Creating The Ultimate Ecosystem Vivarium
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- čas přidán 17. 11. 2023
- I've always wanted to try creating the ultimate ecosystem vivarium, but I felt I wasn't quite ready to take on such a complicated project. A successful ecosystem tank would require a very large setup and a working knowledge on biology and the husbandry of various species of animals. But after over 14 years of keeping ant colonies and many other creatures, and now that I have moved the Ant Room to a larger space, I felt it was officially time to attempt the biggest project of my life - the ultimate ecosystem vivarium. This is Part 1 of making the plans and I will be needing the help of the AC Family, my subscribers, to construct it and choose which ant colonies will be living inside the vivarium. Hope you enjoy this week's episode! Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
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OMG, AC Family! All your species lists! Thank you!!! Super helpful! I'm taking notes, guys. Love you and thank you. This vivarium build will be for us! Ant love forever! 💯❤️🐜 #RoadTo5M
If it is possible it would be awesome if you could add some silky ants.
Been watching your videos for a long time (since El Dorado) and it makes me proud to see how far you have come! You’re at the point where you’re almost singlehandedly advancing the study of myrmecology!
I have experience caring for many animals, and degrees in biology, and I'll suggest you start with smaller, safer colonies or species. More aggressive and/or dominant species can quickly take over even a larger limited space and then you just have a bigger single-species tank. So err on the side of being conservative. Like in cooking, you can always add more of an ingredient, but you can't easily remove it once added.
@@davidsmith8997 I agree 💯
I would love to see you add a young weaver colony. They were the first type I thought of when I heard you say more than 1 ant inside! 🥰
Not fire ants, black crazy ants, marauder ants or leaf cutter ants. Any of them would destroy every other colony and half of the other creatures and/or plants.
Leaf cutters aren't in his area stupid
+1
I agree but what about the new found ants? That's the only thing I question
Bow.
Good point
I used to watch this channel years ago. Just popped into my mind and to see how you grew is insane. Good to be back!
Welcome back! #AntLoveForever
@@AntsCanada same that is why I’m am here six days after the video was posted
@@Sheepking327 I always come back every once and a while to see how things are going normally every few months.
I’m the same
Same
My dude, u deserve to be on animal planet or something with your own series ive learned so much from u
Thanks for watching! #AntLoveForever
He's definitely what Animal Planet was when it still had a huge focus on animals, his channel is really nostalgic in that way. Reminds me of when I used to watch Meerkat Manor as a kid.
I thought this guy actually was a part of Animal Planet when he used the old intro
He wouldnt be able to say Vivarium a million times in 10 seconds on animal planet though :D
Yes he does
Yes you *should* add the water feature‼️
1. If it's a "tropical" biome, the tropics get more rainfall than any other area on earth.
2. The relatively small # of ants that might drown will just be part of population control!
3. A water portion will *increase* biodiversity more than it limits it.
4. As long as the setup A. Has proper drainage layer under the soil and B. Has the water properly isolated through use of pond liner/glass/etc. then it wont have much negative affect on the terrestrial inhabitants! In fact, it will likely be beneficial to many!
5. It's been done already so we know it works 😂 (the channel is NordicAnts I think that has done many multispecies eco-tanks 🤔)
I agree with all of those points! I’ve been keeping ants, isopods, and springtails since 2016 and dart frogs since 2021, and had fish before that pretty much my whole life. So I’ve had a decent amount of vivarium experience and agree what you said can definitely be done. Also I’ve watched NordicAnts for several years and seen how successful his much smaller setups than this video have been.
I think a roughly 20-50 gallon pond area of this tank would be an awesome addition! I’d love to see the interaction of fish in the ecosystem, and of frogs and other animals in the tank.
😮😮😮😮😮😮😅😮😮😮😮😢😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮
😅😮
DO NOT ADD YOUR UNNAMED SPEICIES, IF you were to add them and they fail to establish you could lose Valuable research into a brand new species or a less viewed species... so no on the might be new type of ants
Also water features look amazing
For the water, I'd probably put a waterfall on one end, then run a very narrow, but increasingly deep 'river' along the glass edge the length of the terrarium. That would make any fish/amphibians viewable without taking up much real estate while also giving all creatures access to water without needing to invade 'enemy territory' to get to it. For the ants, I don't have preferences, but a suggestion: for species you're unsure about adding, make a few places to add 'portals' into the vivarium. Then you can move existing colonies close and run tubes to connect their existing setups to the vivarium. They can explore, perhaps colonize...but if they start either getting too invasive or they're getting killed off too quickly, the portal could be closed off again to keep both setups safe. It would also be very cool to have a whole group of 'networked' colonies, each with their own home, but still able to interact.
I love that idea
It should work. Maybe an add-on smaller section dedicated to water creatures, and connected to the main body of the vivarium.
Very wise points!
I think there needs to be no river, Just a waterfall into a pond only on one end that trickles slowly for water movement. Can be however deep it want to be if its on 1 end. Too big it would just interfere way too much with digging space and land area
There is actually a wildlife park in Goldau, Switzerland, that uses a very similar idea to keep wolves and bears in the same enclosure. But they give the animals the chance to separate themselves if required: Both the bears and the wolves have retreat zones where the other species has physically no access, simply by the different size of the animals.
Regarding the dimensions, having a narrow tank would be problematic if you intend to keep predator species in there. I recommend you increase the width to 5 feet just so that the predator species can have some room to go around eachother's territory. It would also help give enough room for your waterfall.
As for the camera work, you can put a cartesian machine in the top of your tank with a camera on the end. Hell I'll help you design one if needed.
