177 replies to this topic

[sgheaton]

Thank you! I must say that my "setup" was  to try and recreate SmileForAnts' in a minimalist-like approach that could be easily modified later. 

 

Hydrostone (from Amazon because the store closes AT 5!!!) ~$20
Fish tank (walmart) ~$13
Tension rod (HomeDepot) ~$6
Play Sand (HomeDepot) ~$3

 

Fluon was the most expensive item simply because I WANTED A REALLY GOOD METHOD for keeping them in. When truthfully I don't think they've climbed on anything... oh well I've got enough until it breaks down. $35

Liquid feeder - would recommend skipping and doing it yourself. Don't be lazy like I was. $30

Epoxy was from work though it can't be more than $15 I'd imagine. 
Magnets were laying around the house. 

 

I've got fish tank...."plants" that never made it into the outworld. Besides the $60+whatever that went to byFormica because I'm lazy .... I spent ~$50 on resources. ~$120 total overall I'd say. *Rounding/estimating/guessing....

Plans for next year are to use more of the hydrostone but in a longer rectangle. I left a bare section on the base of the outworld where I'd like to put it. More importantly adult beverages won't be consumed during construction so I won't impatiently forget to sectionalize the hydration zone!  

[sgheaton]

11/30/16 - Simple update

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Checked in on the Tank-tets this morning. Everyone still appears to be alive and well. Noticed that EVERYTHING was in one chamber. The queen, all the works, ALL the brood, were in a clump together. Not sure what that means or what they are doing. The formicarium has moisture build up in the lower chambers so the hydration system/method/plan is working. I gave 'em a foil plate of some food....don't think they've touched it. Could probably use a new liquid feeder.

 

'Bout this time the queen was upset with the light coming into their world that she was moving down further into the chamber. I took her movement as a good sign, returned everything to normal, and continued on with my morning. 

[sgheaton]

12/8/16 - Simple Update II

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Anytime I clean the cats litter box I try to check in on the ants, as the litter box is in the basement. Unfortunately the pogonomyrmex queen died through bad parenting and so her journal has closed. Tet-queen is crushing it though! I'll take a picture and count her workers for a more accurate number for what she's got. Saw one worker out'n'about, everyone else was inside the "brood chamber" just ...hanging out. They seem to be doing fine, fine, just fine. 

[Saftron]

Nice, my Tetramorium are also doing well about to hit 60-65 workers with tons of brood.

[sgheaton]

1/3/17 - Simple Update

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So far the tank-tets are surviving. Doing well? Sure. I don't know. They are all in there doing their thing. I don't see any issues. Gave them a "new round" of foods before I left for Christmas. Checked in again when I was putting Christmas away in the basement. Still have movement so I think things are fine. No picture to post because I forgot to take one. No idea at what the temperature is in the basement. Cold. Cooler. There appears to be moisture in the formicarium so I put the cover back on and will check again..in...sometime. 

[sgheaton]

1/18/17 - Update with pictures!
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Oh boy pictures. Just looked in on things. I see movement and everyones just kinda hanging out together. Few stragglers. Nothing else to really report. 

 

/ 

 

/ 

 

Edited by sgheaton, January 18 2017 - 6:45 AM.

[Leo]

does she still have wings?

[noebl1]

I need to look, but I think some of my Tetramorium Sp E from this season still had a wing or two going into hibernation.  Mine are in the wine cooler at 46F look just like this above... all pretty much in a semi-circle around the queen and larvae.  They move a little, but don;t react a lot to me checking on them.

Edited by noebl1, January 18 2017 - 6:32 PM.

[sgheaton]

Hah...yup. She still has wings. This would be the "queen that I left and forgot about in a test tube," and so I'm not sure if that was the reason or could have been. 

Out of all the tet-queens I gathered this year, she was the ONLY one to not lose 'em. I've seen other workers ride them and thought that would be the end of them, but she is still having them. They don't seem to be a problem for her or anyone else.

[XZero38]

That sponge looks a bit dry

[sgheaton]

Yeah kinda. It isn't a water log as I didn't want it CONSTANTLY WET. At least not anymore for how I've been treating them. The chamber directly to the left of them has condensation and there is build up on the outside on the right. Might not be IDEAL as I'm "losing moisture to the air" but this isn't DUNE. 

