Beware Of Ants...........

They like to start ENTIRE new colonies in your canister filter. I saw a couple of ants in my room and thought nothing of it, that was about a week or two ago...........as I'm doing regular maitnence ( yes, at 2:30 in the morning, haha) I saw the most horrific thing in my life. I Keep my canister behind a speaker, you can see it from the top but not straight on. I went to go clean it, when I moved the speaker out, all you could see was this massive wave of black moving about the floor........ it was disgusting, My fist instinct was "grab the raid" but that wouldnt work for obvious reasons, I used a diluted bleach solution and sprayed everything down, There were at least a good thousand ants on that canister filter and the towel it rests on, but the real fun began when I lifted the canister off the motor (magnum 350, the sealed motor thing) I guess the ants really liked the heat from the motor and set camp in there. I can't even begin to explain in words how many ants there were in such a small place. There were also a good 30 to 40 eggs on the inside of the motor, right in the middle where the impeller goes in... I had to stick the motor outside cause after killed the initial wave of ants, there were still a bunch INSIDE the motor, under the little switch, fat ones started coming out, It really seemed like there was an entire colony of ants in my canister filter. There is a point to this......... should I be worried about the diluted bleach solution killing anything in my tank? I wiped off everything that was wet, I made sure not to spray the valves or hoses. I just want to make sure casue I would be pretty angry if I had to start this tank from scratch again...........

 

Hello Anunez,

I hope that you are ok and that the ants weren't Fire Ants. Fire Ants are all that we have here in my area.

As for the bleach solution. Did you have to spray it in the filter itself with the bio media still in there? Have you checked your readings since this happened?

Ken

 

it was actually rather intriguing (spelling?) I really didnt think that was possible, haha, no, not at all, it was just on the outside of everything, I added some conditioner to the tank just to be on the safe side. And I think they were just house ants, the teensey black kind, they don't bite really, jeese, I haven't seen a fireant since I moved from texas back in 2003, haha.

 

Fire ants are nasty critters.
Again I'm glad you are ok. As long as no bleach got into your filter I would say that everything should be ok.
Ken

 

They taste like fire as well, ( I was little, haha)..... saweeet, thanks for the reassurance, =] its much appreciated. I woke up and everyone was still alive so, I'm assuming all is well!

 

Wow. I'm glad you, your fish, and your filter are okay. I'm usually okay with bugs, and I've got to say that that would entirely freak me out.
I've fallen into a nest of house ants before, and can say with certainty that they do bite (however, they don't have poison, like fire ants, or really strong jaws like some other ants... still, if enough of them bite you, it can hurt. It's kind of like a rash).

 

Ehhh... *shiver* I have been seeing ants in my room.... I don't have a canister though, I have a HOB, so maybe I will not be as "lucky" as you? Lol I sure hope so! I like bugs and stuff, but that would make me shreak...

 

I went out to walmart today and got some traps, hopefully they will work, I spent an hour in the garage with the air compressor tyring to get all the ants out of the inside of the motor housing, its a pain in the rear that you can't really open it, I didnt chance it, I just put the baits all around them, its amazing how many ants AND eggs came out of that thing, and the worst part is, it probably wasn't even half of them, geeze, what a day, haha. It could be worse, at least it wasn't wasps......*shivers*

yeah, ive done the classis, sit in the grass and get ants in your pants, that was lame, and they were fireants as well, I'm not a big fan of bugs, I don't hate, them, they don't scare me, its kind of like your in-laws, theyre awesome BUT.... hahaha =]

 

Wow... just wow...

 

Sorry you experienced that but boy am I glad it was NOT me!!!! Ack...... that is just awful. How about some pictures?

Robin