For making your pond there's an old landscaping trick adapted to terrariums you can use, glue a clear polycarbonate container to the bottom of the tank and build your pond inside that. The water won't be able to seep out into the nearby soils. Alternatively if you want to use natural materials you can use clay as it's much less permeable to water than soil but creatures can tunnel through clay so it's unlikely to remain watertight forever.
I agree
I agree!
This is brilliant
5 feet? my man, his space is bigger than the old ant room, but it’s still limited.
I totally agree
I just recently discovered this channel, saw the "A War broke out in my rainforest vivarium" video, and it's kind of funny to me that the species he absolutely vetoed are the ones that were accidentally seeded into that vivarium.
I KNOW!!!! 😭😭😭
@@AntsCanada I kinda hope there's some sneaky ant-mimic spiders that have been accidentally seeded, because they might help keep the more vicious ant populations down. There's something very humanly creepy about a predator that pretends to be one of the colony, secretly preying on it.
I was just thinking that also! I started watching a couple weeks ago. Today’s episode referred so much to other episodes that I felt I had to start from the beginning. I had a bit of a giggle about how three ‘definitely no’s are in there!
Same exact experience here. 😆
Me too watched the “A War Broke Out” then realised I need to go back to the start!
I don’t have much of an opinion on the other ants, but personally I think that it would be best to keep the unidentified ants in their own separate terrarium. If they need to be further studied then you wouldn’t have easy access to them in such a large area and they run a risk (though it may be small) if being attacked and defeated. Though if they are successfully identified, then the choice to add them would be all yours.
Exactly what I was thinking.
No point risking possibly new species.
I feel that the carpenter ants and trap jaws would be the safest bet as neither of them would over hunt. As cool as weaver ants would be I think they'd get too big eventually, regardless of their starting size, and overeat thus killing the balance.
Weaver ants are very aggressive as well
I also feel the Spades would get overshadowed by being a member of the series, than being the unique and important ant colony that they are.
@@catherineharrison8626 yeah, I think keeping the spades more easily observable is important. Trap Jaw and one of the Carpenter Ant colonies first (I'd say yellow, for the contrast in color so the ants are easy to distinguish at a glance), and then if all goes well and there's still plenty of space you can always add more! far easier to add a new colony down the road than take anything away
This!
Yeah, you're right.Neither carpenter ants not trapjaw ants prey on other ants but weaver ants do.Weaver ants would probably exterminate weaker ant colonies within a month.
I feel that the idea of the combo of ground dwelling species in spades and trap jaws would work well. The spades are small enough in colony size and stature that they wouldn’t compete with the trap jaws. The trap jaws also seem ‘passive’ enough that both species could work as long as they set up territory and colonies well spaced from each other.
For the arboreal ants, both species of the carpenter ants (black and yellow) could work as well. It would be interesting to see how they would interact and where they would choose to build nests considering they are of the same genus. The Cromatogaster (probably didn’t spell that right) species wouldn’t be a good idea in case you are interested in seeing how they act if they are indeed a new species. Such a big tank would make research difficult. Unless that research was how they interact with other ant species and predators.
In the case of the weaver ants I feel that it would be a bad idea in case they are completely dominant. However you could add them in a little after the start of the tank so the other species could become acquainted with the environment so they could have a chance with the weavers.
The carnivorous plants would also be an interesting idea for a population control and also to see how the ants interact with them. Like whether they learn to avoid the plants.
Overall this whole project sounds very interesting! Keep up the good work!
same bro
Yes I agree with this one
Yes
I agree with you. But I thing thet putting in a (Unidentified Acrobat Ants) is good aditya.
damn you said what i said just way better.
I think picking the ant species that will theoretically create the least problems should be the number 1 priority. This whole concept is an amazing yet ambitious project and you don’t want to make it even more challenging on yourself.
Yknow it’s really refreshing to see someone so passionate about their channel. You’re just so passionate about ants it’s so pure. I love it.
🙏🐜❤️🌿
You should add a flooding system, so that there isnt always a large body of water, but water does build up in relatively large ponds that allow for a few little water critters to survive in like frogs. And also that way, the ground will be watered, and when it finally drains/evaporates, the ground creatures will break them down so the water does not dirty up.
I made a special effort and researched how the respective ants behave and came up with this list!
First of all, our "The Spades" - These cute little lions fit perfectly into the setup for the floor, they don't grow extremely quickly which doesn't mean that they will conquer everything too quickly. In addition, they are not too aggressive which keeps the growth of other insects within the vivarium healthy and controlled.
For the ants that live a little higher up, my first idea was to add the "Blades of Midas". However, these are already significantly too big and were immediately the top predators in the entire vivarium, even with predators against the ants.
That's why I say here...
The "Yellow Carpenter Ants", possibly also with the black ones... But as I found out, if there isn't enough space, they can quickly fight each other? So this would only work if you spaced them far enough apart. What happens in the future will be a surprise for all of us. It is of course possible that these coexist peacefully. Also because the sizes are currently very clear, it could really be successful. But you can take this risk.
That's my opinion on everything that would fit in a vivarium of this size. :)
I'm really looking forward to the adventures we'll have with the Vivarium!!
I'm gonna comment on this one in addition to thumbing it up. This person seems to have read up on their species and has good reasoning for their selections
Yes, the carpenters are probably the best for these Vivariums
Perhaps a bit crazy but what if you could add a certain bull ant sub species that are smaller ants and the colony grows fairly slow.
Interesting points... thank you. Ant love forever!
I'd do these two and maybe a leaf cutter any species
I think the spades and the golden carpenter ants would work well together. They would also have a good color contrast for filming.
i love that the more things you make, the more beautiful and greater they become. I'm incredibly proud you're brilliant at what you do!