The main check was seeing if I had any randomly dead workers but so far I haven't found any ant bodies so I'm doing alright. That's my mentality for these guys at least. 

[sgheaton]

2/13/17 - No picture update

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Still hanging out in my basement. Kinda realizing I should have made a lid/topper of sorts during the winter months as I'm not wanting to have an open tank upstairs where there is CARPET! I won't do anything about it until I actually have to bring them out of hibernation because that's how things go, right?

 

Looked in on them this weekend. Movement was more obvious. The lot was all fairly active with the queen "in her hidden chamber hole" spot.. Glad to see they are all still doing well with my very poor feeding regiment. I don't have any bugs available that I think about using cooked meats that are used for dinners and don't. Same story as always when it comes to feeding. 

I believe Zero, another Colorado Anter, has removed his tets from hibernation. Colorado is high 50s/60s right now. I'll look around (kinda) to see if I see any other ants moving around. I'm expecting more snow come April/May as Colorado does silly things like cause a false sense of Springtime in February. However, if they are out'n'about, instead of the brooding chamber like they have been all summer, it might be time to bring them out. After the lid of course. So.. next month.

[sgheaton]

2/16/17 - False Winter

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Colorado has no idea what its doing this winter. 73 degrees in February.

Was outside with my cat...looked down to see two sunflower seed shells moving. Sure enough..two lil' tetras out doin''' their thing.

 

This is a little bit sooner than I was expecting. Guess...that means its time to bring the tet-tank out of the basement and back upstairs. I say this, we'll see when it happens. I haven't made a lid yet and I really need to get that taken care of before they are exposed to the freedom of carpet! Ugh, means I need to get food for them again. I'm just going live vicariously through Zero and fascinate over CrazyLegs Myrmecia Brevinoda

 

Edit:
Fed them  half of a grape (dunno if they did anything to it), some sun flower seeds (pretty sure they didn't like these but with the outside ones movin' shell pieces, why not), and then a small piece of my gluten free cookie that had some frosting on it. I figured sugar paste might be wanted.
 

Edited by sgheaton, February 20 2017 - 6:12 AM.

[sgheaton]

3/16/17 - Out of Hibernation
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Hey! It's been a month since my last update. How about that? It's the small fun things in life.. like ants.. der... 

 

Alright!! So Colorado has been really nice with weather lately. I've flipped a few stones in my yard and saw a few lone ants scurry away. I actually had the wild hair to actually DO something and knowing how rare those impulses are for my anting, I acted on them and brought the tetramorium-tank out from my basement. Also decided that I'm going to put the tank on this lil' ledge deal in my living room. I think I'll look at them more here and its easier for others when they come over. We'll see how long I leave it here as I am semi-terrified of escape. I've got a lid design in the works but that's a future project.

 

Decided to add, and turn on, the heating wire just to see if they are wanting it. 

 

It's kinda difficult to see in my half-attempted pictures, but there's a worker hauling a ...I don't remember if its a cricket or housefly leg... on the right side. Was rather humorous to watch her attempt it. 

 

Realized they are probably famished as I am a crappy caretaker. Swapped out a new liquid feeder and then cut up some chicken that fell off of my frozen California Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza, 'cause I eat like a king! 

Wiped off the lips of the top portion with a wet rag, then applied a liberal coating of fluon to the top lip as it was easier. Did lighter coats underneath and on the sides. Finally, did an upgrade to a washcloth light shield as its flimsy and I can look in on things easier. Refilled their water tower, forgot to shut it off first though, made the out-world wet. Think I'll be good for a while.. 

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I looked in on them this morning. Boy was I kinda surprised when I saw an ant-tank in my living room this morning. Darn you adult beverages!!!!!! Upon the morning inspection, I saw that someone had moved a chunk of chicken inside their chamber. A couple were huddled around it so I'm assuming it was graciously accepted. 

 

Future plans:
1-Find where I put the ...its underneath the other tank....Daaggghh just remembered..OK! PUT the fish tank background on the tank.
2-construct the lid

3-profit. 
 

Edited by sgheaton, March 16 2017 - 6:24 AM.

[XZero38]

Its interesting to see the size difference of our tetra colonies even though the queens were caught at roughly the same time.

