Last week, we built the Blood Towers, the
beastly ant territories of the Dracula Ants. Check out those fruit flies, circling like
crows outside the towers, but next door to these ant newcomers, lays another kingdom
of old, of the O.G. Ant Trinity, that has long been established
in the Antiverse. It's an ant kingdom we, the AC Family, call
the Hacienda Del Dorado, home to the Golden Empire, a mighty supercolony of yellow crazy
ants. But there has been a great change in the Hacienda
Del Dorado since we last visited these territories, that has tipped the balance within the kingdom. Have a look at this. If you're new here, this is what the feeding
grounds used to look like! Today the crowds of Golden Empire ants have
been reduced to only a few seen rummaging through the debris. But what had happened to the once glorious
Golden Empire? Well, AC Family, what you're seeing here,
is a great transition that all the inhabitants of the Hacienda Del Dorado are undergoing,
as a result of a single kingdom-shaking event. The disappearance of an emperor, and the entrance
of a dragon. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the AntsCanada
Ant Channel! Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel and hit the
bell icon. Welcome to the AC Family! Enjoy! Alright, AC Family, I know some of you who
have been following the channel for awhile, may be die-hard Golden Empire loyalists or
fans of Emperor Sapphire, but if you are, don't panic. I'll explain everything that has happened
in detail, so keep on watching until the end. But for you newcomers, who may be wondering
what is going on, let me catch you up to speed! This waterfall and pool called the Golden
Springs were installed for population control, as the less nimble ants would be swept and
swallowed up by its falls, and living within its waters, was the Golden Empire's resident
Kraken, a blue crayfish that we all watched grow up here. We had named it Emperor Sapphire, an awesome
and sensitive beast, whose main purpose was to feed on decaying ant bodies which fell
into the Golden Springs, thereby keeping these waters consistently crystal clear. But now he's gone. Here's what happened. Months passed and Emperor Sapphire began to
grow bigger and bigger slowly outgrowing the Golden Springs. So, I'm sad to announce, that it was no longer
fair nor healthy to restrict our blue crayfish to the limiting waters of the Golden Springs,
and after his latest shed, I had to rehome him, leaving the Golden Springs completely
evacuated. His royal absence, however eventually lead
to a build up of algae within the Golden Springs, since there was now noone to take care of
cleaning duties, and the water grew foul as more and more dead ant bodies collected untouched. But now you may be wondering how this lead
to the staggering population decline in the Golden Empire. Now you may be thinking the ants drank this
foul water and died off in masses, but actually, although the absence of the Sapphire Emperor
was indeed the cause of the disappearance in ants, it's not what you're thinking. In fact, the Golden Empire has not been dying
out. They're still here in the Hacienda Del Dorado,
and I'm about to show you where they've all been hiding. It's night, and a gift is about to fall from
the skies. It's the Golden Empire's feeding time! At the arrival of the chopped up roaches,
a group of ants come boiling out from within their deepest of catacombs, to feast on the
food offerings that fall from the skies every night. Have a look! Message spreads fast by way of pheromones
that food has arrived at the surface, springing more and more ants into action to help with
processing the food. More squadrons of ants appear on the scene
to carry these massive pieces of fresh roach meat. Look at them cooperating and carrying the
roach pieces from all sides, as they pull and plan their operations of food transport. And now suddenly the feeding grounds are as
populated as we're used to seeing them. But AC Family, here's where they've been hiding
all this time. Within the soils of the terrarium there is
a damp layer. I've been purposely drying out the lands for
a reason I'll get into in a bit, but it has caused the ants of the Golden Empire to retreat
deep into this layer of moist soil. AC Family, check out all those amazing chambers
and tunnelwork, and all the ants pouring out from their openings! We'll be seeing some special guest appearances
later on in the video at this particular cross section of the nest, so hang tight for that
in a little bit. Meanwhile, as for this roach, they'll be working
on fitting it into the nest, then disappear again deeper into the moist soil layer. So let's shut the lights and allow these ants
to deal with their food in peace. Now I'm sure many of you may be glad to know
the Golden Empire is OK and healthy as usual. But why then have I attempted to dry out the
lands to keep the ants deeper underground, and what is the connection to the absence
of our Sapphire Emperor? Well, now that the Golden Springs were empty,
and kind of festering, I had some major renovation plans in mind, in order to make these waters
great again, and set the stage for the reception of our Sapphire Emperor's replacement. That's right. We needed a new cleaner beast for the Golden
Springs. So, I needed the ants to stay out of my way
as much as possible while this project was in operation, but boy AC Family, did I have
some epic plans for these Golden Springs! A new beast was coming to the Antiverse, AC
Family, and it was unlike anything I've ever kept before. The next evening, when the ants were sparse
and retreated out of the way, I went straight to work as quickly as possible, so to not
alarm the ants before they came boiling out to defend their kingdom from the giant divine
hands descending from the skies. Though these ants don't sting, they are quick
to swarm and can spray formic acid into bites they inflict which cause irritation and lots
of escaped ants using my body as a bridge! I disconnected the filter, and began to scoop
away at the soil. All this substrate needed to go. The beast that would be moving in here would
need more room than the Golden Springs was currently offering! Next, I needed to replace the substrate with