Thanks for watching! #AntLoveForever
@@AntsCanada advance congratulations for 5m subscribe ❤️🥰
If you want something big but still visible, you could do a very big square with nothing at the center. So each side have an outside and inside wall. Then you could use one side as mountains and cut the lower part so you could go "inside" the square (between the inside walls) and have a 360° view
i actually love this idea
Like a square donut?
@@velocity1292yes, that's the idea
A set up like that might provides more safe places for the ants colonies and helps to control "local" weather
It would be cool to start all the ants from the same early stages to see how to evolve together…
Agreed
this
Dude you can open an ant museum!!!🤯 every breed of ant can have a giant vivarium suited for their specific needs. That would be dope. I’d go to that museum for sure🫶🏼🤘🏽
@AntsCanada
me 2
Same
it's called Zoo.
I think Carnivorous plants are always an excellent choice to add when making an ecosystem, but deciding which plants you want all depends on what environment you plan to have. A lot of carnivores love to remain in very wet environments. But some nepenthes (tropical pitcher plants) can handle less water and more misting, another factor for nepenthes is if they are highland or lowland. The lowland nepenthes love higher heat at day and night, while highlands require much cooler nights for optimal survival. Many sundews are good options, I’ve found cape sundews and Adelae are fairly easy to grow in a tropical setting, and also won’t consume an unreasonable amount of ants. The Venus flytrap loves sunlight and prefers winter dormancy which without could exhaust the plant which would make it a difficult choice to keep alive. It’s possible an Australian pitcher plant would be a beautiful choice as well, but my luck hasn’t been perfect with them so I don’t have much to add on them. Overall I think a nepenthes would likely be the best choice overall because it’s typically tougher than most other carnivores plants.
If you are adding weaver ants make sure to include Myrmarachne plataleoides (spider that mimics weaver ants). In wild the are fun to watch..they try to hang around weaver ant colonies to avoid predation, but they don't get too close. Same with some stilt legged flies
156 Likes and no comments? Lemme fix that
(Start a chain in the replies to make this comment popular!! I rlly want this in the vivarium too)
@@Angelayy it has 164 likes now
please no bro my arachnophobia can't deal with this 😭😭
@@511kinderheim. Trust me u won't even know it's a spider unless someone tells you..they act and look like ants
Yeah
If your going to go big might as well have a really good above and below, plenty of vegetation in the upper part for the ants and other predators but with possible water feature flowing down to a shallow area(allows ants to escape)and then further to a deep area of water. This allows for the water animals to come up to shallow water and disappear into the depths.
I've seen a couple other people suggesting this as well in the comments about adding a rain system and fully support this idea!! Had a crested Gecko at one point (a lot of friends wanted me to domesticate it, hold it in my hands and just hang out) but I wanted the primal of the animal like in its natural habitat, so I also think on this end go big or go home but also make it to where its a practically hands off approach ( beside maintenance and cleaning), the survival of the fittest- can they all deal with rain fall, flooding, a possible dry time? The rain and flooding will take away the elder and weaker of the ants during a raining season and then during a dry season the weaker would fall into the water or get taken out by a predator trying to scavenge water for the colony during a dry season.
Definitely the Blue Ants you saw at Mt. Banahaw. We could learn a lot about their behavior in a setup that large that imitates a natural rainforest ecosystem.
It’s crazy coming back to this after finding out that all the straight up no species ended up sliding their way into the ecosystem 😂
Suggestions:
1) useing a narrow water feature to help divide one colony from the other restricting underground contact.
2. Including pitcher plants and fish predators to help maintain the border and keep the water clean.
3. Best would be a small monogyne speices of ant.
Vivaria are really hard,. I mean REALLY hard. Since it is your first attempt I would only add 1 or 2 ant species period. Possibly carpenter ants + trapjaw ants to avoid them occupying the same niche. Only after the vivarium is mature and thriving and you learn enough from unavoidable mistakes, only then introduce additional spiecies (usually with additional space to allow them to acclimate first). While the idea of a vivarium with many different species is as awesome as it gets its usually better to stick to only a few, the more species inside the less control you have in case something goes wrong. It is also a good idea to have 'safe' spaces for the animals inside the vivarium (inaccessible to majority of predators) like tiny islands for frogs/salamanders, different density soil for worms, tiny openings for jumiping spiders etc,
Personally I'd suggested building a vivarium such as this in the center of a room instead of against a wall, would allow for more viewing angles and create an amazing centerpiece for the ant room as a whole
And add lots of stress for any reptiles.
@@LeperMessiah2 good point 😂
This is the kind of passion that makes platforms like this so special. Keep being awesome!
Thanks for watching!
I'm still torn regarding the water feature. Wouldn't it be soooo cool though to have a trickling stream running through the setup, though??!!! Ahhhh! It's actually a matter of Presentation/Aesthetics vs Functionality/Practicality. AC Family, pls help...!!!
I think it would be best to prioritize the more practical aspect of the vivarium. Although with that being said you could always add a small water feature that doesn’t take up too much space (5%-10% max). I think this would be good because you could add amphibious creatures in, along with still giving all the creatures plenty of space to live in.
Idk, this is just my opinion.
you should add a complex water system where the water is sort of deep but add a stick connecting the water to the land
Make it small
(7-10%)
One way to prevent ants from drowning in your waterfall is to install a shallow ramp, or a sloping shelf, near the water's edge. This can provide the ants with a way to escape the water, without having to swim up a vertical wall. You could also consider using a pump to circulate the water, which will create a gentle current and make it easier for the ants to navigate through the water.
Another option is to install a floating platform near the waterfall, which can act as a rescue station for any ants that do fall into the water. This platform could be made from a lightweight material like foam, which will reduce the impact of the falling water and make it easy for the ants to clamber back onto shore.
