aphids on lotus

[Sgooosh]

All of Colin's suggestions sound more fun (though none approach the molten aluminum concept) but simply pouring a kettle of boiling water into the entrances will probably be enough to wipe out most ant colonies. Probably much safer for the environment, too.

yep! I won't go too overboard on it, maybe just a little flamethrowerI can use just a bit of alcohol spray and the magnifying glass lens trick.
Boiling water is also a good idea. I need to find where all the ants went though...

 

[Colin_T]

sounds good, I will find some type of cheap oils to flush the ants.
will the bleach fumes harm fish if it lands in the water?

Bleach can harm fish if it gets into the water but it's unlikely to get in unless you splash it about.

 

[Colin_T]

All of Colin's suggestions sound more fun (though none approach the molten aluminum concept) but simply pouring a kettle of boiling water into the entrances will probably be enough to wipe out most ant colonies. Probably much safer for the environment, too.

The environment is screwed anyway. I haven't tried thermite on them, I reckon that might work.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

The environment is screwed anyway. I haven't tried thermite on them, I reckon that might work.

Thermite would probably be effective; just don't blow up your house. But avoid using Vegemite. That stuff is deadly to all forms of life.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Disclaimer: Many of the comments in this thread are posted purely for humorous effect. The Fish Forum does not advocate the use of explosives, flammable materials, or molten metal to rid aquariums of pests, nor do we take responsibility for the results if you should choose to try. Ask your veterinarian if explosives are right for your situation.

 

[Colin_T]

Thermite would probably be effective; just don't blow up your house. But avoid using Vegemite. That stuff is deadly to all forms of life.

We're happy little vegemites, as happy as can be.
We all enjoy our vegemite for breakfast, lunch and tea.
I can't remember the rest of this song because it's from the 70s.

 

[Uberhoust]

We're happy little vegemites, as happy as can be.
We all enjoy our vegemite for breakfast, lunch and tea.
I can't remember the rest of this song because it's from the 70s.

I remember a number of ad jingles myself, "Sometimes you feel like a nut" "Sometimes you don't" pretty sad that still sticks with me.

In regard to the ants, why not just let them live. They do a lot to the balance of the environment both cleaning up dead critters and providing food for others. You will never get rid of all the aphids. I know in my ponds, particularly about now, I get a lot of aphids, on the other hand it is also when the minnows really grow and reproduce (I don't feed them other than a treat from time to time). My water lilies are over 25 years old now, the aphids do set them back a bit but overall they do well. Since I have taken a more hands off approach on my ponds I have had a lot more wildlife around my ponds from dragon flies, rabbits and squirrels, and even the occasional heron.

 

[Sgooosh]

I remember a number of ad jingles myself, "Sometimes you feel like a nut" "Sometimes you don't" pretty sad that still sticks with me.

In regard to the ants, why not just let them live. They do a lot to the balance of the environment both cleaning up dead critters and providing food for others. You will never get rid of all the aphids.

tbh, I might just let them live, because I get tons of protein-high free food every single day...

My water lilies are over 25 years old now, the aphids do set them back a bit but overall they do well. Since I have taken a more hands off approach on my ponds I have had a lot more wildlife around my ponds from dragon flies, rabbits and squirrels, and even the occasional heron.

We have this giant red dragonfly that likes to sit on our plants now, maybe because he is living in the pond.
In the early season, ants are sorta dormant, they only started popping out recently, and only the smaller plants are being attacked, the larger plants with leaves out of water are totally fine.

 

[Sgooosh]

Thermite would probably be effective; just don't blow up your house. But avoid using Vegemite. That stuff is deadly to all forms of life.

if vegemite is dangerous, marmite would be NUCLEAR!
(Btw how can I even get vegemite in the US? I had it once at a yeast fair)

 

[Colin_T]

If you want Vegemite you need someone from Australia to send it to you. This is odd because the company that makes it is Craft and they are American.

