As we approach the heat, nature revives, and with it, all living creatures that hid the winter in sheltered burrows. Birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bees, ants ... Stop! Here are some of the ants and speech. Many housewives at this word in terror clutching his head. How to get rid of ants? What is their conclusion? Such questions are given not only in villages but residents of city apartments. Because for many people in homes that settle these small insects, this phenomenon becomes a disaster. So what kind of attack was, and how to fight it?
Ants - are social insects that form the three castes - male, female and working individuals. Males and females are winged, working individuals - no. Distributed ants all over the world, except in some remote islands and Antarctica. Ants live in nests of families. They make nests in the wood, soil, under rocks, or in mounds of fine particles constructing plants anthills. There are ants are parasites that live in the nests of other ants. There are even formic "slave owners", which contain in their nests of other species of ants. And among them there are those who adapt to dwell in human habitations. Here are some of them will be discussed.
They say that most species of ants perform a variety of beneficial human environmental functions. But there are others that are harmful to agriculture, feeding on plants, berries and fruits, and cause a lot of inconvenience to man, invading his home. The ants get through the smallest gap in economic and living areas, apartments, houses, where the port meat and sugary foods. In addition, certain types of ants, such as pharaoh ant is a carrier of viral and bacterial diseases in humans. Thus, some types may be considered household pests. Others of us are simply not interested.
The entire population is almost impossible to eliminate due to their high adaptability. So the question is how to get rid of ants, involves the issue of control population size, and not the destruction of all families. More than that: almost all attempts at control are only temporary solutions. Control of ant populations by using insecticide-bait pellets or in liquid form. The ants collect bait as food and deliver them to the nest. There's poison spread through sharing food and other ants. As insecticides are often used borax and boric acid.
The real scourge of human habitation became an ant cosmopolitan - pharaoh ant. This small pest ant-yellow 3 mm. He scattered across the globe. In addition to dairy and meat products it feeds on sugar, flour, bread. They can even damage the entomological collection.
Fighting ants
Fight with ants is difficult, but possible. You ask how to get rid of household ants? Here the main thing - to take into account some features of ant life and organization. At the heart of the population of Pharaoh ant is a nest where the queen ant - females that produce the light more and more individuals. Females can not produce their own food on their own because they do not leave the nest. Feed it is the responsibility of the worker ants.
Find an apartment in a nest of ants is very difficult. In most cases it is hidden very firmly in any slot in the floor or in the wall cavity. Sometimes they burrow very long track under the tile, flooring, wallpaper and even in the plaster on the walls. So if you ever are lucky, and you will stumble on the ant hole, do not rush to remove flooring or tiles: a corridor leading to the nest can be very long. You're just wasting your time and spoil the nerves and the interior. Better to take advantage of the fact that the worker ants feed the whole family, and try to "treat" them through the entire colony some poison. As we mentioned above, one of the most effective poisons for these crumbs will boric acid, which corrodes chitin - ant shell.
"Grandma" ways to deal with ants
If you face the problem of how to get rid of household ants, try those methods, which are transmitted to people by word of mouth. Usually, they are the most effective.
If you find ant track, try to smear them with sunflower oil. Ants smell repels him. Just keep in mind that this should not be refined vegetable oil having a specific smell. Its something and do not like ants.
Do not "like" ants and the smell of certain plants, such as wild mint, sage and elderberry. He does not like the breeze and the smell of garlic, so a couple of times a month regularly lubricate their stitches-track garlic.
Another insidious way: type in the bowl or jar of water with honey or sugar. Crept into it in search of sweet, there are many ants will find the last resting place.
Well, for a snack the most effective means. Dissolve in a glass 1 teaspoon sugar or honey with 1 teaspoon of boric acid, add a little water and the mixture promazhte all ant trails, which are known to you. This method works slowly but inexorably. Worker ants will destroy themselves and the progeny of the uterus. The only thing you need to regularly update this mixture, adding water.
It is possible, using all the same boric acid to make a dry bait. Cook a couple of potatoes and a couple of eggs. Peremel them together in a blender or mash usual tolkushkoy until smooth. Add to bag boric acid and 1 teaspoon of sugar and mix all thoroughly. Roll out of this mass of small balls and place them in places of the greatest congestion of ants and their track. Grandmothers are advised to carry out this procedure with the beginning of the waning moon, and then again ten days later, but this is unlikely to fundamentally. The principle of a slaughter operation of these baits based on boric acid, and not on the moon. And then - who knows? The only warning: if a family has small children or pets, these baits should be used very carefully in order to avoid trouble. Spoon them in this case, only the reach and those for other sites.
In the same way, and you can cook meat bait, because that ants love to eat meat. To do this, mix borax with a handful of minced meat balls and place it in the places of occurrence of ants.