It's also important to keep in mind that many ants are capable of building rafts out of their own bodies (like you mentioned with fire ant), which could allow them to float on top of the water. However, depending on the size and depth of the waterfall, this may not always be a viable way to escape.the key to preventing ant drowning in your waterfall is to provide them with a way to escape the water. By installing a ramp or a floating platform, and by providing a gentle current in the water, you can help ensure that any ants who accidentally fall in have a chance to make it out alive.
You could try making a waterfall that runs underground and it will run like an underground river. But there will be a lake area around where the underground river will end. The lake area can be where the water critters can come up at and a beach like area for insects to get their water at. Yes the underground river would run around the glass edges so you can look in.
I feel like weaver ants would be a species you would have to add later after everything was established and you had proven you had an abundance of prey creatures. The other preferred species of yours sounded small enough in size to coexist as long as there is enough food. And a big yes to carnivorous plants!
1. Snap-Dragons
2. Yellow Carpenter Ants
3. Maybe Weaver ants, but seems risky.
Note: I do love the idea of a small "river" going across the ecosystem to a small lake area. I get that maybe that would be hard on the ants but perhaps if you separated the water from the dirt using hard plastic of some sort so it didn't make the dirt too moist? I don't know much about how this works so I'll leave it to you but great video, been here for years and have loved watching your work! Ant Love Forever!
I think an amphibious water feature is a great idea. Definitely add carnivorous plants! Trap jaw ants, Spades, and blades of Midas are my list!
Carniverous plants need special nutrient-lacking soil and distilled water, so I don’t think they’d thrive at all. Not to mention multiple types need yearly brumating time
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES put the mystery ants in there!! They need to be protected and kept safe for science.
After reading the other comments the bicolor might be good for the ground ants, although we know the trap jaw ants will chase away other ants. From when the pharaoh ants got in.
If you put the two carpenter ants one opposite sides that would probably work. They would have space and time to grow before encountering each other.
True
m. bicolor is arboreal btw, they wont live well w/ camponotus
edit: they nest in soil
Trapjaws are a must, I would love to see them flourish in an ecosystem like this
Yes! Trapjaws are my favorite :D
What you've got to also remember about water features is, at least in most cases, their primary feature is for aesthetic purposes. This isn't necessarily through lack of effort, it's just very difficult to implement such a chaotic and unpredictable element into artificial habitats. It can be done but I'm glad he decided against it to avoid the many complications it can bring.
Ive left for months now ive came back,im proud of what youve become,AntsCanada.
Welcome back!🐜🐜🐜🐜
I recently joined
My combo vote is for the Trap Jaw, Spades, and Yellow Carpenter ants to be the lucky contestants! All 3 have very distinct visual features from each other and would make this ecosystem feel even more diverse than it already will be. They seem like the most sensible sized colonies to add. The rest of the options have either far too rampant growth, or are much too unique to risk adding to this experiment. We gotta remember just how much non-ant life is going to be present in this new vivarium, and we must be wise to the fact that they need homes too. The most surface area of this enclosure will be in the soil, so that is why I chose 2 soil dwelling species and only 1 wood dwelling species.
I think it's best to add most of the new/starting ant colonies because they won't have a huge head start unlike the larger colonies and that will also show us how starting colonies hunt pray in there early stages. First colony: black carpenter . second colony: the spades.
Ant Canada I just wanted to say how relaxing I am finding your videos, they are taking up more and more of my time, but do not worry I am retired and single so what better way to pass my time is a few hours each day watching your videos. The Small World in you Vivarians are facinating to watch, Thank You for you Dedicated Passion. Tony in England.
Glad you like them!
I don't know how I stumbled across this rabbit hole, but praise the CZcams algorithm. I know what I'm going to be watching for the next few days.
Thanks for watching!
I think the yellow carpenter's and the trapjaws would be a great fit for this project, considering the safety of the ants it would probably be the safer bet. Plus imagine the aesthetic videos and images you could get of them inhabiting different areas and the possible dramatic build up of them eventually meeting eachother for the first time, as is part of the science behind the project😮
i think the acrobaddie ants with those two would be a very slay trio that hopefully wouldnt completely decimate eachother
I think you should add turtle ants to this amazing ecosystem as the have these amazing and cool doorhead ants keeping their colony safe, they also like to live in bushes and small trees, in tropical areas livening inside wood and bamboo
yea keeping them in a wood nest wood look perfect😇😇😇
That would be interesting, however Turtle ants (celphalotes) are not native to the Phillipines (where he lives) and he dislikes the idea of bringing invasive ants to native ground (which is also illegal)
@@xetric5313wait doesnt he live in canada?
@@antillity not anymore
Weavers are a wild card and I’m hesitant on the special species we are studying but we all trust you our creator of worlds to make the biggest one we’ve seen so far.
In my opinion you should add the trap jaw ants, the yellow carpenter ants, the acrobat ants and the weaver ants. I think you could add two ponds of sorts like a bowl so earth worms and other animals wont wander in and drown. Im going to be waiting for the next episode ❤
Earthworms cant drown
@@katarzynastefanska6894 didn't know thanks for the information
@@katarzynastefanska6894 yes they can, but it takes a while
Dear Mikey,
Upon reflection, I would advise against utilizing the spades, assuming they are indeed the species you identified as #555. While your discovery is noteworthy, I believe further research is essential to understand them better. Observing their behaviors in the wild could provide valuable insights. Additionally, it would be prudent to allow the colony to expand and to ensure the presence of backup queens as a precaution. This is my perspective on the matter.
Best regards and with a shared passion for our ant endeavors,
Ant love, forever.
