And so AC Family, I think you know what's next.
Our next step was to introduce a great aquatic creature into these waters, to feed on these
fallen ants, swallowed by the pool, and AC Family, I know you will absolutely love the
creature I've chosen for the job!
Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel and hit the bell icon.
Welcome to the AC Family.
Enjoy!
At the advent of a new era, the Golden Empire, our supercolony of yellow crazy ants, has
settled nicely into their new lush territories, this newly created rain forest paludarium
called the Hacienda Del Dorado.
And my do these ants love their new home we created for them!
But as we saw in last week's video, the spring pool to the east of the territories has, as
planned, been effective at culling off the weak and least nimble ants of the colony.
Keep on watching until the end as I reveal to you our brand new Kraken to patrol these
deadly waters.
I've been surveying these waters over the past few days, and so far this trickling spring
pool successfully claims the lives of about 5-10 ants every single day.
The ants come to the water's surface to drink, as they would in the wild, but a few ants
are unfortunate enough to fall in.
Many of these fallen ants still manage to swim around, a skill possessed by most tropical
ant species until they reach an area of safety as seen with this ant who luckily was able
to reach some life-saving mossy shores.
Ants swimming around actually have a critical time limit to get to safety before they inevitably
break the water's surface tension and get swallowed up by the water where they finally
drown.
Speaking of which, check out this incredible ant pulling miraculous moves, as it runs atop
the surface of the water, light enough to not break the surface tension... but suddenly,
it too falls victim to the spring pool, and gets sucked into the water.
This ant will soon become one of this pool's casualties.
By the way, AC Family, please take a moment to vote here for the official name for this
floating spring pool, from my top picks of name suggestions, from you the AC Family in
last week's video.
Thank you AC Council for your input.
So with all of these dead ants collecting within our deadly spring pool here, there
was definitely a need to add a creature into these waters to feed on all these deceased
ants, so AC Family, in last week's hidden video, I left you with a riddle to decode,
with clues as to what the chosen water monster would be, to inhabit the Golden Empire's floating
spring pool, to act as our biological servant, feeding on all ants swallowed up by the pool.
For those who missed it, here was the riddle:
There is a creature, From the land of flowers
With some very neat features, and some pretty neat powers,
Like gills for aquatic breathing, But it can also breath air,
Four pairs for travel, two eyes with a stare
It changes its skin, From time to time,
eating it for nutrition, like the stuff on which it dines...
Inside our floating spring pool, You'll marvel at its colour,
Can you guess what creature will be living in this water?
So AC Family, you guys considered all clues, and submitted your very worthy guesses.
Let's take a look at the top, most popular guesses to the riddle:
Salamander, African Dwarf Frog, Newt, Underwater Bell Spider, Crab, Octopus, Crayfish, Betta
Fighting Fish, and Axolotl.
Now let's go over all the clues one by one, and figure out who our new water creature
of choice is, via process of elimination.
Ok so the first line reads: "There is a creature, from the land of flowers with some very neat
features, and some pretty neat powers,"
AC Family member M Aidil Adham correctly pointed out that the land of flowers can apply to
Netherlands, Holland, Florida, or North Ireland.
So considering this right off the bat, eliminates African Dwarf Frogs which are native to equatorial
Africa.
This option for water creature also wouldn't have made a good choice seeing as the chances
of the frog leaping out of the water and being eaten alive by the Golden Empire was very
high.
Betta Fighting fish, though a popular guess, are native to Southeast Asia so they too are
eliminated, based on this clue.
The spring pool which is only about 8 gallons of water is also quite small for a betta.
Perhaps the top most popular guess was Axolotl, an interesting amphibian creature which fits
a few of the clues mentioned in the riddle.
The only thing is, they are native to Mexico, so they too do not fit the clue of this first
stanza.
Sorry, guys, no axolotl in this spring pool.
Let's move on to our next clue in the riddle: "Like gills for aquatic breathing, but it
can also breath air, four pairs for travel, two eyes with a stare..."
Let's see who makes the cut!
Salamander larvae respire with gills and as adults can breath air.
They do have two eyes, but four pairs for travel?
They have four legs and a tail which at most makes 5 appendages, not 8.
Goodbye, salamander!
The same applies to newts, as well.
Neither of these would make suitable choices anyway because they are not greatly bound
to water, and guaranteed these animals would be eaten alive by the ants once they set foot
on land.