Insecticides in the fight against ants
If you ask us, how to get rid of ants in the apartment, you will be offered a choice of a variety of means that our industry produces. Among them are "Combat», Raid - spray and traps, "Dohloks" gel "Raptor" spray "Front Line" means "Regent" and others. All of these tools to a greater or lesser extent, are effective against small domestic parasites, namely - ants. If these funds do not help you, you have to take the help of professionals.
Prophylaxis against ants
Always easier to prevent trouble than to fight it. Therefore, to the house is not in factory house ants, there should be no let perfect, but clean. Do not forget each time to wipe the crumbs off the table and throw in the garbage bin, the contents of which must be regularly endure. Never leave garbage at home at night. If you have cats or dogs at home, do not leave food for a long time in their bowls. It is advisable to change their food at least once a day. And do not throw your food to pets on the floor. And if you still thrown, then immediately wipe it, so there is no more crumbs or stains. Stored in your kitchen jars with sugar, cereals, vanilla and other products should be tightly closed.
We advise to check: how to get rid of cockroaches
Whatever was an aquarium in the house - part of the interior, the subject of one of the interests of households, or both together - it always attracts attention. For fish, the rapidly moving in the clear water or lazily stirring fins while standing in one place, you can watch spellbound for hours. But water really should be transparent. Because the tank with murky greenish muck instead of water and overgrown walls is a very unattractive sight. Of course, such a picture is not often meet. But newcomers to the aquarium case, faced for the first time with the problem of water pollution, do not know where to start. Here we look at them now, how to clean the aquarium.
Scouring
The first thing a person faces, which recently started an aquarium - is fouling the aquarium algae
. There is no danger for the internal ecosystem of your aquarium they are not, but spoil the overall picture and reduce review
. Therefore, clean the glass of the algae should regularly about once a week or two
. Doing this is easy
. There scrapers glass specifically for this purpose
. If you have not attended to the purchase of this instrument, it may replace the usual sponge for washing dishes, plastic card or razor blade
. But if your tank is made of Plexiglas, then you can only use a sponge to avoid scratching the walls
. In any case, add the sponge must be new
. Do not forget that an aquarium is a live closed ecosystem, and any influence it violates the established balance it
. But the future still better to buy an aquarium scraper, and for your own convenience it is better to buy a magnetic
.
Siphoning soil
The next stage - it is cleaning the bottom of the aquarium, so-called siphoning of the soil. In the process of life at the bottom of your fish tank accumulate their bowel movements that need to be removed regularly. This is done using a hose with a special tip. You can buy it at any pet store. The diameter of the hose must be such that through it freely can pass all the dirt from the aquarium.
In order to determine whether there is a necessity to clean the bottom of the aquarium, povoroshit anything ground. If this is not the bubbles that rise from the bottom, it is too early to make siphoning. If they are, using a hose collect any debris not only the bottom surface but also sticking it in the soil and to purify it.
Change the water in the tank
Periodically, a couple of times a week in the aquarium water should be changed. Rather, substitute, because the water in the tank has never changed completely - for fish, and for the whole system, it is a real stress. Podmenivaya well water regularly, you will continuously maintain its purity. Usually, this procedure is combined with the siphoning of the soil. In one water change does not vary more than 30% of its volume that it does not affect the health of fish. Water for substitution is required to defend at least one or two days.
Clean the filter
Today, all tanks are equipped with filters, which are mostly not only clean water, but also aerate it. But in order for the filter to work effectively, it must be cleaned regularly. Brushing needs special filter media that are porous sponge. In operation, the filter collects dirt on them, which filter absorbs the water. Rinse the filter should be necessary. This is evident in the work of the filter itself. If he shakes the water is bad, then he has struggled, and it's time to clean. Filter rather foam insert from it, you can rinse under clean running water, but it is best to rinse it in the water from the tank that you downloaded during a substitution. In no case can not be used to wash foam liners no detergents.
After washing the pad itself does not forget to clean and wash the filter plastic parts, including the nozzle head. This can be done with the old (but clean!) Toothbrush. Thoroughly clean all the parts under running water, carefully wash all rise.
Fish cleaning aquarium
Many aquarium fish are not only delight us with their beauty, but also help maintain a clean aquarium. Among these "cleaners" rank first "viviparus", which include guppies, platies, mollies and swordtails. Fish, cleaning the aquarium, have a special structure of the mouthparts. Due to the developed lower jaw, which works like a scraper, they successfully remove the plaque from the plant, the sides and bottom of the aquarium.
Increasingly used for these purposes Ancistrus - armored catfish. Kind of mouthparts in the form of suction cups to help them not only to hold and move along the walls of the tank and plants, but also to take them to the organic coating, which they feed. Therefore, they can also be used to clean the aquarium.
We have tried to briefly consider how to properly clean the aquarium. It's not all wisdom. In the process, the aquarium, you will learn to identify themselves when and how to clean your aquarium, what else should be done to ensure its beautiful appearance and a healthy existence of fish.