Ashton Zee
Loved your sketch at the end. Let's see how it'll look irl. :)
I just hope this terrarium survives for ages to come.❤😊
I think one of the most important factors to consider is how fast the ant colonies grow‼️
Carpenter ants for instance are notoriously slow to grow in # compared to most other ants. That's why I think it would be best to either grow those colonies to a few hundred ants before introducing or only put the slow growing or smaller colonied species in to begin with! So they can grow _with the tank_ 💯
It's so much fun to watch this for me, as I started with the "war in Pantdora" video :D You had ideas. Nature had its.
Lol me to as i saw this Video which ants he dont want in the vivarium its kinda funny that they are Natural in there without his Knowledge
@@SuperConan2002Yeah same
I would love to see both carpenter colonies, at least one of the Weaver ant colonies and MAYBE the acrobat ants colony - if you can get another one established - in the vivarium! I don't think it's a good idea to risk the already established acrobat ants given how important they are to science and they are just too cute 🥰.
YEEEESSSS! This MAN, This Creator of antworlds is finally going to do it. I really really hope this turns out the way you plan it man, also wanna see it after few years about what becomes of it. I know this will be epic and one of the best vivarium of the channel. Keep it up #antloveforever
have u even watched the whole vid
Such A Happy Momment Right???
@@funzer1150 It sure is brother.
I hope so, too but with YOUR help, we can pull this off! Ant love forever! ❤🐜
@@AntsCanada :)
Trap jaws and Weaver ants are a must, however:
You should 100% get a very small Weaver ant colony so that way they don't instantly overwhelm everything, and lots of tall plants with large leafs are recommend as well so that way they have enough space for themselves so that way they don't intrude on other animal territories in the ecosystem
Do we know if weaver ants are getting added? Trapjaw ants already have been added
The snapdragons and spades would probably work. Adding both the carpenter ants as they are might be an issue but really won't know until you try, weaver ants would be cool as well but the fear is they would dominate and wipe the tank clean so a younger colony would be nice to watch grow
What I recommend for the pond issue is you Dice the tank up into three portions dry wettish and very wet that way they'll be a place for basically everything
This also provides a habitat distribution so you can select different ants who will prefer different areas.
If possible it would be awesome to have a termite colony in here. Loved your termite colonies and they seem relatively peaceful with other insects.
The termites wont kill other things but im p sure any ants will kill the termites
Would be interesting to watch
@@WillOfTheFungalNetworktermites and ants have formed peace treaties in the wild before. I can’t say how common it is though.
Termites would be cool.
Bruh how did he make the first 7:40 minutes so amazing. It’s like I was watching Walking with Dinosaurs but with ants.
Dude I just came back here after 5 years. How in the world did it get to small and jars to a literal aquarium of ants
🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜
Spades
Their defensive features are great for living in a vivarium and their black colour could be shown with a comparison to other colour ants
Yellow-carpenter ants
They are yellow so it would be easy to diffirintiate the species of ants and they are mostly tame for not annihilating the whole area
best one by far
My favorites would be The Spades and the new Yellow Carpenter ants. They live in different areas and they’re both smaller colonies so they’re less likely to fight each other. Would be amazing to watch them grow together and the yellow carpenters would add a cool pop of color!
I would have included the crematogaster ants, but if they’re an undiscovered species the risk of them fighting or being hunted is too great in my opinion. They should be preserved on their own for further study 😊
I agree, along with the inclusion of the trap-jaw ants
fr
yes
@@-Galaxy-2695
@@-Galaxy-2695that would overstep the 2 colony max rule. Besides we are not trying to overcrowded the tank. You seem to me one of those people who put beta fish in small ass Glassworks then wonder why they die.
for the water thing! i think you should do what you want! but you should definitely add a rain system. that way there’s a compromise for both sides!
I’ve been happily living with my leaf cutter ants ever since i watched this channel years ago. You were the reason I found the motivation and it’s good to see the channel and all the colonies doing well
That is awesome!
I think you keep the unidentified ants and the ants you discovered be. Just in case they do get wiped out by other ants or predators. I think you should add the weaver ants after you get the other predators established bc then their numbers can be dwindled down and they don't dominate too quickly. It'll be a rough start for them but that's how it be sometimes
i agree
Seconded
Great idea(:
If you end up adding carnivorous plants, make sure their soil is low nutrient this time. You could try more nepenthes, but I think sundews, butterworts, or bladderworts would be pretty cool too.
epiphyte plants could be a solution
@@scvcebc hmm. I’m not sure how feasible that would be. Utricularia humboldtii is a tropical epiphytic blatterwart that grows in the water wells of bromeliads, from South America, the Tepui Mountains, maybe that could work, although actually getting this species might be a hassle. A carnivorous bromeliad might work but tbh, carnivorous bromeliads are boring.
No particular species of nepenthes comes to mind, although they would be a great fit for a tropical terrarium. Same with Mexican bladderworts, and I dunno about tropical sundews. There’s also sun pitchers, but those are rare, expensive, and grow at high elevations, although I have had success growing them in a terrarium at room temperature.
My suggestions for the ant species are these four: trap-jaw ants ( Snapdragons), Meranoplus bicolor ants ( Spades), carpenter ants, and PLEASE!!! ADD WEAVER ANTS!!! (Note: if you do add weaver ants, I think you should give them an extra leafy plant, so they don’t conquer- or destroy- the other ants, looking for a better plant.)
1. For ant species, a trap-jaw ant colony + carpenter ants would be a good combo, as the carpenter ants will steer clear of the trap jaw ants, because they are not aggressive, and if they get attacked, they will block their nests up with their giant majors.
2. Do NOT add weaver ants! they are very aggressive, and will take over the tank. If you have read about them, you will know this, as one colony can take over MANY trees.
3. Generally, small ants are going to be a bad idea, as they will get targeted by predators less, and will start to take over the tank because of numbers.
Great video and it's only part one! Thanks for letting us be part of creating our vivarium. Ant Love Para Sempre! God bless!
