...Ants?

[joel]

I still don't have any Newts of my own, don't figure I have a setup worthy of them yet.

If you rememebr me, you should remember I'm a big supporter of self-supporting foods, and a little untrusting of live foods, as they require so much care.

Thus, a thought came to me the other night, what if I were to establish an ant colony on an island in the middle of a large tank? Hopefully the ants could not cross the water and invade the house. I could just chuck some sugar cubes and such on top of their hill to feed them...but the big question remains...

Can/will newts eat ants? Anyone ever tried ants as a food source, any comments on this idea?

As always, any ideas of self-supporting food colonies are welcome.

 

[joel]

Oh, haha... Notophthalamus V. V. Is typically my newt of interest....so, they are the ones I am most curious about.

 

[jennifer]

Most newts and sals do not eat ants. When you say "self-supporting" do you mean you want to culture the feeders in the same tank with the newts? The easiest live food is earthworms purchased at a bait store. They need no care and provide excellent nutrition.

 

[joel]

By self-supporting I mean something you can put in the tank along with the newts, and watch the predator/prey interaction.
Newts don't generally occur in nature with alot of the foods people talk about feeding them here, and Ants are probably no exception, but regardless, I thought it would be worth asking if anyone has tried them as a food source.

A couple people have talked of housing blackworm, lice and other cultures with their newts, and I think I prefer something aquatic as feeder food....and the newts would probably agree. So, what other options do I have for food? I live in southeast Canada, and if there's something native to this area that I could culture with newts, that's precisely what I'm aiming for.

Basically I want to reproduce a very natural environment in the tank for the newts. No treasure chests and ceramic ships for me..

 

[edward]

This is very difficult to accomplish unless you have an area where the predators cannot access the prey as otherwise the predators will exert enough pressure to eliminate the prey species...
You would need to set up a significantly large refugia area far enough in advance that the prey species has had time to acclimate and begin reproduction. You would also have to balance the number of predators against the ability of the prey species to reproduce. This could potentially mean one N. v. viridescens in a 55 gallon or larger tank.......

In general this can be used to supplement the food for the newts but have it replace most or all of the diet is in general unpractical.

Ants are difficult to culture unless you have specific conditions. Also they need to feed on more than sugar.... For better information see the chapter in Journey to the Ants.

Ed

 

[joel]

Difficult is okay, I've been around different animals all my life. We've had some pretty exotic animals and managed to find a way to keep them happy.

It hadn't occurred to me just how much refuge area a feeder culture would need. I've heard another poster here mention sucess at keeping blackworms thriving with their newts in clumps of gravel on the bottom. Only problem there is I'm worried aobut them invading my filter.

Well, what would you folks recommend as an effective, low maintainance feeder food to culture in a tank with the newts? Preferably a species that doesn't require too much refuge area to keep sustain themselves.

What about non-live foods? I've heard newts take well to beef heart...can this entirely substitute a live-food diet? Trying to keep it all in one tank at least, if I can't have the predator/prey thing happen, if you haven't guessed.

Anyways, thanks for your advice, it's very enlightening.

 

[joseph]

Gammarus would be a good option. They often manage to survive in tanks with enough shelter from predators but may be too good at that. Wouldn't reccomend ants as Ed mentioned.

Woodlice maybe for a land animal? They should be able to be kept safe somehow.