[sgheaton]

I am fairly confident in saying the colony is <20. I don't think any died during hibernation but I didn't give it the grand inspection I probably should have. 

Comparing how we raised/housed them.. you used a super fancy AC set up for awhile. ..I forgot about my tetras and had to resort to the ones I super forgot about in the desk drawer..... 

How big is your colony? You near the 100 mark yet?

 

Edit:
Man....We really should make more of an effort to meet up this year.
 

Edited by sgheaton, March 16 2017 - 7:16 AM.

[sgheaton]

3/17/17 - 24 hr after hibernation

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Tried to find dead workers... kinda hard to see through all their debris and dirt. I realized I've got (lookin' like cobwebs) mold growin' in what I WAS TRYING to make the entrance. I should have known they would do whatever they want to do. My pimp hand is weak. Cleaning that out will be easy though as they were kind enough not to make the trash room in one of the corner spots. 

They've brought in more pieces of chicken. I'll do my best to provide an insect this weekend. Luckily my neighbors daughter has exotic pets and so I can get one from her. Might pilfer one from my yard while its chem free. Flipped a few rocks and saw ants *Zero made a post about what he saw. Appeared to be the same specieis* so I'm feeling ok with the move out of hibernation. Tested the heating wire which they clearly desired. EVERYONE is grouped together now in this nice row. Lots of movement. Everyone is doing something. Took a picture and counted 26. I'll grant myself 4 for a simple number by just assuming 4 were out of camera. 

[XZero38]

I am fairly confident in saying the colony is <20. I don't think any died during hibernation but I didn't give it the grand inspection I probably should have. 

Comparing how we raised/housed them.. you used a super fancy AC set up for awhile. ..I forgot about my tetras and had to resort to the ones I super forgot about in the desk drawer..... 

How big is your colony? You near the 100 mark yet?

 

Edit:
Man....We really should make more of an effort to meet up this year.
 

I'm pretty sure my colony is well past the 100 mark

[sgheaton]

Didn't you leave your heating wire on ALL the time as well? I know I was cycling it last year. Right now mine is ON and is remaining constantly on, as unsettling as that is. I'm needing to go back through my notes for (I think it was Terry) talking about them. Come Sunday I'll let you know if I've doubled in size from the heat. ..Though continuing the thought train, you fed a lot of flies and other proteins as well... Better parenting provides more ants, who would have thunk it?

[sgheaton]

3/30/17 - Simple Update

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Took these pictures the other day. I'll write about them today, days later, because that's how you stay up to date with current events...

 

Them lil' crap factories are doing whatever they want. They've discovered it's much easier to navigate through the formicarium via the glass wall. As such, they've decided to place sand particles there making "better sealed" chambers. You know the silicon sealant that is the inside seal for fish tanks, that is JUST enough space for tetramoriums to navigate through as the formicarium can't be fully flush against the glass. I knew this going into this setup and frankly I don't care at all. 

 

What was bothering me was how ....I need to back track and see if I officially named this one yet, but if not, she will become the new (Z). Anyways, queeny has decided to set up shop on the otherside of the sponge magazine in what I call the danger zone.

I took it as the formicarium wasn't moist enough and she was requiring moisture. The entire brood and all workers piled in here. Didn't take any pictures of that but I did start to water more regularly. I have the tower constantly on off and am manually administering water to the sponge magazine as I'll forget that its "ON" and wake up to a flooded outworld. Things were ok. 

 

So the new ..path to the hang out zone became: 

Between the danger room, which they've really taken a liking too, they've set up shop in the front entrance. Well...they have piled a ...pea sized amount of sand into the hole I drilled and then burrowed into that. It's...kinda funny. Not sure what's causing them to constantly be on the move. I've uped my viewing of them to two times a day (before work, after work) and would notice they are in one of these 3 spots..or somewhere in between. Not sure if its stressful for a colony to move around constantly....or if that's just common, everyday behavior. Either way..I figured I should probably turn on the heating wire.

And holy cow completely forgot about the heating wire. Condensation-sation-sation... 

No need to water so frequently! Forgot that the system worked fairly well when monitored.

 

Overnight, the new brood chamber as been declared: 

Actually it's split. Some are by the heating wire, the rest is with the queen in the ..front...room thing. Just gonna leave it for a little and see what happens.