10 replies to this topic

[dboeren]

I bought a 3ml byFormica feeder thinking it would be a great upgrade to my colony not having to refill their sugar water every other day.

 

However, something seems to be wrong with it, all the liquid leaks out and now I'm going to have to try to clean up the mess.

 

Also, not sure whether it's because of the leak but my colony has moved out of the lower nest area and into the outworld which means I can't clean it because that's where all the ants are

 

Has anyone else had leaks with their byFormica feeders?  Is it something I can likely fix, or do I need to contact the company?

 

[dboeren]

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[futurebird]

Some ants respond to moisture near their nest by putting sand on it. If a water feeder lacks a steel mesh filter this can cause the feeder to leak more, draining the feeder quickly. I would switch to giving them a test tube with a cotton ball filled to the top with water until you can find a better feeder or modify this one. The smaller byformica feeders don't have mesh filters and many ants will do this to them draining them. 

 

UndergroundCiti designed a feeder that is *short* and designed to foil this problem:

 

https://www.etsy.com...UndergroundCiti

 

(I don't see it in their shop at the moment but I'm asking if they will have it again...)

 

Sadly the tarheel and other small outworld nests do not have enough space for the larger water feeders that won't be emptied by this sand packing behaviour. 

 

I'm also concerned that they have brood in the outworld. Is this their only outworld?

 

They seem cramped. 

[dboeren]

I just got back in town after a couple days vacation.  Tuesday morning they were living in the nest area below (this is a Tarheel Mini-Hearth).  Got home tonight and they're on top for some reason.  Because the leak happened at the same time, I'm assuming these are possibly related, maybe a humidity thing?  The lower nest looks fine, I didn't see anything weird down there and since it was temporarily unoccupied I did go ahead and sweep it out some.

 

But yeah, they moved the whole brood and queen upstairs.  I'm going to try to get them to move back down with some lights and/or opening the top for a moment so they react to the air pressure change - hopefully this will convince them to go back to the nest.  I just can't leave the top open too long or I'll get escapees.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

It's important when using liquid feeders that you have them screwed in properly. Sometimes ants will still plug them with sand or other particulates and will flood the area anyways. It really depends on the species. I would clean the feeder out, make sure it's dried completely, and try again. Maybe don't fill it completely this time just in case your colony jams it full of sand again.

 

Also brood in the outworld means something isn't right condition wise in the nest. Too humid? Not warm enough? Too crowded?

[futurebird]

If that's the whole colony I take back what I said about them being cramped. This nest should be the perfect size for them. 

The lower area could also be too dry, cold, or who knows. 

 

If the water drained fast it may have dripped into their nest and they would have thought it was a rain storm and panicked and moved out thinking it would flood. If this is the case they should move back on their own without too much coaxing. 

[Mushu]

As futurebird said, the smaller ones don't have a mesh and drains easier if they stuff sand in there. I also have the UndergroundCiti 3 ml, 5 ml, liquid feeder that is similar to byFormica and they actually have bigger drain holes than the byFormica, so it will drain even easier. The only one that drained on me was the  UndergroundCiti 3 ml as the ants stuffed a lil bit of sand on one of the feeding holes. This won't be an issue in a bigger outworld, they shouldn't(not wouldn't) try to stuff the feeder. I normally put it as far away from the entrance as ants have a propensity to try to stop water when it's near their nest, in this case the entrance. Your other feeder is taking up too much space. I find using 2 byFormica I don't have an issue. If UndergroundCiti  made the holes smaller, I'd think it would be similar to byFormica. I tried UndergroundCiti for the fatter, shorter 5 ml, but those have even bigger drain holes so I can see it draining even easier than the 3 ml ones they have. 

 

I haven't really had major problems with leakage and stuffing, only once with the UndergroundCiti 3 ml, but I've also been lucky they've dumped the trash in the corners that don't stuff the feeders. However I do find the byFormica doesn't drain as easy(it'll drain a little when they happen to stuff some sand from throwing out trash on one feeding hole), due to the smaller holes. 

 

As for the ants moving into the outworld, I think they would move more because of heat, how's your heating setup?

Edited by Mushu, April 5 2024 - 3:58 AM.

[dboeren]

There is a heat cable that runs underneath one side of the lower nest.  It's been like that for over a month now, no changes in heating.

 

I agree the water thing is enormous, that's how it came from Tarheel.  As soon as I can get them to move downstairs again I can move the byformica feeder to the far end away from the nest and move or remove the water.  I do also have a NestMate so they can get water from that too.

There is some debris stuffed in the byformica feeder, so most likely that's the root cause, I just need them to move back to the nest so I can do a proper cleanup and rearrangement.

[ANTdrew]

Expose them to direct sunlight, and they will quickly move down into the darker nest section. Alternatively, blowing on them frequently with a straw will get them moving, but it looks like you'll have trouble removing the lid without all heck breaking loose. 

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

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I think i see it. I don't believe it is leaking,  I think they drained it.

I see the liquid had a color to it, and i see bits of debris in the base of it have the same color on them.

 

My ants do this to these, kind of arbitrarily. But they will 100% for sure do this if i place it to close to their nest exit/entrance.
I use these as both water and sugar food, and any close to the nest will get stuffed with debris/dirt/whatever, causing the liquid inside to channel out around it.

 

When i place it farther away it's just kind of arbitrary if they decide to be naughty with it or not.

I'd say about 20% or so of the time they will drain the farthest away one when i refresh it.

 

I think they did that themselevs rather than it is leaking/defective.

 

My ants do this with the screen liquid feeders too, but maybe not as often.

Edited by Full_Frontal_Yeti, April 5 2024 - 9:34 AM.

[dboeren]

Opening the top a little and blowing lightly did the trick, they packed up and went back to the nest and now there are just a couple of them hanging out in the outworld with everyone else underneath.  I did have two escapees but both were recaptured and dropped back in.