Ant Attack! natural repellent sought

[octanejunkie]

Woke up this morning to find red ants in my roach ranch, tank where we're rearing rusty red feeders.

Our Ts are safe and far from the roach tank, but I obviously want to get rid of the ants safely, and not contaminate our food supply.

I'm looking for a safe, homeopathic / natural way to get rid of the ants - suggestions?

 

[Fleas]

Ant's are tricky especially if they coming up thru the foundation I would follow them as much as possible to see where the trial ends and leave some leftover food there hopefully that's out side and hopefully they will back track there

 

[spidey noob]

all u need to do is put an open tub of golden syrup next to the enclosure !!! the ants will be attracted to that & climb in & get stuck, so all u have to do is remove them with a spoon. (works a treat)

 

[octanejunkie]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Will setup a small cup of syrup next to the tank when I get home and then move it further away each day until I can find the source and quell it.

Hopefully I won't create an ant-attraction in the process drawing more in than are already coming it!

 

[octanejunkie]

Mixed bag of results

Initially drawn to syrup, not too many getting stuck though... now they almost ignore the tub next to the tank! Smart buggers?

I've put double sided tape on the legs of the stand that the roach ranch is no and the ants are seeming not to cross it, so that's progress
But the ants are still coming from somewhere, attempting to track the source....

 

[Therasoid]

Well, to stop them from coming inside, I've been using Ortho Home Defense Max with no problems. Just spray around the perimeter of the house and halts the infiltration of the pests. Haven't seen any in years, ground floor or in the basement, effects last about 6 months.
Inside, not a natural type but safe for use none the less, a bait trap called Terro. Locally carried at Lowes and Home Depot. Simply place where they could be coming in from and let them carry it back to their colony. The chemicals will do the deed.
Another method, only heard it works, is sprinkling diatomatius (sp?) earth on the area. Really not sure about this one nor how it kills them.
All I've got to contribute. [emoji6]

 

[octanejunkie]

Sadly I live in an apartment at the moment and am hesitant to spray anything toxic - though I have used RAID ant spray in the past and found it a pretty decisive solution - I just fear it making it's way into our Ts - nature always finds a way.

 

[octanejunkie]

Ok - I was able to trace the path of the ants and find where they were entering from - a well-placed blast of RAID ended their entry and I was able to clean up the stragglers with an old dustbuster that I pulsed with RAID outside

The last few remaining ants in the roach ranch are being dealt with as they emerge. New bait traps have been set with molasses and I've just been crushing them as they run the rails of the baker's rack the tank is on.

I also wrapped the legs with double sided tape for good measure to keep new ants from joining the party and I made sure no part of the rack touches the wall.

I think we are just about done with that fiasco!

 

[octanejunkie]

On an even more positive note, our avic molted yesterday