En català?
Ideas/suggestions you can use:
- I like your placement idea but my first thought would have been putting it right in the middle of the ant room almost as a divider of sorts so you can get all angles and can keep an eye on them as you feed your other ants?
-what about a shallow stream/river? Like one you would find hiking in the mountains. One of those shallow streams that has rocks sticking out and are extremely shallow so no ants will drown and if any do fall in they can climb on the rocks and stay there until they can get back on there own.
-carnivorous plants would be a good idea! It will help with not only the population control of the ants but also the other insects! I would recommend a pitcher plant or one of those sticky sun dew plants if you do decide to go along with this idea!
I think trap jaws, spades and yellow carpenter ants are a safe bet. Why the yellow ones? Well, every other species is black and it would make for a little colour variation adding the yellow ones. Crematogastor ants seem to be an awesome addition. I wouldn't add asian weaver ants right away, but maybe wait until the other colonies have been established, so that a young weaver colony won't overpower everything quickly. That might work. Also I would skip the water feature, but maybe you could ask SerpaDesign for tips how to make a small water feature for your vivarium without it becoming a drowning hazard. Maybe he has some good ideas. Anyway, I'm really excited to follow this new journey!
I remember always watching your video's, I was OBSESSED with your channel, but after a year, I took a break, but just today, I've refound your channel, I'm very happy I've found this great channel again!
Welcome back!🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜
Weaver Ants are my favorite ant species and I think it would be cool to watch them weave nests (high or low) across the vivarium, i think you should totally add them to the tank, to remove your fear of them getting too powerful you could add a equally strong ant colony to rival them, (which could also be problematic) or many smaller powerful enough colonys that withhold the might of the weaver ant, if you could find a possible way to add them (like adding a young one so it would have to compete with more developed colonys and develop more slowly like you mentioned) I would be ecstatic 🐜
My personal preferences for the ant species are the Spades and the Unidentified Acrobats. They're both relatively small, and with this really new type of setup, caution is key so smaller colonies might be better.
I think the spades,carpenter ants and leaf cutter ants,I say all these ants would be great for the vivarium so let me tell u why ,1# The spades the spades we do not know much about so it would be fun to observe how they would react act and thrive/survive,2# Carpenter ants carpenter ants are fun to observe and could be the ants that could make the vivarium really pop out and it would be fun to see how carpenter ants live inside the wood,3# Leaf cutter ants leaf cutter ants are intriguing they eat the fungus or the little white buds (IDK) so it would be fun to see how all the other animals would react if they found the fungus also you said in the video that you wanted to keep the herbivores population in jeck so since leaf cutter ants cut leaves 🍃 which the herbivores eat some herbivores will get hungry and potentially starve. That was my reasoning for each ant.
And absolutely add a water feature or maybe multiple water features and some carnivorous plants and maybe you can add a steep hill with a cave near the (glass) wall
Because it would be fun if we got to see the diversity of life in but im only asking
As someone who has beeb watching this cannel on and off for multiple years now. YESSS I have been waiting for this for a longggggg time! Happy to see your channel almost reaching 5 Million!! AntCanada family, this is a certified Fire ant momment.
Thank you! Ant love forever! So much more to come!
My list of ants:
Soil ants: I think the Spades would be a nice set of ants because they are cute.
Wood Ants: The yellow carpenter ants to bring a little colour to the rotting wood it would look like sap coming from the wood due to their yellow colour
I would love to see some Weaver ants it would be cool to see them starting to build their nest so a Young group would be nice to see them starting and as they are from your area if their nest gets to big you may be able to remove it and set it free in your own back yard.
1. Soil dwelling ants:
I. The Spades (Species #555) , because they are one of the new ant colonies and would match perfectly with the soil dwellers due to their small size. In my opininion, they also blend in with nature better than any ant colony.
II. Leviathans (Asian marauder ants) , maybe the current colony may be a bit big but a smaller colony could work. I am still unsure about this.
2. Tree dwelling ants:
I. Wood-dwelling ants , if you dont add the weaver ants in, then you can add both of the colonies but if you do end up adding the weaver ants maybe that will be either the yellow ants or maybe a no itself.
II. Cromatogaster ants are also a good ant species to add, as I also don't see a problem with it, but if these ants do get into contact with other species, it would definitely be fatal for them due to their small size.
III. Asian weaver ants, are one of my favorite ants for 3 whole years. Their leaf baskets are also the best shelter I have ever seen. This colony again through the history is still a work in progress but for this huge project, these ants may be perfect. Just they control the population a little bit too much. They also may help in scientific studies as you have never kept them in such a huge space.
Thank you ANTSCANADA for letting us choose to our greatest and being part of this great project. ANT LOVE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!
💯❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜
Im allergic to ants and i don't really like them but this guy's love for ants really captivated me in such a way, i can't help but think it's cute how much he loves them like they're his own children
how can u be allergic to ants
@@UltraPancake-qe6vh I have a mild allergy to the acid they spray when defending themselves, one time I stepped on an ant colony and my whole foot bubbled up like a second degree burn. Im mildly allergic to most insect venoms, only strongly allergic to bees and wasps.
@@UltraPancake-qe6vhyou can also be allergic to water
@@astick4831 wat
Small idea: make a net to the window so that when an ant species has its nuptial flights they alates can go outside and help the species grow
Also maybe you could add termites even tho it would be kinda hard
Yeah but what happens when ants go through the net
@@Dipz110-1the point of the net is that they dont
Yes they would with the small holes and they could chew the net and get through
@@Dipz110-1yeah plus not to mention the risk of an invesive species escaping and going outside and foundining a succesfull colony and doing damege to the ecosystem out side the ant house
First : Why would ants canada introduce an invasive species ?they would destroy the entire ecosystem
Second: The net can be made of mesh and that cant be chewed
Antscanada you're amazing you inspired me now I'm an antkeeper in training love from South Africa you are a great biologist you deserve that five million
Awesome! Thank you. Ant love forever!
