Black ant nest 😳

[danotaylor]

We get black ants in our house this time of year w all the rain.
Today I was changing water and doing maintenance on my big tank w the twin sumps and wet/dry towers. I noticed a gathering of ants w eggs on the blue planet temp controller. The ants were not present 10 days ago when o did maintenance last.
I careful removed a large number bumping them into a plastic bag, and gently misted hydrogen peroxide over the remaining crawlers, killing them. After refilling the tank I noticed some ants crawling out of the top of 1 of the wet/dry towers carrying eggs. I actually didn’t have time to immediately deal with it.
There’s no fish food stored in the cabinet under the tank to attract them. Seems purely a water/place to nest that caused their presence.
I know fish, birds and other critters eat ants in the wild. My concern is the possibility of their pheromones being released into the static water volume of a closed system.
Has anyone else ever experienced this before?
Did their pheromones create any problems for your fish?
Looks like I’m gonna have to move the total tear down and front panel resurface I planned for this summer up the calendar.

 

[wednesday13]

We get black ants in our house this time of year w all the rain.
Today I was changing water and doing maintenance on my big tank w the twin sumps and wet/dry towers. I noticed a gathering of ants w eggs on the blue planet temp controller. The ants were not present 10 days ago when o did maintenance last.
I careful removed a large number bumping them into a plastic bag, and gently misted hydrogen peroxide over the remaining crawlers, killing them. After refilling the tank I noticed some ants crawling out of the top of 1 of the wet/dry towers carrying eggs. I actually didn’t have time to immediately deal with it.
There’s no fish food stored in the cabinet under the tank to attract them. Seems purely a water/place to nest that caused their presence.
I know fish, birds and other critters eat ants in the wild. My concern is the possibility of their pheromones being released into the static water volume of a closed system.
Has anyone else ever experienced this before?
Did their pheromones create any problems for your fish?
Looks like I’m gonna have to move the total tear down and front panel resurface I planned for this summer up the calendar.

Been fighting this for years … its real bad rn with the season change. They usually almost disappear during winter. Glad to know peroxide works and is pretty harmless to a tank. I send them into a sweeper alot of times lol. Have terro and other brand traps everywhere that seem to do nothing. They get into everything. Up under lids, in the sump filters, in the tanks floating around in clumps. Real curious to see if anyone has any kind of solution to this. Had them get in between a lid of twin wall poly carb one time. I gave up and just siliconed them in there to die .

Ive been debating using Diatomaeous chalk around tank stands and what not or using the powder around the fish room perimeter. Like with most ant poison i worry of them going into the water more being dehydrated.

 

[danotaylor]

wednesday13 appreciate the reply mate. Not that I’m happy you have to deal with this as well, but it’s good to know that you haven’t had any fish related deaths or issues with ants getting in the water or filters at your place.

I wasn’t certain the H2O2 was gonna be effective but I wanted to try something that would not be harmful if small amounts got into the water column.

FYI, the stuff I used was 7.95% that I used to spray for mold after water intrusion in our basement last spring. Not sure of the over the counter 3% would work or not

Cheers mate

 

[wednesday13]

wednesday13 appreciate the reply mate. Not that I’m happy you have to deal with this as well, but it’s good to know that you haven’t had any fish related deaths or issues with ants getting in the water or filters at your place.

I wasn’t certain the H2O2 was gonna be effective but I wanted to try something that would not be harmful if small amounts got into the water column.

FYI, the stuff I used was 7.95% that I used to spray for mold after water intrusion in our basement last spring. Not sure of the over the counter 3% would work or not

Cheers mate

Aye, thanks for the heads up on a stronger peroxide … been wondering what i could spray for yrs now. With multiple tanks, stands, filters, and tight untouchable places. etc its about impossible to get these guys out. They just move over to the next area when found .

 

[jjohnwm]

That diatomaceous earth shouldn't cause any problems for your fish; it's not really a poison per se, it just works as an abrasive on the ants' chitinous exoskeletons, speeding up dehydration. It's not in any way chemically toxic, simply creates physical damage.

