Ant venom kill fishes?

[Barry Tetra]

So yesterday I’ve found an ‘ant raft’ on the tank water and a lot of fish have been eating ants including kuhli loaches, rosy barbs and a swordtai, today barbs seems to be swimming crazily, 1 kuhli loach and 1 swordtail are dead.

@Colin_T

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Barry, were these fire ants (Solenopsis)? I was just reading about their venom; it seems to contain a big neurotoxic component. That would explain both the crazy swimming and the deaths. Sorry for your losses.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Barry, were these fire ants (Solenopsis)? I was just reading about their venom; it seems to contain a big neurotoxic component. That would explain both the crazy swimming and the deaths. Sorry for your losses.

Is this fire ants though?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Is this fire ants though?

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[WhistlingBadger]

I don't know; we don't have fire ants here. You'll have to google or look at a field guide. Looks like PK already did that for you.

 

[Colin_T]

Some ants can cause problems to fish but most ants can be eaten by fish and people.

Do you use ant powders/ poisons around your property?
If yes, that could be the cause of death. The common ingredients in ant powders is extremely toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms. If one ant had a tiny spec of powder on it, that would be enough to kill fish.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Some ants can cause problems to fish but most ants can be eaten by fish and people.

Do you use ant powders/ poisons around your property?
If yes, that could be the cause of death. The common ingredients in ant powders is extremely toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms. If one ant had a tiny spec of powder on it, that would be enough to kill fish.

Yep we have used the ant powder, how do you get rid of ant without using powder though?
the ant is coming from the tiny hole between the roof.

 

[Colin_T]

Yep we have used the ant powder, how do you get rid of ant without using powder though?
the ant is coming from the tiny hole between the roof.

Good question. I have ants all through my place too. I use white vinegar and pour it over the nests. But if you can't get to the nests, then borax is the next best thing. It is a powder and you need to mix it with sugar and a bit of water. Then have it in a sardine can near the nest or ant trail. The ants pick it up and take it back to their nest and it kills the nest over the next month or so. Some ants take it and some don't so you have to try and see if they do.

Don't use borax or ant powder where it's windy.

Try to use granules rather than powder. The granules are about the size of a sugar grain. This applies to ant powder too, get ant sand/ granules instead of ant powder, they contain the same ingredient but are less likely to blow around.

Don't use borax or ant powders near any water ways or bee hives because the ant powders kill all insects and aquatic organisms. Borax does too.

Wash hands thoroughly with soapy water after using either product.

Don't inhale, ingest or get either ant powder or borax in your eyes.

 

[Krib32]

Weird, AntsCanada on youtube has fish in his ant tanks to help eat ants in the water.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Good question. I have ants all through my place too. I use white vinegar and pour it over the nests. But if you can't get to the nests, then borax is the next best thing. It is a powder and you need to mix it with sugar and a bit of water. Then have it in a sardine can near the nest or ant trail. The ants pick it up and take it back to their nest and it kills the nest over the next month or so. Some ants take it and some don't so you have to try and see if they do.

Don't use borax or ant powder where it's windy.

Try to use granules rather than powder. The granules are about the size of a sugar grain. This applies to ant powder too, get ant sand/ granules instead of ant powder, they contain the same ingredient but are less likely to blow around.

Don't use borax or ant powders near any water ways or bee hives because the ant powders kill all insects and aquatic organisms. Borax does too.

Wash hands thoroughly with soapy water after using either product.

Don't inhale, ingest or get ei

Good question. I have ants all through my place too. I use white vinegar and pour it over the nests. But if you can't get to the nests, then borax is the next best thing. It is a powder and you need to mix it with sugar and a bit of water. Then have it in a sardine can near the nest or ant trail. The ants pick it up and take it back to their nest and it kills the nest over the next month or so. Some ants take it and some don't so you have to try and see if they do.

Don't use borax or ant powder where it's windy.

Try to use granules rather than powder. The granules are about the size of a sugar grain. This applies to ant powder too, get ant sand/ granules instead of ant powder, they contain the same ingredient but are less likely to blow around.

Don't use borax or ant powders near any water ways or bee hives because the ant powders kill all insects and aquatic organisms. Borax does too.

Wash hands thoroughly with soapy water after using either product.

Don't inhale, ingest or get either ant powder or borax in your eyes.

I've tried a bunch of things including: insect repellent, vinegar, borax and powder.
At first it seems effective but now they're immune to everything.

 

[Colin_T]

I found vinegar works if you can pour it over the nest. But you need a fair bit of vinegar. I use a 2 litre bottle of white vinegar and pour it around and over the nest so I cover a 12inch diameter area around the opening to the nest. White vinegar is cheap and you can pour several bottles over the same nest. The vinegar burns the ants as it goes through the sand.
The vinegar also burns grass so you will end up with crop circles where you use the vinegar.

You can use a spray bottle full of vinegar and spray it directly on the ants to kill them. For an added kick, you can mix cayenne pepper with the vinegar and add a teaspoon of dish washing liquid. The detergent helps the vinegar stick to the ants and the combination of cayenne pepper and vinegar hurts them a lot.

Cinnamon and peppermint are meant to help repel ants. You spray or sprinkle it around ant trails and door ways around your house.

You can bleach ant holes. I have used toilet cleaner gel (gel type bleach) and squirt it down the ant holes. If you can get enough bleach down the holes it can gas the little buggers.
Don't get bleach on metal because it will rust the metal.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

 

[Colin_T]

LOL, I love it, what a way to deal with the ants

 

[Barry Tetra]

LOL, I love it, what a way to deal with the ants

This video was banned in my country for about 5 years now.

We live in a country where you can only get meat from store and not from hunting because we're buddhist/no religion (me) type,
which teach us to NOT kill animal because of karma or something, can't remember exactly.

 

[Colin_T]

No harming animals but fire ants are insects that bite and sting people and other animals. By killing the fire ants you are helping the other animals.

It's like in India where they don't like harming animals, and heaps of people die from cobra snake bite every year and rats run around during the day spreading diseases that kill people.