177 replies to this topic

[sgheaton]

8/15/2016 - Consolidation Process!

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....yeah forgot the sandpaper. Going to go put it with my things now... ....after this entry. ............later....

 

Separating queens from her brood and workers, freezin' her into the next life, and gave her worker/group to the TuppaTetras (Z). Oh....she's been "boosted" six times now? 

The hive needed some help so I put one of the more successful container in there. Initially they were kinda just hanging out, tried to check on them throughout the day because after the 3rd viewing... completely hidden. It's almost impossible ...pretty much as there is glare right on it, but she's made a chamber with all the works walking all over the place. I think they've gotten everything out of the container that I'm going to move it out when I get home today. Gave them some liquid feeder food as well. 

At this point, I have 3 tetramorium caespitium queens - the Hive Queen, TuppaTetras (Z), and a lonesome test tube queen. ~~~<10, <30, 13 - workers respectively. 

[Saftron]

My queen and me have our 1st nanitics!!!! I'm so happy and thanks to everyone who helped me like xzero and sgheaton! You guys are awesome!!

[sgheaton]

Really glad to hear it buddy. Even more so because you used words like "our". I'm giving all control to her, call me a bad father but they are HERS to deal with!

[sgheaton]

8/29/2016 - I made a thing - part 1/2

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I finally did dremel work this weekend for the "temporary" educational experimention learning experience. Had the "brick" of hydrostone poured already so I did some incredibly artsy things with a sharpie. 

 

Set up a work shop of sorts.. 

 

and simply went to town 

 

And then finally all done.  / 

 

And holy crap does posting your pictures inside your posting make it look like crap. It's almost like this is a website and not a newspaper. Changed my design halfway through by making ..some..sort of donut spaces. More importantly, I've got a "water reservoir" on the bottom that is going to have a cylinder of water attached. Did some tests with water and it works a lot better than I was anticipating.  I'm going to remove the left over sharpie marks so it's "clean". 

Used a variable speed dremel (on max setting most of the time...) and a dremel ball point tip. I have a handful of tools but liked the "lack of control" the ball provided that it wasn't a dead perfect smooth cut but more of the concave texturing a ball would make. More of...that..."not machined" naturalish look.. Put tunnels in between chambers. The next step is to attach the syringe chamber for the water reservoir to the carved brick. The new brick thing-thang will then be attached via aquarium silicoln to the shorter side on the fish tank. 

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Ant report

 

......forgot my namings.... Tuppatetra - no visual. I have sand in there and they dug...stuff. All over. Holes... I see....nanitics sometimes. Basically...... yeah.. she might..be..there...I really don't know. They didn't do what I was really thinking they were going to.

PTs replacement queen ...is....no visual. By anything. I don't think...I have no idea. Basically I realized what I had I was losing very quickly and needed to act quickly to make sure what I have is healthy and can continue living. So that's what caused the sudden action for dremeling...as its looking like the "forgotten about drawer ants" are going to be my new fish tank tetras. I have checked up on them and they are doing well in their test tube. 

Edited by sgheaton, August 29 2016 - 5:52 AM.

[sgheaton]

8/31/16 - Made a thing part 1.5/2 

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Tension bar works just fine so no silicon needed - 

 

 

Edit:
Had an idea to make the tension rod the...heating rod by wrapping the cord around it. That made it quite hot. Accidentally bought repair clay instead of sticky tack for posters. Gonna play around with that idea but for now the wire gets quite warm. Didn't get the regulator thingy for some...silly...reason... 
 

Edited by sgheaton, September 2 2016 - 5:22 AM.

[sgheaton]

9/6/2016 - Moses Triumphant

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And you're clicking the links because this jpg auto linking nonesense is driving me mad.