Not a bug or ant fan but this turned into some of the most engrossing and interesting CZcams I've ever watched. Excellent work, looking forward to more!😍
Welcome aboard!
18:40 Those check marks just added on several hours of therapy for me 😱
I just wanted to say thank you @AntsCanada for allowing me to be a small part of the ants and your journey for caring for them all, i made a list of comments 3 in total that are all tied together
My list is this: Trapjaws for the soil and the yellow carpenter ants for the trees.
I wouldnt mind seeing the spades or the black carpenter ants in there as well but the spades in particular I personally really like seeing upclose in their current set up. Theyre also a recent discovery species so i feel like having them in a seperate enclosure is better for documentation. (even if they are an already known species just discorvered in a new location) This goes double for the acrobats. Even if they do get an offical name by the time the project is done, i feel like it would be better to keep them seperate to get better documentation and footage. As for the weavers a younger colony it MIGHT work but the the sheer potential they have to dominate is just a bit too similar to how destructive an invasive species is. I think it would be better to leave them out for now. I also like the idea of having carnivorous plants in there.
I desperately wish technology was advanced enough to have a mini robot ant on the inside recording everything.
While i dont have a specific list, there are 3 big things i think are worth considering other than what you’ve mentioned already. 1) the ability to tell the ants apart. Having different colored or noticeable size differences will help the less experienced ant fans be able to tell who is who in the case of an ant kerfuffle. Plus it’ll look cool. 2) Ability to transfer the colonies. Ive seen in your other videos that it’s hard enough to transfer ants that live primarily in a test tube. Fighting a larger colony tooth and nail to get them moved into a different habitat may be more trouble than its worth. 3) If something happens, are you willing to loose them? Hopefully this wont be the case of course, but I especially thought this when you mentioned your possibly undiscovered ant species. If one colony is unexpectedly aggressive and wipes out one or multiple other colonies, i would hate for the wiped out colony to be one of your absolute favorites, or one of scientific significance.
Hopefully this can help in the decision process!
My vote is for the Spades and the unidentified acrobat species. Maybe one of the carpenter ant species, and a new colony of trap jaw ants.
I think it would be a good idea to start only with small colonies, so they have more time to grow into their habitat and establish territories without having to worry about being out-competed by your already well-established colonies.
I also really want to see a "rain" system that periodically waters the entire enclosure for a couple of hours, and causes the pond to vary in depth over time. Like, the bed of the stream is made of something that doesn't soak through to the soil, and between rains it's just a motorised trickle that keeps the pond at about half its max depth, but during and after rains it turns into a mini river that diverts a lot of the excess water to the pond. So you can have this sort of intertidal-ish (I can't remember the actual word) wetland area for terrestrial and semi-aquatic species to take advantage of.
I think having 3 different ant colonies should be the maximum from the beginning, if you’re trying to separate them as much as possible weaver ants up high at one side another species down low in the middle and the last species maybe at a medium hight on the last free side in rocks. That would work well with your sketch. So excited to see how this goes!
While the vivarium will be huge, the sheer amount of various life forms required for an ecosystem makes me think that the best choice would be to limit the amount of ant colonies to two or three total. It's also important to think about the visuals, meaning that distinctly different looking species would be ideal.
The Snapdragons are the best choice for ground dwellers with their clear preference in territory and hunting habits. I think they should be the only ground dwellers, however, since a vivarium of that size will need a water feature of some kind, and even a small one will limit ground space with ideal conditions for ant nests significantly.
I think the yellow carpenters should be another colony placed in the vivarium to make use of the vertical space. They would also contrast the snapdragons well, so any potential encounters could be caught at a glance. Technically the unidentified species could share the upper parts of the vivarium with them, but I greatly dislike the idea of placing a colony that's potentially so scientifically significant in an environment with a real danger of extinction. Maybe if you had another colony, or caught one.
I'm extremely hesitant to consider weaver ants an option - if you did find a young colony to introduce to the vivarium, a large part of the project would likely need to be dedicated to ensuring that the ecosystem has penty of their own predators, leading to what effectively feels like building two different ecosystems layered on top of each other. It might be possible to do, but a lot more can go wrong with weaver ants. Ultimately I think a less aggressive arboreal ant species would be better as the potential third.
How have I been watching your videos for ten years now. This is a stable part of my life, thanks for always posting and educating.
Wow, thank you!
The vivarium is going to be so amazing! This is definitely exciting! Maybe you can have a mist feature. I don't know if you should add weaver ants, you haven't had the best luck with them. I think you should add both of the carpenter ants.
For a water feature, you could go small but relatively deep, so you could still have fish. If you put it at one end of the enclosure, there'd be plenty of drier land area in the rest of the tank.
Bro just said “It will take many months and a whole room to make a giant ecosystem tank, let’s do it”
Trap-jaw, carpenter, weaver and acrobat ants. For animals I love watching the underwater ecosystem so fish, frogs, crabs, crayfish. Lastly the land animals, I like reptiles any lizards, snakes... will be amazing. THANKS FOR THIS PROJECT!!
By the way i saw on another channel that massive ants like trap-jaws or even marauder ants, they live good with tiny ant species like pavment ants. PS WOULD LIKE BOTH CARPENTER ANT COLONIES ADDED
I really like the idea of the Trap-Jaw ants, plus both carpenter ant colonies. Maybe try again with the Weaver Ants too. 🐜
Obligatory I am not an antkeeper, but I have been watching for at least 9 years now, so I've gotten familiar with the natures of a lot of the ants on the channel. Ill try to be as detailed with my reasonings as possible with the best of my knowledge, but I'm not an expert.
