h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today we went to the otter sanctuary and butterfly farm. It was a cracking day out despite the fact that it was peeing it down. And I came home with my own nature reserve...

In the reception, there was a little gift shop which we browsed while keeping out of the rain, waiting for the otters' feeding time. A few kids science project kits caught my eye. They had mini-wormeries, futuristic illuminated ants nests where you could turn on a light and the ball would illuminate the ants at work, and a triop farm.

What really caught my eye, though, was Antlantis (for ages 7+). And I bought one to bring home.

Antlantis is a little over a foot wide and nine inches or so deep. It consists of a series of trays. On the left and right are two planters, where you grow grass and cress to make it look nice. Between them, taking up most of the kit, is a lagoon with three islands, where you pop your triops once they've hatched. Finally, there's an ant farm which stands at the back as a backdrop. You can connect the ant farm with the islands via an underground tube, and the ants will wander about looking for food as you watch.

I've spent the evening putting it together, filling the ant farm with sand and soil and planting the grass. Tomorrow, I'll be putting the triop eggs in some mineral water - they're quite snobby and don't like tap water - and if I have time I'll catch some ants.

As you can probably tell, I'm quite excited about the new addition to my desk

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
*jumps up and down*
I want one of those

(finding ants will be no problem - how do you do that though? I mean,don't ants need a Queen ant or something? in which case I have about 70 to spare, judging by the number of anthills in my garden)

Blimey! Rich does David Bellamy
Sho's right, you need a queen ant to produce a colony. should'nt be any problem finding an ants nest and digging it up

OMG Andrew would *so* love that.

Sounds fascinating. But is it closed? Otherwise you'll have the ants wandering through your kitchen in no time.

I bought J some triops, but didn't realise they had to have warm water and a lamp. I'd bought quite a big tank, and we didn't really have the space for the second lot of eggs. The triops can get quite big!

Good luck with finding some . Just turn over any big flat stone in the garden and you'll find them - I have a choice of a few different colours in my garden.

why were there swimming about your boots?

It's recommended that I only have 20-40 ants in the farm, so I won't need a queen. The workers will quite happily get on with making tunnels and finding food for a year or so before they die without one. The farm is closed off, yes - Elaine has threatened to hoover up any that escape.

I didn't have time to find an ants nest before work this morning, and I don't think they'll be active at 6pm, so I might just have to get on with hatching tonight and gather my ants tomorrow.

Opti, you lost me!

You mentioned otters. Otters eat fish. 'Came home with own nature reserve'. hence fish in boots? It was a crazy joke

Last a year without a queen? Ha - that's something they don't say on the ant farm inserts when they tell you to mail away for ants.

It sounds like a pretty impressive set up. It's good you're older than 7, and will be able to handle it. I wonder what other specie could be added to make it a serious little ecosystem?

mail order ?

I could start a lucrative business, I think

ok, what's a triops - I think I've seen grow your own dinosaur kits - is that them?

Gotcha, Opti! I was a bit slow earlier...

I managed to catch about 20 ants earlier, convincing them to run onto a feather before quickly shaking them off into the gap at the top of the ant farm. It took a bit of practice, especially as the gap I was aiming for was only 5mm wide. They seem to be quite happily exploring their new home, and it mostly seems to be going well. I had a brief moment of panic when I realised that I'd left one of the caps off, and I strongly suspect that I've put a couple of ants in from a different colony. They're currently getting a bit of a kicking from their new companions. Incidentally, it says in the instructions:

'Do not start a war by mixing ants from different colonies, even if they are the same species. Ants of the same colony are very caring to one another but they will fight with strangers from another colony.'

If I was nine - and part of me clearly still is - I would be sorely tempted to 'start a war' just because it sounds tremendously exciting. An ant war going on, right on my desk... For now, I'll carefully follow the instructions and try to get all the rest of the ants from the same spot. I promise.

I've also put the triop eggs and 'detritus' in their hatching pool. It should take three days before I start to see them. As I don't have a desk lamp, I'm going to use the big light above the hob if I need any extra heat or light.

Sho, my triops will be Triops longicaudatus, and will hopefully look a bit like this: http://www.koenigstigers-urzeitkrebse.de/Triops-Bilder/DSC00806.JPG

I'd be very interested to what else could be introduced, Leo. I need a project for the winter, and making something a bit more permanent will definitely be an idea I'll look into

this sounds like just the sort of project my Gruesomes would like

what the heck, it's what _I'd_ like as a project for the winter.

I need to find one of those over here.

My little nephew has something similar to that and I wound up getting mail order ants for him for his birthday a couple of years ago. It did feel weird ordering ants by mail.

Apparently ant farms are a LOT of fun. I couldn't do it. Hoover, nothing, if any escaped I'd have to move.

no you haven't I'm too quick to catch

The thing to do is get two colonies well established, and then connect them through one food source.
...ok, I'm still nine.

Do you need to feed the fish-type things?

I'm still slow, Opti. I'll give you a head start while I have a cuppa - I'll still catch you though, in my ...

Ants aren't that bad are they. PC? If there was a nest in the kitchen, I'd be pretty unhappy, but I could cope with one in the lounge. You'd hate our house - I wouldn't let E get rid of a spider in the bathroom. We fed him and called him Dennis...

Now you're talking, Leo. That would be fun The only thing is that it clearly says in the instructions not to start a war. I'm sure the manufacturers would be shocked if they thought they were putting ideas in people's heads... For the first three days, the triop eggs hatch in the detritus, which has food for them. After that, I have a little bag of shrimp food for them but can feed them other bits - bizarrely, they like a bit of grated carrot.

I've uploaded two very unexciting photos to http://skankyrich.fotopic.net/c1391236.html - it normally takes a few minutes for them to approve them.

*still waiting*

So you're one of those people who follow directions? Sheesh.

I was thinking you could introduce a specie that eats or is eaten by the triops. Assuming that one will reproduce fast enough to survive the experience of being prey.

If you have the type of ants that use aphid cows, that would be a neat thing to try to introduce.

Worst case, a turtle might like the lagoon.