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Feeding Ants Fish Food

Posted: Sun May 07, 2017 1:48 pm
by ANTphibian
I've heard that ants can get all the protein they need from fish food. Is this true? I wouldn't really want to kill insects to feed them to the ants. I would, by the way, also give them seeds and things like that for protein, as well as sweet things for sugar.
Thanks,
ANTphibian.

Re: Feeding Ants Fish Food

Posted: Sun May 07, 2017 1:59 pm
by Serafine
This depends on the type of ant.
My Camponotus for example could not live without insect food, neither could most common species like Lasius or Tetramorium.

If you want an ant species that can live without dead insect food go for Messor harvester ants (or Novomessor in the US). They can get all the stuff they need form seeds and nuts. It is still recommended to feed young colonies a dead mealworm or spider (and some sugar water) from time to time as it often increases the rate at which a young colony grows dramatically. Adult colonies with majors (which are able crack large seeds and chew nuts) probably won't need it at all.

Re: Feeding Ants Fish Food

Posted: Sun May 07, 2017 2:04 pm
by ANTphibian
Serafine wrote:
Sun May 07, 2017 1:59 pm
This depends on the type of ant.
My Camponotus for example could not live without insect food, neither could most common species like Lasius or Tetramorium.

If you want an ant species that can live without dead insect food go for Messor harvester ants (or Novomessor in the US). They can get all the stuff they need form seeds and nuts. It is still recommended to feed young colonies a dead mealworm or spider (and some sugar water) from time to time as it often increases the rate at which a young colony grows dramatically. Adult colonies with majors (which are able crack large seeds and chew nuts) probably won't need it at all.
Ok thanks.
With tetramorium, which is the species I was planning to keep, would they be able to live off meat or dog food?

Re: Feeding Ants Fish Food

Posted: Sun May 07, 2017 2:25 pm
by ANTphibian
So I've just checked, and it turns out that, in the AC video THE MOST SATISFYING/RELAXING VIDEO ON THE INTERNET (FOR ANT LOVERS) TIMELAPSE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1y_P6kSeDE) at 6:46, Mikey says that good quality fish food is good enough for the protein source. Does anybody know any types of fish food that may be good?