Underwater bell spiders, though super cool, and fitting the 4 pairs for travel description,
have more than two eyes and don't breath via gills.
No aquatic spider for these waters.
So moving on to our third clue: "It changes its skin, from time to time, eating it for
nutrition, like the stuff on which it dines..."
Let's take a look at an octopus.
The clue changing its skin from time to time could mean several things, but in the case
of an octopus it surely can apply to its amazing ability to change colours.
They also do shed their suction cups.
But the thing is, they usually don't eat their skin.
So sadly, octopus is eliminated.
Which leads us to our final clue: "Inside our floating spring pool, you'll marvel at
its colour, can you guess what creature will be living in this water?"
There are several very colourful crabs as well as crayfish, so both fit the final clue.
But of the two, one key factor which makes one option better than the other is primary
habitat of choice.
Most species of crabs require a little bit of salt in their water, as they tend to inhabit
brackish waters in the wild, meaning waters where fresh water meets the ocean.
This floating spring pool here is completely fresh water, and adding salt to it may have
a negative effect on our mosses.
Also, having a land crab in here would be disastrous, lest our Golden Empire live up
to their infamous reputation of wiping land crabs, as was highlighted by a popular BBC
documentary where yellow crazy ants were seen wiping out a population of endemic crabs on
Christmas Island!
Our Golden Empire would devour any crab that set foot on land.
And so AC Family, that leaves us with one final candidate.
Behold, meet our great water monster, our Kraken!
An electric blue crayfish native to the "Land of Flowers", a.k.a.
Florida, USA.
It possesses gills for aquatic breathing, but is also capable of breathing air.
It has four pairs of legs used for traveling, and two black beady eyes capable of some pretty
good vision.
They also periodically shed then eat their old exoskeletons.
Isn't she just awesome?
This electric blue crayfish happens to be a young female and is the perfect size for
our spring pool.
One of the reasons why this beauty made a great choice was because they are omnivorous
scavengers, eating both dead and any living creatures it can get its claws on.
I felt it could easily get to the ants that sank to the bottom of the pool as well as
those dead ants sucked into the filter's intake.
It also was greatly aquatic meaning it likely would remain submerged in the waters and remain
out of our Golden Empire's lethal reach, and check out that gorgeous colour though!
These crustaceans also are denning creatures, which was perfect because and our spring pool
here actually hides an under water cave area towards the back of the pool.
My guess is this blue crayfish will deem it her underwater lair!
But one question I had before adding her to our spring pool was, does she even like eating
dead ants?
It would be a shame if we added her to these waters for the purpose of preying on drowned
ants and she ends up not having a taste for them.
So, I went to Golden Rock and took a test tube they'd designated as the colony graveyard
to attempt a taste test.
I wanted to see if this blue crayfish would eat dead members of the Golden Empire, so
I went ahead and placed a few dead yellow crazy ants into the water.
Let's watch, AC Family.
She walked around for a bit...
and yes!
She ate one!
In fact, over time, she went on to eat several!
The taste test was a success!
It was time to add her into our Spring pool.
AC Family, are you ready?
Let's do this!
I carefully poured the crayfish along with her originating water into our spring pool,
and then she was in.
My heart stopped!
What a sight to see Golden Empire workers racing about as our new water monster took
a moment to realize she was in new surroundings, before making her way towards the back and
into the twilight of the hidden underwater cave.
The Golden Empire had no idea that the water monster that had just been added to their
waters would from now on be feeding on all fallen, drowned members.
I stayed to watch the pool over the next few hours.
In this time I learned that it seemed our blue crayfish was quite reclusive.
She preferred to remain hidden for now, but I believe I did spot her very cautiously peeking
out from time to time from within the dark abyss of her cave, before retreating back
into its comforting blackness.
It was spine chilling to see her owning this new watery domain.
She would become the new empress of this spring pool.
And then suddenly, our clawed empress emerged stepping into the light.
My eyes widened and my heart raced as she finally began to explore out in the open.
I knew eventually she would be hungry, and low and behold, as we intended our electric
blue crayfish began to feed on the dead ants along the floor bed of the spring pool.
Wow!
This was absolutely amazing!
It seems we chose the perfect water monster to keep our spring pool clean of dead ants.
I watched her wander around and she even eventually learned to routinely
check the filter for sucked up dead ants.
Crayfish are important decomposers in aquatic ecosystems, as they seek out and help break
down decaying plant and animal matter.