Ants must die. I hate ants nearly as much as I hate certain aquatic snails in fish tanks. I know black ants do good things but when I kept birds I had to keep an eye on the female birds sitting in nests. Sometimes the ants would go in and eat the females alive because they wouldn't leave the eggs or babies.

When I first moved into the crappy unit I'm currently dying in, I got mugged by ants. The first night I slept here I got woken up by millions of ants all over me, my belongings, the walls, ceiling and floor. I sprayed everything including myself, stripped off and had a 2am shower, then washed my clothes in hot water. The following night the ants tried it again and got gassed again. The third night they tried again and then I went nuts and bleached all the ant holes around the unit.

After that I spent the next 6 months killing ants that were swarming over everything including the toilet and toilet paper, and yes I flush every time I use it, so they weren't there looking for last nights dinner. Apparently the ants go after the dunny paper and other paper products to build their nest. They do this when there is no plant matter available for them. And they drink the dunny water during hot weather.

I am still dealing with ants today and I moved in here in January 2021. I have one ant nest that is farming scale insects on my plants and they live under the concrete slab and I can't get them.

On top of all this, I have also had to deal with millions of flying insects coming in here every night and driving me round the bend. Not the S bend, just around the loony bin bend.

And last but not least, in January this year I was exposed to Bifenthrin (a real nasty ant poison) that was sprayed around here because there were 4 tiny little ant nests on the access driveway, which is over 60 meters long. And none of those ant nests were near my unit. So those 4 little ant nests got me gassed.
DEATH TO THE ANTS AND ALL ANNOYING FLYING, CREEPING AND CRAWLING INSECTS.

 

[Sgooosh]

If you want Vegemite you need someone from Australia to send it to you. This is odd because the company that makes it is Craft and they are American.

Ants must die. I hate ants nearly as much as I hate certain aquatic snails in fish tanks. I know black ants do good things but when I kept birds I had to keep an eye on the female birds sitting in nests. Sometimes the ants would go in and eat the females alive because they wouldn't leave the eggs or babies.

When I first moved into the crappy unit I'm currently dying in, I got mugged by ants. The first night I slept here I got woken up by millions of ants all over me, my belongings, the walls, ceiling and floor. I sprayed everything including myself, stripped off and had a 2am shower, then washed my clothes in hot water. The following night the ants tried it again and got gassed again. The third night they tried again and then I went nuts and bleached all the ant holes around the unit.

After that I spent the next 6 months killing ants that were swarming over everything including the toilet and toilet paper, and yes I flush every time I use it, so they weren't there looking for last nights dinner. Apparently the ants go after the dunny paper and other paper products to build their nest. They do this when there is no plant matter available for them. And they drink the dunny water during hot weather.

I am still dealing with ants today and I moved in here in January 2021. I have one ant nest that is farming scale insects on my plants and they live under the concrete slab and I can't get them.

On top of all this, I have also had to deal with millions of flying insects coming in here every night and driving me round the bend. Not the S bend, just around the loony bin bend.

And last but not least, in January this year I was exposed to Bifenthrin (a real nasty ant poison) that was sprayed around here because there were 4 tiny little ant nests on the access driveway, which is over 60 meters long. And none of those ant nests were near my unit. So those 4 little ant nests got me gassed.
DEATH TO THE ANTS AND ALL ANNOYING FLYING, CREEPING AND CRAWLING INSECTS.

woah! Thats absolutely crazy! I will definitley try to get rid of them. However the ants here never make a generic ant nest and always hide amnongst rocks. incredibly hard to find the nest.

 

[Magnum Man]

all this time & no recommended plain old fashioned TNT??? at minimum you get a new pond... at least if the neighbors don't make you move...

 

[Sgooosh]

all this time & no recommended plain old fashioned TNT??? at minimum you get a new pond... at least if the neighbors don't make you move...

awesome idea! I would love to try that but I only have a bomber plane missle at home will that work as well?