Ant Control!!

[some_one]

Hi, I have a lot of ants moving along the sides of the garage and also almost all around and under the house what is the best solution to get rid of them and to keep them away for good? Thanks..

[Bluegum]

I guess the cheapest solution would be to spray the area with a product called coopex. Its a powder that you mix with water and spray. Or you can sprinkle it around but ant sand is best for that. Ant sand comes in bottles from bunnings and to sprinkle it around where the ants ants are tracking Coopex is a pyrethroid based product and can be used inside. Read the label and use as per the directions on the pack and it should be a start to the end of things. If all else fails then it maybe a phone call to the experts.

[normell]

I guess the cheapest solution would be to spray the area with a product called coopex. Its a powder that you mix with water and spray. Or you can sprinkle it around but ant sand is best for that. Ant sand comes in bottles from bunnings and to sprinkle it around where the ants ants are tracking Coopex is a pyrethroid based product and can be used inside. Read the label and use as per the directions on the pack and it should be a start to the end of things. If all else fails then it maybe a phone call to the experts.

Coopex can also be used as a powder, find the ant nest, and sprinkle the powder in, and around the hole, so the ants walk over the powder to go into the nest.
Coopex works well with all sorts of creepy crawly's

Normell

[some_one]

What is the best way to find where the ant nest is? I can follow them but they seem to be coming from all directions. Could there be multiple nests? These questions may seem sillly but I am not an expert so I thought still better to ask.:D Cheers.

[normell]

What is the best way to find where the ant nest is? I can follow them but they seem to be coming from all directions. Could there be multiple nests? These questions may seem sillly but I am not an expert so I thought still better to ask.:D Cheers.

Trial & error, or should that be trail & error.
Track them till they go down a hole, powder that hole, then when they stop useing said hole, track them too next hole and repeat, and so on Etc.

[Ashore]

Baygon & mortine put out ant nest baits you can get at coles/wolworths these have the bait inside a plastic container that you put down on the ants trail , they eat the bait take it back to the nest and ants gone. Can be used inside or outside
Promlems are you get an increase of ants as they go for the bait and it takes 5-6 weeks to get the nest, sometimes you need several baits, and there $8-$9 for a pack of 4 small or 2 large I think from memory but I have had excellent results using them,


Rgds

[some_one]

Thanks guys for the advice. Cheers.

[Nuggett]

[QUOTE=some_one]Hi, I have a lot of ants moving along the sides of the garage and also almost all around and under the house what is the best solution to get rid of them and to keep them away for good? Thanks..

For what its worth "RED Backs" work wonders we have them all over the place no real ant problems no nasty &&&& to kill any other bugs or wild life including myself !!!

[journeyman Mick]

I know this thread is about a week old now and no doubt you've started poisoning the ants, but it's been in the back of my head, bothering me.

Why do you want to kill the ants?

They won't eat your house or carry away your dog and generally if there's no food scraps left lying around they're not a problem. If you wipe them out you're further upsetting the balance of nature. Stuff that usually eats the ants may die from ingesting poisoned ants or from lack of ants to eat. You may end up with worse problems in your gardens from some other pests. Larger insects eat poisoned ants who are in turn eaten by birds. Birds die from cumalative effect of poison so there's no predators for all the grubs and grasshoppers that eat your roses. You get the picture. I try to let stuff live unless it's a direct threat to my life or health.

Apparently part of the reason we have so many box jellyfish (Chironix Fleckerii) in my part of the world is:
Feral pigs eat turtle eggs = less turtles = less natural (possibly only natural??) predators of box jellyfish = more box jellyfish = more dead tourists.

Mick

[some_one]

Guys sorry to restart it all over again but as soon as the weather cleared to warm days there are ants in the kitchen first day:oo: !!!!!!!!!!!!! Can coopex be used indoors? Is there anything else safe to use indoors? Is there any point is spraying the cement Stumps or the boards around the whole joint? HELP??

[aussieorchid]

There is a chemical you can buy that contains the same compound as termidor which is used to treat termites. It is not cheap at about I think $200 or so a litre but it will get rid of all ants as well as a few other crawling insects. I do not think you would be able to buy this at a hardware store but farm chemical stockists would have it and you could possibly need a farmer with a chemical licence. If you would like to know more PM me and I will give you more details as I do not want everyone running around spraying chemicals that are unnecessary.

[Andy Mac]

I know this thread is about a week old now and no doubt you've started poisoning the ants, but it's been in the back of my head, bothering me.

Why do you want to kill the ants?

They won't eat your house or carry away your dog and generally if there's no food scraps left lying around they're not a problem. If you wipe them out you're further upsetting the balance of nature. Stuff that usually eats the ants may die from ingesting poisoned ants or from lack of ants to eat. You may end up with worse problems in your gardens from some other pests. Larger insects eat poisoned ants who are in turn eaten by birds. Birds die from cumalative effect of poison so there's no predators for all the grubs and grasshoppers that eat your roses. You get the picture. I try to let stuff live unless it's a direct threat to my life or health.

