3 replies to this topic

[antperson24]

I have a relatively large Tetramorium immigrans colony in a 20 gallon aquarium, and I'm having some difficulty containing them. They've lived in there for about a year, and at first they were pretty content to stay in, so they didn't try much at escaping. But more recently, as they've grown, they have tried harder and eventually they discovered they could get across the baby powder barrier. I am thinking this is because it is pretty humid in the terrarium. So I cleaned off the baby powder and replaced it with Vaseline (since it's oil based I expected that it would work better in moist conditions). For about a day it worked perfectly, but then they started sticking dirt to it and they eventually were able to walk right across it. So... I would appreciate any ideas/methods as to how to better contain them. I thought about fluon, but I read somewhere that it doesn't work well in wet areas, I don't know if that's true, though. Thanks for any help!

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

I have a relatively large Tetramorium immigrans colony in a 20 gallon aquarium, and I'm having some difficulty containing them. They've lived in there for about a year, and at first they were pretty content to stay in, so they didn't try much at escaping. But more recently, as they've grown, they have tried harder and eventually they discovered they could get across the baby powder barrier. I am thinking this is because it is pretty humid in the terrarium. So I cleaned off the baby powder and replaced it with Vaseline (since it's oil based I expected that it would work better in moist conditions). For about a day it worked perfectly, but then they started sticking dirt to it and they eventually were able to walk right across it. So... I would appreciate any ideas/methods as to how to better contain them. I thought about fluon, but I read somewhere that it doesn't work well in wet areas, I don't know if that's true, though. Thanks for any help!

Maybe add a cover on top of the terrarium and if it is not supposed to be so humid, maybe add more ventilation.

[antperson24]

I have a relatively large Tetramorium immigrans colony in a 20 gallon aquarium, and I'm having some difficulty containing them. They've lived in there for about a year, and at first they were pretty content to stay in, so they didn't try much at escaping. But more recently, as they've grown, they have tried harder and eventually they discovered they could get across the baby powder barrier. I am thinking this is because it is pretty humid in the terrarium. So I cleaned off the baby powder and replaced it with Vaseline (since it's oil based I expected that it would work better in moist conditions). For about a day it worked perfectly, but then they started sticking dirt to it and they eventually were able to walk right across it. So... I would appreciate any ideas/methods as to how to better contain them. I thought about fluon, but I read somewhere that it doesn't work well in wet areas, I don't know if that's true, though. Thanks for any help!

Maybe add a cover on top of the terrarium and if it is not supposed to be so humid, maybe add more ventilation.

Well I do currently have a cover on it, just an aquarium hood, though, so obviously it's not going to keep ants in. But that might be a good idea to get a tighter fitting lid. I would give it some more ventilation, except the plants I have in there need it humid. Thanks for the suggestions 👍

[ANTdrew]

Buy a large poster frame that’s larger than the tank. Get the kind with flexible plastic instead of glass. Cut a section to fit snugly within the rim of the tank and cut out a donut hole in the middle. Glue this rim to the rim of the tank with silicone. Put fluon or talcohol on the bottom of the rim. Remove the aquarium cover to increase ventilation as well.