 

9/2 
So I've had a small...majorly big problem. Flooding situation. Had PT's vases in water basically all the time. The sand eventually became.....soup. Looking at the internal..sand...structure. ...it wasn't there. A tap of the hand, a shake of the wrist, and the entire....sand..mass..thing basically collapsed. Trying to pack it down myself during assembly didn't really prevent this. Heat probably would have helped greatly. Maybe mixing the sand with dirt maybe... Oh well. It plopped and had a bit of water on top -> http://i.imgur.com/X1hotp0 . The entirecylinder is a soupy mixture of sand and water. ...oops..

 

9/3

Next Day -- what's this?! http://i.imgur.com/dc86rmO and http://imgur.com/hSCplV1     . Someones been doing some work.

 

9/5

What is alive in here?! http://imgur.com/1L7tPEN and http://imgur.com/JrvLjm7 .....which...I need to point out I thought the Pogonomyrmex queen had died and so I moved tetras into the vase....so...not sure whose doing the work.  I give up with my pictures. The linking address imgur nonesense auto does what I don't want it to and then when I force it to do it, It won't accept the change. *curls up and cries*

Edited by sgheaton, September 12 2016 - 5:22 AM.

[sgheaton]

9/11/16 - Heating Cable + Water Tower addition

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I really need to get the tetramoriums  out of their test tube set up and into the tank. Took some of this epoxy  and put it on the bottom of the tank, adding some sand as I went along. This was my workstation for the day. I didn't take that many pictures during....well....until afterwards when I used duct tape as a barrier thingy. Ask if you don't understand.

 

Put the tension bar in there to test again, good deal. Finally got some of that sticky tack too so I could put in the heating wire. 

 

And holy crap it's actually working???? Should I have the heating wire on the OTHERSIDE of the glass so that this moisture..doesn't build up like it's doing?

 

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I actually gave the test tube colony a fly though they haven't done anything with it at all yet.

Edited by sgheaton, September 12 2016 - 5:33 AM.

[sgheaton]

9/22/2016 - The big move

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K. Broke down and bought fluon because I haven't acquired 100 micron mesh yet. Well it arrived yesterday meaning I don't have much of a reason to keep the tetramoriums from going into their new home. The test tube colony that has remained in my desk drawer for...a month now will finally see some light! Naming these the Tank-Tetras.

 

Made a little makeshift platform staging area that is close to the entrance for the formicarium. I'll make a more...solid one that'll be ...better but for now in my impatient mood of yesterday I ended up with this () . Hence the hastily added water mess.... () They will soon be happy when they figure out they can leave. Just go home! - ().  Mid overwatch game the thing fell and I realized a slant would be better anyways (). 

 

However....this morning I noticed lil blue specks...so SOMEONE has been picking at the sticky tack that is acting as temp-cement and holding their platform up. I'd like them to move on their own and while the top is heavily coated in fluon, I'd like to double down with a mesh screen topper. 

[sgheaton]

9/26/2016 - Zoom

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So for those of you who don't know - You can "pinch'n'open" to zoom in on the Galaxy S7.............

 

The winged goddess claiming the cotton ball - 

 

Trying to coax them out with a heating cable - 

 

And they just moved it closer to the heat...More thought required. 

 

 

 

Forgot to mention that I have picked up feeder crickets finally. Haven't......"used" one yet though. Gave them a fly I caught over the weekend and they have since moved the legs into the tube. Saw that this morning but didn't take a picture. Thinking they brought the "food" closer to the larva? Pupae? Whoever can digest easier. I've put the fly by the entrance of their formicarium to try and lead them over there. So far - no luck. 
 

Edited by sgheaton, September 26 2016 - 5:18 AM.

[sgheaton]

Jackin' my previous entry from yesterday to edit it with today's message. 

 

9/29/16 - Game on

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Came home to find an empty test tube. 

Empty. 

.....well.....inside perhaps?

 

SCORE!

 

Just handin' out in style now.  

 

They've moved all the mass of brood into this tunnel. 

