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Posted February 13 2021 - 12:37 PM
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hi, the other day i told my wife i was going to get a queen ant when it gets warm, i tough she was going to be nagging at me for getting an ant farm but today she actually gave me a gel one with extra gel kits, but i think Ants Canada said they were bad for ants on his channel, am i wrong ? as always thanks for the help!
Edited by manik, February 13 2021 - 1:06 PM.
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Posted February 13 2021 - 12:45 PM
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Posted February 13 2021 - 12:55 PM
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Posted February 13 2021 - 1:53 PM
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I second this, and want to add that they *very* poorly provide hydration even if there is a way to provide it.Gel farms are super bad for ants. They mold very quickly and don’t actually provide food for the colony. Get something from tar heel ants instead.
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Posted February 13 2021 - 3:35 PM
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Yes. Gel ant farm are a very poor substitute for a well built formicarium from Tarheel ants, or ants Australia, or some other ant shops. They just are not suitable long-term for a colony with a queen. Though, if you want, you can take out all of the gel and replace it with some substrate like dirt of sand, though this will limit your visibility of your ants by a lot.
Edited by gs5248, February 14 2021 - 10:55 AM.
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Posted February 14 2021 - 12:16 AM
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That's awesome she put in the effort to surprise you with a gel farm even if they aren't great for ants. If you want, you could always remove the gel and fill it with local dirt for local ants.
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Posted February 14 2021 - 1:26 AM
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The kits containing gel sandwiched between two pieces of plastic look very cool and are absolutely fantastic as long as you do not put anything alive in it.
Or, if you want to purchase harvester ant workers online and watch them waste away, digging tunnels to nowhere in aimless misery, the gel kit is an excellent option. But for a colony with a queen? No.
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Posted February 14 2021 - 5:27 AM
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Dude, it’s Valentines Day! Thank your wife then place your order with Tar Heel Ants and you’re good to go 
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Posted February 14 2021 - 6:42 PM
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I will say I saw a gel ant farm at someone's house once and it did LOOK very cool. I could see it being an interesting introduction to young kids - though frankly, I think dirt/sand set-ups are better and less gross for that purpose, though not as "space ship" like.
I would NEVER use one for a colony with a queen. Even with just workers I feel bad for them. Having recently bought some of those Uncle Milton ants, I watched the Pogonomyrmex working and grooming each other and burying their dead one by one. The only good thing is they are wild-caught and so the ones who get caught are generally older and have lived out happier days in the ant nursery.
Past & Present
Veromessor pergandei, andrei, stoddardi; Novomessor cockerelli
Camponotus fragilis, Camponotus sansabeanus (inactive), vicinus, laevigatus/quercicola, CA02
Pogonomyrmex subnitidus, P. californicus (inactive)
Liometopum occidentale (inactive); Prenolepis imparis; Myrmecocystus mexicanus (inactive); Tetramorium sp. (inactive); Lasius sp.
Termites: Zootermopsis angusticollis, and a box of drywood termites that can't be seen
Isopods: (most no longer keeping) A. gestroi, granulatum, kluugi, maculatum, vulgare; C. murina; P. hoffmannseggi, P. haasi, P. ornatus; V. parvus, P. pruinosus, T. tomentosa
Spoods: (no longer keeping) Phidippus sp., other
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Posted February 14 2021 - 10:11 PM
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Gel farms are fine, if you remove all the gel and replace it with sand/loam mixture 
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Posted February 15 2021 - 2:49 AM
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Posted February 15 2021 - 12:01 PM
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gel farms always seem to mold as well, even though they say they will not.
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8
My Ant Shop Here I have PPQ-526 permits to ship ants nationwide
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Posted February 15 2021 - 3:52 PM
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Wasn't the gel used by NASA for ant experiments in space? I don't remember where I heard that, but if it is true then the results were not a good example of how well they could survive.
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Posted February 15 2021 - 4:24 PM
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I once had a customer who had a spare gel farm, and they actually took the gel out and put it into the formicarium nest area, to create additional humidity, privacy, and digging medium. The ants still had access to the outworld. I don't know how well it all went because I lost contact with them, but interesting ideas...
Leave the Road, take the Trails - Pythagoras
Utah Ant Keeping --- Here
DIY Formicariums and Outworlds --- Here
Honeypot Ant Journal --- Here
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Posted February 15 2021 - 5:47 PM
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hi, the other day i told my wife i was going to get a queen ant when it gets warm, i tough she was going to be nagging at me for getting an ant farm but today she actually gave me a gel one with extra gel kits, but i think Ants Canada said they were bad for ants on his channel, am i wrong ? as always thanks for the help!
As people have said they're not too great. Some people say you should repurpose it by filling it with substrate. I think it might be better to repurpose it into an outworld. Then you can connect a test tube to it and have much better visibility than with a dirt-setup.
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