Ants and removal

[Ceez]

Hello yall. So like the title says I've got some sporadic ants that have decided to make there appearance just like every other summer. There's not a ton of them but they're always present and annoying. I have left them year after year but I'm wondering if anyone else has this problem and what you do to mitigate it? All of my food is sealed and stored properly, have never had ants in any of it. I just think they enjoy the water and my pothos sticking out of all my tanks. I haven't used any kind of chemicals around my fishroom or near my water storage and fear what could happen to my fish so the closest I've sprayed outside the house is about 40-50' away.

Anyone else have ant problems?

 

[GaryE]

I used to get fire ants on the floor of a garage fishroom. That was "not barefoot season". They would vanish after a couple of weeks, but I always found them from the stinging sensation. .

California though. I imagine patterns are very different. Get a fan that turns off and on at random, then fill the tank with killies so they can feast on falling ants. It could be a genuine habitat tank...

 

[MaloK]

Insects deals with life in a very blunt manner... If this exit is blocked, there's another one somewhere... That lead to peoples blocking a wasp hole outside their house and having buzzing walls afterward...

If you are spraying outside the house you kinda trapping those inside that perimeter. and they will have a tendency to go back the wrong direction...

Sadly the real only permanent remedy to these kind of recurrent invasions of ants, on the radar coming your way to find something that is not there.

Is to find where the leak is, and seal it for good.

 

[Colin_T]

Ants and fungus gnats are the bane of my life and have been since I moved to this place. I have them digging up soil between the pavers outside, living between the wall and cupboards. The main nest is under the concrete slab and I can't get anything under there to kill the fuplie queen. They get into the pantry, cupboards, on my furniture, they are a nightmare.

I have a spray bottle with Methylated Spirits (95% alcohol) mixed with water to make a 60% solution of alcohol and spray them any time I see them. You can also spray them with vinegar but make sure the spray nozzle is plastic and not metal or it rusts.

I mix up borax with sugar (equal parts) and dissolve in hot water then put it around the ant trails. They take it for a few hours and then stop but it kills some of them.

I have turned the hose on and let it trickle over ant holes for an hour to drown them and it sometimes works but I can't kill the main nest, which is under the unit.

I pour white vinegar on them and their nests when I can get to it. A 2 litre bottle of vinegar poured over and around the nest will normally wipe it out.

Unfortunately the only way to exterminate them is with an ant poison and they are all pretty toxic to everything, especially fish and other aquatic organisms.

Fish will ants and ant eggs.

Black ants around the house will help reduce the chance of white ants (termites) getting into the house. The two species fight each other and the black ants usually win.

 

[GaryE]

Diatomaceous earth, that old water polishing filter media is said to have the desired effect if the workers with it stuck to them contact the Queen. It's a long shot. The hippies at the garden centre swear by it, but I haven't had need to test it out.

Bugs and fish tanks are a problem, as fish do eat the bugs, and that limits how we can go to war with them.

 

[MaloK]

I mix up borax with sugar (equal parts) and dissolve in hot water then put it around the ant trails. They take it for a few hours and then stop but it kills some of them.

Try to lower the concentration to 3 parts sugar to 1 part borax, so the ants does not notice the poison at all.

 

[Fishfunn]

The only effective way I found to eradicate ants was by using a product called Termidor. It is used by exterminators to kill termites and different varieties of ants. Basically, you use a new dedicated sprayer and will use it only for Termidor in the future. You spray a mixture of water and the concentrate anywhere where the ants are and can walk through. When they walk over the dried spray, they carry the residue back to the nest, where any other ant they touch will kill them and the queen. I bought the concentrate at a local chain called Do-It Yourself Pest Control. It really works to kill the whole colony.

 

[Colin_T]

The only effective way I found to eradicate ants was by using a product called Termidor.

Termidor contains Fipronil, which is one of the poisons I don't want to be near. Bifenthrin is worse but Fipronil isn't much safer. The OP might not be so worried about it but it's a no go for me.

 

[Fishfunn]

@Colin_T Sometimes you cant get the job done with any other methods and you have to use it.
You got to be careful in its use that is for sure.