 

I didn't take a picture this morning but they'll move the brood closer to the heating cable when its active. They've brought in the fly legs as well. Decided to decorate with some class. Not only that....they are dirty ants huh? It's been 24 hours and they've brought in....ant poop? Black specks? Stuff that was able to fit through the mm gap between the hydrostone and the glass. Some walk on that. Watching them walk is crazy because so far nothing stops them. Climbing vertically on everything, going upside down in the formicarium. I dropped in a smushed cricket on top of the fly they've been enjoying. Had 4 nanitics immediately scatter so I'm not worried that they know of the "food source location". 

Questions
1 - How does feeding work? Give them access to a food source all day, all the time? Or just once a week kind of deal? 

2 - I'm worried with JUST the fluon method. I'm going to get over this by just applying an inch strip of the stuff on the glass that's...like...partially up the walls. Its an open container with ants and so my mind worries over such a silly thing. I'm assuming it to be a normal first timer emotion but I'm led to believe things are OK. They've moved into a new home and appear to be doing well. ....just...stay in your box... 
 

 

Edited by sgheaton, September 29 2016 - 6:51 AM.

[Goldsystem]

For my tetramorium ants I just will put whatever I'm feeding them somewhere near the best enchrance and leave it for a day or so.

Edited by Goldsystem, September 29 2016 - 9:48 AM.

[sgheaton]

Yeah...I meant to add another entrance but didn't. Then I thought about it again and decided that yes it was a good idea. ....Well if you look at things I've only got one entrance so shame on me for never following through with it. That's kind of where I've made the food spot. It's underneath their....entrance ramp. So far they ignore the ramp and just climb on the glass like a ladder. 

 

Can I leave dead bugs in there for awhile? As long as they don't grow anything I figure that to be ok. Just wanting to make sure that all "food" has been obtained before I take it out. Heck...the are $0.17. Why am I trying to get my moneys worth..Will probably just make a weekly chore to clean up all the dead insect parts they leave out. 

[T.C.]

that's a tar heel ants formicarium right? If you were to build something similar, while They're real nice and got good hydration, however i would be adding some sort of better ventilation system.

[sgheaton]

............................scroll up, T.C...

[T.C.]

Ooopsss... sorry too many posts too read! lol I was looking into get a colony of these, but I was told they are difficult to care for. Would you say they are harder than any other species?

[sgheaton]

Considering this is my first year I don't have a lot of experience or anything to fall back on. I came across literally more than I knew what to do with of this species. ALL BUT ONE of the queens that I captured in solo containers laid eggs. I left them with cotton balls that were moist from water and never fed them. I didn't have any problems at all.

 

-What's been told to me is that Tetramorium are some of the easier ones to raise as the queen is fully claustal and can survive past forgotten feedings. Grow steadily. Don't require anything super special. A good beginner ant. They are just jerks and are messy. 

 

As far as THIS particular group goes....Their story was that I had a problem of checking up on my ants all the time. I put my final test tube in my desk drawer........and kinda forgot about it. My consolidation process, while it grouped all of them together in the same container, involved too much dirt that I've lost the queen. I've got a big tuppaware that's...got a network of tunneling...its just not very well controlled. 'Bout this time I opened the draw and found the others, remembered oh yeah...I had ants in the drawer....They became THE colony of tets that I'm caring for.

[T.C.]

yeah, did the same with my camponoutous Pennsylvacius colony, forgot about it for two months, but at the end of this month it will be nearing the 3 month mark. However she still only has larvae! But they are entering a larger and yellowish tint. So I am hoping the nanitics aren't far away. it must of took her a while to lay, so since it's been such a long time I fed her a spider about 3-4 weeks ago and she ate the whole thing. Might through her a gnat or a fruit fly here soon her as well just to keep her in good, healthy, condition!

[XZero38]

Ill be updating all my journals later today, but out of my three colonies my tetras have been the easiest. I feed them whatever and they gladly accept it and i was alternating days where i would feed them protein then the next day i would give them sunburst but with how rapidly this colony is growing i feed them both a protein and sugar source almost everyday and they take all of it. When i check on them the next morning there is almost no cricket (bought 40 small crickets and keep them in a container) left. My tetras are ravenous little things.

