# Ants in terranium!



## mikaila31 (Feb 24, 2006)

I work up this morning and found a colony of ants are trying to maka my 2.5 terranium there new home. There are tons of them in there! My mom sprayed the outside of the house with bug killer, which is why they are trying to move. I sat the tank outside, But how to I get rid of them! They are the tiny kind.


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## ombcat (Sep 23, 2004)

Springtime brings out the ants searching for food. I have the same problem in one of my rooms. Especially if you spill any fish food.
wilma


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## cturner (Jan 9, 2008)

For the tiny ants, the best home remedy for getting rid of them is by using cinnamon. You can sprinkle it around the exterior of your tanks, a thin small layer around window sills and exterior doorways also helps alot! As far as getting them out of your tank....I'm not quite sure.


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## Dryn (Sep 6, 2007)

To clear a terrarium of any pest bugs, take out any animal inhabitants and add a cup of water with dry ice in it to the terrarium. Seal the tank and let the carbon dioxide gas kill any unwanted insects for you. The plants will love the CO2 boost too! I hope this helps. You can also kill the pharoah ants with soap (unscented ivory works best) and water mixture. It suffocates them. You will need to flush the terrarium with water several times after a insecticidal soap treatment though.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Wow what a great idea with the dry ice! I never thought of that before...

Wouldn't use the soap though, I doubt you could flush all the soap away fully.


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## mikaila31 (Feb 24, 2006)

Where would I find dry ice? I have pressurized co2, would that work as well. 

The tank doesn't have any other inhabitants currently, but in the spring through fall I keep baby american toadlets. You know those really tiny ones. If I had some the ants wouldn't be a problem, as toads would just eat them. The ants are indeed pharoh ants. I squished maybe 6 before going to bed, I though they just found some food. I woke up and they had a congo line going. I found that they were coming in through a tiny tooth pick sized hole in my window sill. The terrarium was about a foot away and touched the window sill. They found a hole in the plastic wrap lid. The ants were carrying food/larva into the tank. I turned the tank light on and there was a solid 2" square of ants in the center of the tank. They all disappeared into the substrate. I put the tank outside and added a 1/2 cup of water. 

That was 7 hours ago. I got home just now and they are defiantly still in there. The 1.5" of substrate is layered, sand on bottom w/ black dirt and peat on top. Ants are digging themselves a burrow in the center of the tank. They have a pile of sand already. They are interesting, but I'm not sure I want them in there.


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## asil (Apr 10, 2009)

*Re: Ants in terranium! DE*

sprinkle food grade Diatomatious Earth directly onto the ants. It is non toxic and works very well to kill any insects. It has microscopic "shards" and basically gets into the joints etc of insects and cuts them to death. works very well and has been used for years for this. Only side effect is that you have white dust in your terrarium.

Bill


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## cturner (Jan 9, 2008)

I guess this brings a new meaning to "ant farm". Sorry for the pun.


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## Freshwater (Oct 22, 2007)

Not sure where you are located Mikaila, looks like the east coast. I know that I can get dry ice from many off my local grocery stores. You have to ask for it, as it is one of those things they keep in the back. Often they are out too. 

You might have to have your Mom get it if you are under 18. Many stores refrain from selling dry ice to younger folks 

I would love to try this just to see if it would work! I never thought of it releasing Co2 in that great of an amount. It might even turbo-charge plant growth (in the very short term). Wonder what would happen if you where trying to get a plant to flower...hmmm Experiment time!:loco:


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## Jlanders001 (Mar 31, 2009)

The dry ice sounds like a cool idea to try.

Alternatively, if these are sweet eating ants, Terro Liquid Baits sold at Lowe's work great.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=188371-54989-300&lpage=none

The workers all take some and pass it around and then feed it to the queen. It is safe to use outside the aquarium/terrarium. Just cut it open and set it down next to a line of ants on the OUTSIDE of the tank. If they like it, you will see tons more around the bait before they all disappear like majic about a day later. Just let them do what they want to. Everyone in the colony wants a taste of this stuff IME.

No more Queen, no more colony.

JTL


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I know the aggravation you're going through. I had an ant infestation in the motor area of my Eheim 2215 and another in a different tank on the floating plants, glass cover, and light. 

I rinsed the Eheim out and there were hundreds of ants in the motor area. I was worried about damaging the filter with water but I had to get rid of the ants. I then used a spray for ants with mint oil as it's effective ingredient. It's safe for use around dogs and cats but not water so I was careful to keep it outside the tank. I sprayed the outside of the filter, the floor and nearby baseboards and windowsills. 

The other infestation was harder because they were all over the top of the tank. I did a lot of rinsing of the glass cover (there are still dead ant bodies in the hinge), scooped out the floaters and their ant load, and carefully sprayed around the outside of the tank near the base so I wouldn't get it in the water.

I'll have to try the ivory soap next time as I'm always looking for something that's safe to use with my pets around.

Good luck exterminating the pests.


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