But there's a couple of potential problems with using it in your case. First, to be effective it needs to be dry, so that's an obvious thing here. Perhaps not as obvious is the fact that since you have seen the workers carrying "eggs"...which are actually pupae that will hatch out into the adult form...that means that the queen and the bulk of the nest is living somewhere inside the fish room, maybe even inside that very tank stand. You can sprinkle the powder all around the perimeter of the room, but unless the ants are regularly coming and going from the room as they forage, they may not come into contact with the powder enough to have much effect.

Back in Ontario ants were an ongoing nuisance in most of the houses in which I lived, but never really became a major problem. Here in Manitoba, I don't think I've ever seen more than one or two ants inside my house, even though there are plenty outside. I've never considered the possibility of problems resulting from their pheromones, never heard of it happening.

Peroxide sounds like a brilliant idea for this purpose. You can also wait for a nice sunny day and get ready with a big magnifying glass...

 

[skjl47]

Hello; The last two springs ants have been getting into my home. Last year it was large black ants maybe approaching 3/8 to 1/2 inch and tiny black ants maybe 1/8 inch or smaller. This year for the last two weeks or so just the tiny ants.
Last year I discovered the larger ants were getting into the basement thru some missing mortar between the bricks. I used some HOME DEFENCE all arounfd the outside of the house & replaced the mortar. Never found the source of the small ants but the HOME DEFENSE mush done the trick.
I also mix a half water & vinegar solution in a spray bottle and spray all around the windows & doors. The vinegar is supposed to mess with the chemical trails ants leave and so prevent them from following scout trails.
I was hooking up my garden hose yesterday and saw the small ants going in and out of a very small crack in the brick mortar. I hit the crack & area with HOME DEFENSE. Been fewer ants inside today. Hoping just stragglers already inside.

Discovered something this year. I keep a big bottle of 91% isopropyl alcohol in the bathroom with a spray nozzle. On an impulse I sprayed several of the tiny ants with the alcohol. It kills them. I find this acceptable as I do not want to use pesticides. I now have a second spray bottle on my desk as that is another place the ants like. I think this is better than mashing them. My understanding is mashing them sends out chemical alarms. Also made me itch.

I bought some diatomaceous earth last year but never opened. My brother swears by TORRO ant killer at his camper at the lake. I tried some decades ago but no good results. maybe the newer stuff is better.

I went around my house the last few days looking for ants but the tiny ones are hard o spot unless they move.

I have peroxide and will try that if the ants do not go away.

 

[danotaylor]

Thanks for the heads up re the pupae jjohnwm I will keep an eye out for further activity and see if I can possibly find the queen nest!
Thanks also to S skjl47 for the isopropyl alcohol idea! Do you happen to know of this got into the water column if it would be toxic?

 

[wednesday13]

Thanks for the heads up re the pupae jjohnwm I will keep an eye out for further activity and see if I can possibly find the queen nest!
Thanks also to S skjl47 for the isopropyl alcohol idea! Do you happen to know of this got into the water column if it would be toxic?

Id guess no on the alcohol in small amounts. I use vodka to mix up praziquantel powder. I make sure to test the vodka first so its safe for the fish . It can kill off good bacteria if too much is used or theres not enough bio to back it up. Ive only caused a bacteria bloom in a small 40b tho. My larger tanks are un affected.

 

[danotaylor]

Sweet, thanks mate. I am unfamiliar with how the isopropyl portion breaks down or degrades

 

[skjl47]

Thanks also to .avatar--xss { width: 21px; height: 21px; line-height: 21px !important; margin-right: 2px; } S skjl47 @skjl47 for the isopropyl alcohol idea! Do you happen to know of this got into the water column if it would be toxic?

Hello; I do not know for sure about toxicity. As wednesday 13 states maybe in small amounts not much risk. Vodka in an ethel alcohol so a different sort. To kill the tiny ants only takes a small spray.
About the ants placing pupa in your tank area. That, to me, is a different sort of action. suggests setting up house rather than foraging which is what my ants are doing. Perhaps try to determine what sort of ants they are.
Carpenter ants can do damage to wood structures. I do not think they eat the wood for food. Rather to make a nest.