 

My picky colonies are both my Pogonomyrmex and Mimicus colonies.

Pogonomyrmex are very picky about the seeds they like, they almost never touch anything sweet i give them but they do enjoy the crickets quite a bit.

My mimicus are the pickiest out of the three, they love sunburst but don't really seem to be super excited about the protein sources i give them if i feed them to often. With them i give them a protein source every other to every two days.

 

Just have to pay attention to the colony and see how they take to accepting the food you give them and if they do are they storing it or consuming all of it.

[sgheaton]

10/3/16 - 

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It's so much fun watching these things.

 

These things being ants. I'm sure its just as much fun watching S. Molesta or any other species doin'' their thing. I looked over into the tank and saw the fly body moving. Now I know I killed that thing a week ago and left it in there... Upon getting closer I could see a single ant doing the work! Ha! Another time a leg was somehow going upwards in the channel. ..well another worker decided to take the long way around the formicarium and drag this leg through the whole thing. It was really interesting to watch. Even more fun to see where things ended up that day. 

Accidentally left the hydration "ON" on Saturday -- meaning the outworld gets wet. Not like free standing pools of water but enough wetness that things are wet. I saw that THIS side of the dirt was lighter (dry) and so I knew I had messed up. With it "ON", the formicarium is in full hydration mode. Go figure. Things got moist in there and was a good test to see how it..works. Like 8 workers grouped in the bottom of the foricarium on the other side of the wet-chamber  . Not sure if they were getting water from here or what. Was...well it was apart from the queen quite a bit so ..interesting. Should note that they've also moved sand in between the crack of the hydrostone and the glass. Funny lil guys took care of their home further than I was going to make it for them. Silly goobers. 

 

She's been hanging out in what I'm calling the "Brood room"  () .This room...really is kind of is the middle of everything when I think about it. The size of things has doubled since they moved in. Crazy what a little bit of heat will do for things. They "plugged up" the tunnel entrance with sand they found from the outworld. They actually did this ..on..the...on the tunnel entrance directly across from the main entrance as well. I took the pictures yesterday morning and then looked in today before work and saw that.

 

Gave them some liquid feed which they quickly found () Was surprised that they were all over it so I figured it was past a feeding.

 

 

 

Questionable notes

I found my other queen in the tuppaware actually! So any free worker I find in my other tuppaware container I've been flicking into the outworld. I've noticed some of the workers holding/carrying some of the other ants. Not sure if these are dead, simply being carried, or what. I was under the impression that this was a good thing though the more I think about it - I could see the potential problems that might arise. It's the actual egg/larva/pupae you brood boost with -- not the actual workers themselves. Not going to be adding what I thought were nanitic workers for another queen to the previous tanks already growing colony moving forward. What I've got in the fish tank is what I'll have in the fish tank. 

Edited by sgheaton, October 3 2016 - 8:13 AM.

[sgheaton]

10/7/16 

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Really thought one of the works was removing the queens wings finally. It was riding up on top of them at least..

& 

 

 

Since the "big move"...it looks like the brood size has doubled. There are times I see a whole lot of workers (10+) and other times I see very few (3). Never entirely sure where things go or what they are doing. I come up with, "EVERYONE'S DIEING!" theories then see action the next day. They seem to be doing fine otherwise. Woke up in Silent Hill 29 degree fog this morning so maybe hibernation time is a'comin' sooner than I thought. Was at Petsmart and they sell "Flightless Fruit Flys" in the jar container thing. Got me thinking to simply buy the container and drop it in the tank and how to prevent some things when doing that though...

 

Pretty simply......

The idea is to take a straw and reduce the opening to the fruit flys to try and minimise the risk of flys escaping. Not sure how they would escape... The whole concept of insects in an open container is something that's hard to get over. Thoughts, opinions, concerns? What have people done in the past?
 

Edited by sgheaton, October 7 2016 - 6:44 AM.