I loved watching her.
Behind those beady black eyes, I saw intelligence and a sort of endearing tenderness, that I
never thought I'd see in a scary looking water monster like this electric blue crayfish.
She possessed an air of elegance and grace as she moved about, but don't be fooled, as
every now and then something would startle her and pow... she could be gone in an instant
with one powerful beat of her tail.
Later that day I watched as she began to dig.
I believe she felt living under this filter was a suitable spot for her, perhaps because
the filter's intake guaranteed a constant food source close by as dead ants continued
to get sucked up.
At least she wouldn't have to travel too far to get the goods.
Check her out!
It was amazing watching her dig.
Eventually, though, she decided that the filter was not as suitable a spot for her den and
she made the final executive decision to make the back cave of the pool her official den.
I watched with fascination as she carried claws full of soil and gravel out from inside
the cave.
It was amazing to watch her home building as she would have in the wild.
Looks like she had officially made this spring pool her home.
I began to wonder if she could see the ants all around her, or if the ants could see her
lurking beneath the water.
The idea was spine-tingling.
Their relationship was actually quite a delicate balance of dependence and danger, because
although this crayfish would feed on the ants that fell into the water and thereby keep
these waters from which the colony drinks clean and fresh, if she ever tried to one
day leave the water and crawl onto the land, the tables would then turn, and the Golden
Empire would undoubtedly devour her alive.
But, I had a good feeling this biological partnership would work out.
AC Family, let's give her a cool name!
Leave your name suggestions in the comments section and I will choose my favourites for
us to vote on in a future video.
This is the largest creature we've ever welcomed to the channel, and I look forward to watching
her grow and become a familiar resident of the Hacienda Del Dorado.
She will eventually outgrow these waters, however, and when she does we may have to
relocate her or increase the water space somehow, but until then, for now it does seem she is
completely happy in these waters.
I truly love how the ant colonies of our ant room are evolving and improving.
The Golden Empire's upgraded home just keeps on getting better.
The Golden Empire is like a whole new ant colony now.
And speaking of whole new colony, AC Family, I've been keeping this news from you for weeks,
and I am finally ready to make this amazing announcement!
This week, we welcomed a new creature to the AC Family of critters, our new blue crayfish.
But, I am thrilled to announce that we are also welcoming a totally brand new ant colony
to our huge roster of epic ant colonies.
AC Family, this ant colony is one that I know you will love.
Behold, a new army of ants to our growing antiverse, a species known as...
Ahh, AC Family!
I hate to do this to you guys every week, but without them these ant videos would actually
continue on and on and on without end, and I love showing you guys what to be excited
about next, but believe me when I say this, the new ant colony we are welcoming to the
channel is unlike any ants you've seen here so far, and I just absolutely adore them for
their uniqueness, so be sure to hit that SUBSCRIBE button now so you don't miss next week's episode
when I introduce them to you, and to keep updated on all our epic ant stories.
I have some major plans coming up for all colonies!
Also don't forget to hit the LIKE button every single time, including now.
AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie for you here if you would like to watch some
incredible footage of our new electric blue crayfish in her new spring pool!
Alright, so a lot of you have been requesting for two uploads a week on this channel, and
so I need to address this.
Are you one of those folks?
Vote here and let me know if you would like two videos a week.
I have been considering this for almost a year now since it seems week after week the
requests for it become greater and greater.
It is on my mind constantly, but there are some things I wanted to address, so if you
would like to hear my thoughts on the issue, click here to watch my vlog from my new daily
vlogging channel where I address exactly this and where I stand on the idea.
By the way, when you're there please SUBSCRIBE to my daily vlogging channel, too.
Thank you for the support, AC Family!
Alright and now it's time for the AC Question of the Week!
Last week we asked:
List any of the reasons why this new Hacienda Del Dorado makes a better
home for our Golden Empire?
Congratulations to Faris Sugiyanto who correctly answered:
Because the water pool can control the Golden Empire's
population in a natural way.
Congratulations Faris, you just won a free e-book handbook from our shop!
In this week's AC Question of the Week, we ask:
What does brackish water mean?
Leave your answer in the comments section and you could also win a free ebook handbook
from our shop!
Hope you can subscribe to the channel as we upload every Saturday at 8AM EST.
Please remember to LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE, & SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed this video to help us keep
making more.
It's ant love forever!