Tank setup: Since you plan on having the tank extend into the center of the room, you theoretically could double the width of the tank and have access ports on both sides of the vivarium. It would be a lot more work to maintain, seeing as though its double the volume, but if this really is a once-in-a-lifetime project of epic scale, it could be worth it. You could also create a glass/plexi arch on the bottom of the tank that extends up into the soil. This would give a better chance of having ant tunnels and rooms be adjacent to glass and you could get some cool shots from underneath, but it would be more difficult to get material for that.
Water Feature: If you are aiming for a true environmental piece, there definitely needs to be a water feature of some kind, but your concerns are true as well. If you did a small creek or a larger pond, I see two options of keeping the soil safe for other life in it. you could create a non-permeable barrier around the water feature that prevents moisture from entering the soil. This would give full control over the moisture in the soil based on artificial rainfall or humidity. Alternatively, you could add a semi-permeable barrier that only lets through a small amount of water. These barriers are designed for houses to keep out large amounts of water, but allow water vapor through, but that little bit of permeability could create a small inflow of water into the soil that (and this would require some testing) would either create a nice gradient in soil moisture or fail over time and let too much water through. Basically, safe would be non-permeable, and interesting would be semi-permeable.
On the other hand, if you go for small water features just to provide hydration for creatures, you could just feature a small pond in opposite corners that provide water for creatures in different territories, as if there is only a single water source, one ant colony could dominate, and they could drought out competing colonies who could only drink from rain.
Soil creatures:
I think youve got this one in the bag. Youve made enough terrariums that you understand what makes good soil biodiversity, so I will defer on this point entirely.
Herbivores:
The list of ideas you had seem like a good mix, though a lot of these creatures breed like rabbits and could overpopulate. It really comes down to the chosen species and the balance of easy prey like caterpillars, and difficult prey like crickets or roaches.
Predators:
I think predators is the one area to watch out for the most, as ants will occupy a similar territory and niche as other predators depending on the ant species chosen. If we end up with more detritivorous ants like carpenters, a higher number of predators will be needed to manage populations, but with we end up with more predatory ants like the trapjaws, they may end up fighting with other predators too much for food, so youd have to scale back the number of outside predators. Though, if the ants have different natures and niches, like carpenters in the trees and trapjaws on the ground, you could balance the predators accordingly. More arboreal spiders and less centipedes for example. I'll hold exact ideas until we have a ant vote and decide which colonies will inhabit the vivarium as that changes the requirements for predators.
Ant Species:
Two things that mark a bunch of ants off for me off the bat. Scientific observation and aggressiveness. Aggressiveness is pretty obvious, as you're trying to create a stable ecosystem, we dont want a bunch of hyper-aggressive, expansionist ants that will start wars. This marks out the fire ants, the crazy ants (yellow and black), the leviathans, and any nomadic ants. The second concern is scientific observation. There are species on the channel that I think are better suited for isolated setups as we are still learning about how they live in captivity, or about their unique properties. For these, I would mark off species 555, the dracula ants, and chromatogaster ants.
There should also be a consideration for ants that form sororities, as having a multi-queen colony would absolutely out-compete in a closed environment like this.
This brings me to my list of species I think would do well in the setup:
Trapjaws- Moderately sized so they dont flood the whole setup immediately, aggressive, but in a smaller territory than other species, so more defensive in my mind. Would act as a great predator for smaller cohabitants. 8/10 for the soil niche
Carpenter ants: More detritivorous ants than other species on the channel and from what I know in person, a lot less aggressive than other species. Would make for an excelent arboreal species if povided the right habitat, and if placed on opposite sides of the tank, may cohabitate with another arboreal species, be it the other carpenter colony of the arboeals. Some would consider them a more "boring" species as they aren't as flashy as others, but this could be a great way to make them stand out, being in a large showcase like this. 7/10
Polyrhachis: If it weren't such a big colony, this would be a top choice. Their nests are awesome and they look super cool, but they would dominate the vivarium due to their numbers, and I don't think the other colonies would have a great time establishing with such a looming threat. 4/10, but 10/10 if a new colony could be established for the purpose of this tank
Weaver ants: For the same positives as the polyrhachis ants, I think it would be cool to have weavers in the tank, but they seem to be much more ravenous and with their acid spraying abilities, they pose a greater risk to the vivarium as a whole. I dont think they are a good addition, as even if they are a new colony, if they get a foothold and start to outpace predation and competition, i feel they would ruin the tank. 2/10
Hope these ideas and thoughts help or at least provide some ideas for thought! Lots of love to the AC Family!
Bro wrote a hole book
@@hovercart3954 hey, a good answer to a detailed question sometimes ends up a bit long winded.
Could you make a huge rectangular tank, with like a hole in the middle with space enough for one or two people to stand inside? Like climb in from below or above. That way you could get right in the center and see/record things you might not usually be able to see.
Instead of a big pond, you can do small streams of water (inche[s] wide) which stimulates the big rivers and streams of rainforests but on a micro scale!
We need an everday or every week update for this!! ❤❤❤
yes
trapjaws and carpenters sounds good! I would be hesitant about adding too many colonies, even with a vivarium that size. The other animals need room as well, where they can be safe from the ants and other animals. Maybe start with 2 or 3, then add more if you think the vivarium can handle a higher ant load later?
Also agreeing with others on not adding the mystery ants or the bicolors. They're a bit special to risk.
(Also as a termite fan... Termites might be fun)
AntsCanada: "No fire ants or black crazy ants in our ecosystem."
The fire ants and black crazy ants: "And I took that as a challenge."