Ant Project: Desert Island in a Jar!!!

[UndefinedJRod]

Hello Fellow Ant Lovers,

I have recently come up with an idea for a habitat and I need all you ant experts to share your thoughts and steer me in the right direction. First I will introduce my ants and then I'll describe the plan.

The ants I currently have are tiny tiny tiny. I live in Florida and they are naturally caught. I believe they are "Ghost Ants".



Here are some pictures of the colony. Any name suggestions are appreciated



Here are some of my observations, so far:

• The Queen is about 4mm
• They haven't been eating anything I feed them (syrup, chocolate, berries, jam)
• The Queen is fast!!!
• She will abandon the brood without a second thought

Anyways,
Seeing that this is a relativity small species I had a light bulb moment. Have you guys watched the newest Trapjaw Video* by Mike? The collaboration with Serpadesign where he makes a terrarium in a bottle was amazing. I personally enjoy the aesthetic part of Ant Keeping.

I have also been wanting to test out another idea; A Desert Island Scene(More on that soon). So, while I found this jar in the garage, everything came together. Make a Desert Island in a Jar!



I know, I know, I'm either an idiot or a genius. So, I would like to better describe my idea as well as outline some of the problems I foresee and maybe you experts can better judge my plan.

Details

• I would use sand in place of dirt.
• I think artificial plants would be the choice (unless you guys think I can pull off mini beach plants in it.
• I was thinking an extra step I could take is putting a plastic membrane on the side of the jar in some area to be a shore-type addition to the habitat (A lot easier said than done).
• An either artificial or sculpted mini Volcano in the middle.

Concerns

• Would the ants survive in a sand only environment.
• If I put a dirt layer, the dirt would end up probably all over the place from ant tunneling, which I find undesirable since it would ruin the sand scene.
• For the shore idea, would it be a problem that the water isn't running/circulating and that it just stays still?
• How would I handle cleaning, maintenance?
• Why are the ants not eating? -____-
• Will keeping the sand moderately moist allow the ants to tunnel without caving in the sand?
• I have this tiny little piece of doubt that the ant I think is the queen isn't really a queen...

Thank you for reading my post! Feel free to criticize, comment, praise

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pZKcOS8P7c

[BluMoon]

I am no expert yet sorry
But I think this sounds like a great idea!

We can't see the pictures, as the ACAF requires you actually give a link to the photo (on google drive, imgur etc.).
Yes, you should probably keep the water running
a) so that it doesn't start to stink/become stale
b) by using a filter you will take out dead ants

A 4mm queen? hmm. . .
Must be a really small species of ant. But if you see eggs around, and a growing number, I'd say you have a queen at least somewhere.

The sand caving in is definitely a concern. Also make sure you buy sand that hasn't been, for example, bleached white.
I'm not so sure watering the sand would help, because sand and water can be unpredictable. Moist sand does hold together better though. Maybe experiment with it in another container, or try mixing it with dirt?

That's all I can say for all my tiny experience in the sandpit when I was a kid.
Hopefully you get some more expert opinion soon. All the best

[UndefinedJRod]

OMG, thank you so much for letting me know. I thought i did the formatting correct using google drive but I guess the pictures only show for me. I tried opening the post on incognito and now I can see what you mean. My post was ruined

I am going to make a new post and somehow include your very helpful comment in it, because I am a little further along in my project. Thanks again

[soon5799]

OMG, thank you so much for letting me know. I thought i did the formatting correct using google drive but I guess the pictures only show for me. I tried opening the post on incognito and now I can see what you mean. My post was ruined

I am going to make a new post and somehow include your very helpful comment in it, because I am a little further along in my project. Thanks again

pls upload the picture on google drive or others ways that can view the pictures. i really appreciated it. i really want to learn your things. many thanks in advance.

[BluMoon]

Hey there, it's been some time (actually a lot of time )
How's the project going? Hopefully you've figured out how to post the pictures now