Apparently part of the reason we have so many box jellyfish (Chironix Fleckerii) in my part of the world is:
Feral pigs eat turtle eggs = less turtles = less natural (possibly only natural??) predators of box jellyfish = more box jellyfish = more dead tourists.

Mick

I agree with Mick, what's so offensive about ants? Are they green ants or something biting you?
If they do get in the house they're usually after some spillage, maybe a drink. So what, not hurting anything!
In general they clean up stuff, they attack termites, they are part of a balance. Why pump the place full of poisons just because you find them a nuisance. As Mick says, that sort of action has ramifications beyond the ants.:no:

[martrix]

I agree with Mick, what's so offensive about ants? Are they green ants or something biting you?
If they do get in the house they're usually after some spillage, maybe a drink. So what, not hurting anything!
In general they clean up stuff, they attack termites, they are part of a balance. Why pump the place full of poisons just because you find them a nuisance. As Mick says, that sort of action has ramifications beyond the ants.:no:

+1

Try keeping your house clean. They wont come if theres nothing to scavenge.

I have lots of webs with mid sized black spiders living in my shed. I am almost an arachnaphobe, yet I force myself to not kill them. I try to keep out of their way and them out of mine.

[bricks]

Baby powder ( yes ordinary talcum powder) will stop ant's in their tracks, they have a hard time walking through it, and will try to go around.

You dont need much but you do need to have an unbroken line of it about an inch wide. Put it in front of where ever they are going ( doors windows etc.). When they go for a different route you put some more down.

Keep at it for about 3-4 weeks and they'll just bugger off of their own accord. however some will get caught in the talc and die. :C But you can just sweep it up after, and it won't kill your kids apparently.

Try it seriously it works.

[dennford]

Baby powder ( yes ordinary talcum powder) will stop ant's in their tracks, they have a hard time walking through it, and will try to go around.

You dont need much but you do need to have an unbroken line of it about an inch wide. Put it in front of where ever they are going ( doors windows etc.). When they go for a different route you put some more down.

Keep at it for about 3-4 weeks and they'll just bugger off of their own accord. however some will get caught in the talc and die. :C But you can just sweep it up after, and it won't kill your kids apparently.

Try it seriously it works.

I totally agree with that. To the ant it is apparrantly like walking on ball bearings. The thing is youneed to gradually move the defence line further out from the house.

As for the poisons my termite control guy tells me that he would rather not do so with the ants because although he could get rid of them - it is only temporary and in a short time more would replace the old residents. And of course as has been allready said they are more of a nuisance than a danger.

Denn

[bugsy]

There is a chemical you can buy that contains the same compound as termidor which is used to treat termites. It is not cheap at about I think $200 or so a litre but it will get rid of all ants as well as a few other crawling insects. I do not think you would be able to buy this at a hardware store but farm chemical stockists would have it and you could possibly need a farmer with a chemical licence. If you would like to know more PM me and I will give you more details as I do not want everyone running around spraying chemicals that are unnecessary.
I dont think fripronil is available to the public. You need to be a licensed pest managers.
BASF would be interested if it was being sold over the counter.

First you need to identify your ant type.
This will tell you , what they eat, where they might be nesting and habits.
We have alot of new liquid baits just on the market that help out now.

[aussieorchid]

I dont think fripronil is available to the public. You need to be a licensed pest managers.
BASF would be interested if it was being sold over the counter.

First you need to identify your ant type.
This will tell you , what they eat, where they might be nesting and habits.
We have alot of new liquid baits just on the market that help out now.


Fipronil is used as the active ingredient in a number of products available over the counter including flea and tick control for your cat and dog. Check a "frontline" for cats or dogs label.:o
As I mentioned I think you would need to be a farmer or something like that as they use Fipronil for crop spraying to control insects it is just not called Termidor.

[bugsy]

Fipronil is used as the active ingredient in a number of products available over the counter including flea and tick control for your cat and dog. Check a "frontline" for cats or dogs label.:o
i understand that but the thread is about ants.

[Dean]

I had an indoor ant problem for a while. I tried Mortein ant baits (the plastic ones) but they were useless in my case. Got a bottle of Ant-Rid which was half the price. Just put a few drops here and there... It sucked all the ants out of the nest and they swarmed over it like a roast dinner :) They gobbled it up quickly and just a few days later, no ants anywhere in sight. Best stuff I ever used for ants and heaps cheaper than the ant bait thingies from the other mob.

here is the website for the stuff - http://www.antrid.com.au/default.asp
(no affiliation etc yada yada). I haven't tried the baits, only the liquid form. I think the liquid would probably work better though, although it might require a little spray and wipe cleanup after the ants have disappeared to remove any leftover residue etc.

[some_one]

thanks heaps guys..will try to see what option works for me including keeping the house clean..:)

[Jimbeam]

Regardless of how clean your house is inside or out, your rubbish bin will attract them. Both my recyling bin and normal bins are covered with them. And depending on where they are located they may take a detour through your house to get to where they want to go. Ants also know that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Useful thread. I'll be employing some of those techniques to control my ant problems.