ants!! need a quick temporary solution

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:08 pm

Okay so I just happened to look in on the crab tank and I saw a whole string of ants climbing up the wall and covering the food dish! I know I'll have to deep clean and get rid of them but I have to leave for a family reunion in about an hour, so what should I do with the crabbies until then. I went ahead and washed a container out to put them in, but they won't have any substrate because all that I have is with the crabs in the infested tank. Would it be better to leave them in the tank? I don't know if ants are bad for them or anything. Any help about what I should do now and what I can do to get rid of the ants later would be much appreciated!

littleraindrop87 · Post by **littleraindrop87** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:44 pm

i have never experience ants in the tat before. but i would suggest taking the crabs out of the tank and put them in a temp tupperware or something with a little substrate and water. (basically, the very basic things they need) Also, remove the food dish as that is what seems like is attracting the ants. When removing the crabs, u can give them a short salt water bath so make sure no ants are found in their shells!!

and when u return from your reunion. you will have to deep clean the whole tank, boiling everything before putting them back.

good luck with the problem!!

i found a thread for you to look over. it may have some things that may aid you!
here it is:
viewtopic.php?t=65160&highlight=ants

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:50 pm

I wouldn't leave the crabs with ants. Depending on the species, they can be highly predatory.

I agree with littleraindrop, do a temporary set up, see if you can get some of the substrate (make sure no ants are in it) to give them a little bit. Make sure there are no ants on the crabs.

I hope everything works out o.k. for you.

Mr.Krabs · Post by **Mr.Krabs** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 1:58 pm

I would suggest removing all the food out of the tank. putting in fresh stuff, and then putting a plate of maybe Wet cat / dog food Near the tank, but not In It. the ants will go for the dog / cat food instead of in your tat hopefully. good luck.

Tremors · Post by **Tremors** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:38 am

I agree that you should take the crabs out of the tank while you clean it.

A while ago, I had a small ant problem, and I found a really good way to keep the ants from getting back in. I'd read that you could put double-sided tape around the tank, but I didn't have any. So my dad and I took masking tape, put it around the tank with the sticky side out, and taped it to itself. I tested it with a live ant, and it worked - the ant took a few steps onto the sticky stuff and then turned around and went the other way. The only problem is that if your tank is fairly large, it might take two people to put the tape around.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:45 pm

I had this issue and I used a few different things to help them. First, I had those teeny kitchen ants and they never hurt my crabs at all. They had even started a nest in my tank before I realized it and the crabs would eat the larvae with no ill effect.

I put vaseline around the rim of my tank. I had a tube of it and I just squeezed a thick line all around the tank rim. The ants wouldn't cross it. Next, I put Glad press'n seal wrap over the top of my tank completely sealing it and then cut a hole in the top for ventilation and so my light wouldn't melt the wrap. Ants can't cross press'n seal wrap. I also tried the tape method above, but it wasn't long before they were squeezing in under the tape or just using the bodies of the ones that were stuck as stepping stones to cross it. Oh, and since the crabs' food dish seemed to be the attraction, I put all of the food shells in slightly bigger plates with enough water just to cover the bottom of the plate. The ants don't cross water. This would have worked if my crabs wouldn't have decided to dig under the dishes and dump the water out.

The press'n seal wrap worked best of the things I tried.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:19 pm

something that works excellent with me and ants in the past is wiping away their trail... ants rely on the chemical trail.. and they get frustrated if you keep wiping away the trail they follow, and will leave.. this has worked for me lots and lots of times.

you can use vinegar, I think that is compatible with hermit crabs.. just blow away all the ants you can see and wipe the wall or wherever they have walked on to obliterate their trail.. just keep doing it until they give up ....

it usually takes me only a few days in the past. ..:} if the ants are coming in a window or whatever I follow the trail as far as it goes, and wipe it all away. :}

something to try :}

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 5:53 am

this is going to sound odd, but grandmother taught this to me. Get a cup of instant grits and grind them up really good, to the point of being a powder. Now add a small bit of butter and sugar to the powdered grits. leave this mixture on the outside of your tat in a small dish. The ants "should" be attracted to the mix and the grits in the mixture should actually kill the ants. Like i said this sounds weird but it has always worked for me. Maybe the ants in Florida are just strange.

Much luck to you.