Works4TheGood]

Please feel free to point me to documentation elsewhere if there is any.

Does anyone know the pros and cons to the different ant barriers (fluon, virgin olive oil, i sect-o-slip, talcom (baby) powder, etc.) besides cost? How effective is each? How easy is each to apply? How long does each last? How visible is each one? How tolerant is each to being touched? Are there any other questions I should be asking?

-Dan

[spinyeti]

This thread has some info from personal experiences with different species:
http://www.formicult...-to-by-members/

[William. T]

Fluor workers for almost all species, but after a month it starts to fail, especially with large colonies over 500 workers. You have to reapply it on tape and tape the tape to the outworld. Looks ugly, but works. You also have to mix it, but ByFormica takes that out of the equation. They also give you a brush, and their thing works. I recommend you buy ByFormica's floun, not the one from BioQuip. Looks a lot better too, since theirs makes a nice band around the top of formicarium, not with ugly droplets coming down. Vaseline doesn't really work out with a lot of the smaller and faster ants, and talcum is only slightly better. 

Edited by William. T, August 9 2015 - 10:28 AM.

[LC3]

How about Olive oil? I never used virgin but the ants here don't like to walk past it even if they can walk on it, it's cheap and easy to get the only problem that I have with it is that it's an oil and thus very oily.. if you need to clean your outworld than you would have to get the ants out also it drips and those drops can be annoying.

Edited by LC3, August 9 2015 - 10:46 AM.

[Pulliamj]

Olive oil has worked great for me. They won't even try to walk on it. I re apply it every couple of weeks. I normally use a cotton ball or ear swabs.

[Huch]

I have used Fluon, olive oil, and vasoline.

 

Vasoline did not work for me at all. Olive oil didn't work for me. Fluon appears to be working so far.

[Works4TheGood]

I just got into ant-keeping and so I actually had no idea that these barriers needed to be reapplied regularly.

Fluon and Insec-a-Slip seem to work, but they are unreasonably priced IMO.

Vaseline seems to be unreliable for most of you folks.

So now we're down to Talcum powder and olive oil, and that link that spinyeti provided above should help point to which one of these might work best when the species is taken into consideration.

[drtrmiller]

Properly applied and maintained, a coating of Fluon may last for a year or longer.

 

Let's assume a single application only lasts 4 months.  When you take into account the amount required per application, which can be 1 ml or less, it works out to about $0.05 per week per application—hardly an unreasonable price when you consider that it is regarded by many to be the golden standard in laboratory escape prevention world-wide.

 

Vaseline, talcum powder, and olive oil are all messy and some are ineffective, depending on the species being contained.  In contrast, Fluon does not flake, run, or rub off when dried, and can easily be wiped off when reapplying, compared to other methods.

 

Those who have purchased Fluon will likely never bother with other barrier methods again—I know I haven't.

Edited by drtrmiller, August 10 2015 - 6:06 AM.

[Works4TheGood]

You make an excellent point!  tou ché!

[Crystals]

In contrast, Fluon does not flake, run, or rub off when dried, and can easily be wiped off when reapplying, compared to other methods.

 

 

 

How do you remove the older applications of fluon?

When I have left it on for over 8 months, I still can't get it off.  I even disconnected the outworld and used soap and water.  On glass I can use a razor blade to get most of it off, but a razor will do more damage on acrylic than it would be worth.

 

Applications less than 6 months old come off easily even just by rubbing it with a damp piece of paper towel.

[dspdrew]

It is true that the longer it's been on, the harder it is to get off.

[Foogoo]

You have to reapply it on tape and tape the tape to the outworld. 

That's an excellent idea, makes reapplication a lot easier too.

[Subverted]

How do you remove the older applications of fluon?

When I have left it on for over 8 months, I still can't get it off.  I even disconnected the outworld and used soap and water.  On glass I can use a razor blade to get most of it off, but a razor will do more damage on acrylic than it would be worth.

 

Applications less than 6 months old come off easily even just by rubbing it with a damp piece of paper towel.

 

I recently cleaned off a bin (used to have roaches in it) that had a 3" strip of fluon at the top, a wet paper towel worked for the majority of the both very old and very thick coating. Some parts required a bit more effort than others...

 

Adding some rubbing alcohol to the mix might help clean it up as well...but I have never needed anything more than water and something to scrub with. 

[Works4TheGood]

How often does the Talcum barrier need to be replaced?

 

How often does the virgin olive oil barrier need to be replaced?

 

Do the different barriers look different?

[Pulliamj]

Olive oil runs if aplied to thick. If it's a nice even layer it's almost transparent. If you get it applied well it should last several weeks. Depending on the temperature it could dry out faster. Never tried Talcum.

[Okeedoke22]

Why not just have top to outworld with a mesh screen?  From what I read on these forums Fluon is definitely the best option for a barrier and like DrTmiller said when you break down the cost its minimal.  

[Crystals]

Why not just have top to outworld with a mesh screen?

 

All of my foraging areas have lids as well as barriers.  The lid keeps my cats out, and keeps in any ants who get over the barrier.

Why have a barrier at all?  If you have a colony with 500 workers, you will have at least 50+ on the lid.  Pretty hard to open without escapees, bites, or stings.

[dermy]

Yeah I use Canola Oil, works well, I apply it with a Cotton Swab [a clean on not one I used to clean my ears with ] and also keep a lid on it, just as a safety caution.

 

I've noticed with no barrier that most of the workers will just be waiting for you to open it up and bam swarm everywhere, especially Myrmica!

Nothing worse then a swarm of Myrmica on your bed [where I do my maintenance such as cleaning out the foraging area]

Edited by dermy, October 26 2015 - 12:12 PM.

[Works4TheGood]

As a newbie, I now realize that this was really a dumb question for me to ask.  I have 7 colonies right now, each with less than 20 workers, and they rarely venture outside of their test tubes.  I actually don't even use any kind of barriers at all (yet).  Sheer fear of being exterminated by the wild keeps them fortified in their bunkers.  Obviously, at some point they'll start to become too adventurous for this, but given their present boldness level, that's pretty far down the road.

[dermy]

 I actually don't even use any kind of barriers at all (yet).  Sheer fear of being exterminated by the wild keeps them fortified in their bunkers. 

 

Just wait probably by next year you'll wish they were too scared to venture out .