30 Gallon Tank Ants!!!

[FishCentral]

This morning while stopping by to feed my fish (6 Glow Tetra, 2 African Dwarf Frogs) I noticed a pack of ants hanging out near some dried up fish flakes on the rim of the tank. I proceeded to clean them off only to find hundreds of these wee buggers scurrying about in the lighting fixture. I disconnected the electrical source to remove the lights but in my efforts many ants tumbled into the water (these are the little ones that are no bigger than a chocolate sprinkle on your ice cream). A feeding frenzy ensued and my tetra got their fill of little ants (and the frogs ventured out as well to my surprise). I'm not so concerned about the dietary impact as I am about dozens of ant carcasses now lost in my tank and if there will be any severe chemical imbalances as a result?? This is a 30 gallon tank serviced by an under-gravel filtration system with no live plants. Any suggestions (and yes I've done more deep clean around the tank area since this happened).

Thank you!
Mike

 

[flopperfrog]

This morning while stopping by to feed my fish (6 Glow Tetra, 2 African Dwarf Frogs) I noticed a pack of ants hanging out near some dried up fish flakes on the rim of the tank. I proceeded to clean them off only to find hundreds of these wee buggers scurrying about in the lighting fixture. I disconnected the electrical source to remove the lights but in my efforts many ants tumbled into the water (these are the little ones that are no bigger than a chocolate sprinkle on your ice cream). A feeding frenzy ensued and my tetra got their fill of little ants (and the frogs ventured out as well to my surprise). I'm not so concerned about the dietary impact as I am about dozens of ant carcasses now lost in my tank and if there will be any severe chemical imbalances as a result?? This is a 30 gallon tank serviced by an under-gravel filtration system with no live plants. Any suggestions (and yes I've done more deep clean around the tank area since this happened).

Thank you!
Mike

I think youll be alright, especially if you have snails or shrimp theyll eat them right up. id say just make sure there isnt any food dried on the rim anymore...im not sure how long those ants will stay tho, at least their exoskeletons

 

[Dechi]

I wouldn’t worry too much about the ants in the tank as your regular water changes will take care of any nitrate spike that might happen. I don’t think it will though.

I would worry more about having an ant infestation in the house. Having that many on your fish tank means there are thousands of them somewhere, most probably. By taking care of that, you won’t have anymore in your tank. To help prevent them coming back, make sure there is no food lying anywhere around the tank.

There shouldn’t be any food remains around the rim. Are you feeding too much ? Or is the flow of water in the tank moving the food against the rim before the fish can get to it ?

 

[Stripedbass]

I don’t see where it would cause any damage to your water. You should be careful with the ant poison. I’m assuming you are going to try to kill the ants. I’ve used Terro liquid which main ingredient is borax which is bad for fish. If you put it away from the fish and keep the tank very clean you should be fine. I usually put it right in the middle of their trail.

 

[FishCentral]

There shouldn’t be any food remains around the rim. Are you feeding too much ? Or is the flow of water in the tank moving the food against the rim before the fish can get to it ?

The morning ritual is accompanied by my 3 and 5 year old girls who sometimes don't reach quite over the top when they sprinkle the flakes in - so lesson learned there!