a layer of black sand. I chose the sand so that our new beast would
show up nicely against it! And AC Family, after several hours of work
and renovations... Behold! I'm pleased to present to you the new Hacienda
Del Dorado. Now before I get to the newly restored and
improved Golden Springs, let me show you the awesome changes I made to the lands. The new territories look absolutely gorgeous! I couldn't look away! It was calming to the eyes. Don't you guys think? I've planted groupings of arrowhead plants,
Syngonium podophyllum, and a cute smaller species which may or may not be creeping wire
vine, Muehlenbeckia axillaris. I find these plants accent our creeping fig
ficus at the back there quite nicely. Another quick thing I wanted to show you guys
were these newcomers! These ferns, which I actually didn't plant,
sprouted out of nowhere growing epiphytically without soil with our bromeliads. Pretty neat that they sort of planted themselves
and it's beyond me how they got there! And speaking of making grand appearances on
the scene, guess who else has made a grand comeback to once again frequent the feeding
grounds! They're back! So check this out, AC Family, now that the
new plants have been installed, and with it new moist soils added, as well as more water
to help the new plants root properly, the lands were no longer dried out as before,
and so the Golden Empire has returned in their great numbers above ground. And let me tell you, working around their
feeding grounds planting the plants was no easy venture! The Golden Empire came pouring out of their
nest, covering my arms, biting and spraying me with formic acid. I've never had to work around them like this
for such a long time and for the first time felt and experienced their wrath. Impressive defense line, I must say! But the thing that impressed me the most during
this whole relandscaping operation was just how many ants emerged on the scene! Have a look at this! Masses of ants scrambling about in hi-jinx,
as the colony was made aware of my giant hands ripping and planting around their home. Ants were relocating brood in a panic, I mean,
wouldn't you? But look who else I caught making moves. A queen! This was one of the 8 royal queens to the
Golden Empire's supercolony! It was awesome to see her again, and then
out of nowhere a second queen! Totally amazing! It was great seeing our monarchs, even if
it was in this current state of emergency. And so the Golden Empire was now back to normal,
and no longer in estivation brought about by the great drought I had caused, but now
that the colony was back to frequenting all areas of the Hacienda Del Dorado, it was time
to add the finishing touch to the Golden Springs, or should I say, it was time to add the finishing
beast to the Golden Springs. The waterfalls were ready and working, with
waters cascading down its purifying planted surface. Though I had done an 80% water change, some
of the biofilm and sediment from the old substrate had settled on top of our new sand substrate,
which was okay because this valuable gunk contained the necessary bacteria needed to
neutralize the poisonous waste which would be generated by the beast that would be moving
into these waters. I could also see pieces of dead ant remains
in the mix. It was definitely important that these waters
stay as clean as possible, because the Golden Springs happen to be the Golden Empire's primary
water source. It's pretty ironic to think that the Golden
Springs happens to give these ants life, bring some of them death, and now, brings them a
new pet dragon, that they have no idea is about to enter these waters. And so AC Family, it is with joy and excitement
that I am pleased to present to you, the Hacienda Del Dorado's new resident water beast! Behold! Our brand new White Aquadragon, a.k.a. an
axolotl, scientifically known as Ambystoma mexicanum. Now if this is your first time seeing an axolotl,
I'm sure you may think its appearance is as strange as its name, but let me assure you
these creatures are incredible! Although they are commonly known as Mexican
walking fish, these creatures are not actually fish at all. They're amphibians, closely related to tiger
salamanders. They were originally found living in lakes
in Mexico but sadly are now listed as endangered in the wild due to urbanization, water pollution,
and introduction of invasive predators in their natural habitats in Mexico. Luckily, today they are widely bred within
the captive pet trade, and this makes our aquadragon extra special. Check out those external gills though, and
all the blood vessels extending to the surface to absorb oxygen and expel carbon dioxide. They are basically the inverted version of
our lungs! Super neat, right? This poor axolotl seems to be sustaining an
injury on its tail which it must have gotten from a tank mate biting it. Now these animals are carnivorous, consuming
small prey such as worms, insects, and small fish in the wild, so I had to test and see
if it had a taste for yellow crazy ants, so I placed in a dead ant and it took a quick
swipe but hilariously missed. Oh well, let's hope it gets better at aiming. As you can see these guys are amazing swimmers
and are 100% aquatic animals, and this white aquadragon of ours appeared eager to move
into his bigger home. I also couldn't wait to add our white aquadragon
to the Golden Springs, but before that, I first needed to drip acclimate the beast so
that it would gradually adjust to its new future waters. And soon, the beast was ready for its official
release. Here we go AC Family, are you ready? It is time to release our new white aquadragon
into the Golden Springs for the purpose of feeding on drowned members of the Golden Empire. Here we go! 1 - 2 - 3. I placed the axolotl in, and it instantly
hid sitting frozen behind some driftwood. It began to regain its bearings for a bit. I watched wide-eyed as it sat there truly
like a dragon waiting beneath the waters. I truly hoped it would do a good job at consuming
the dead drowned ants. It was so weird to see it living here, because
prior to this, I have always been used to looking in and seeing our Sapphire Emperor. It sat silently for a long while staring at
the new strange world above the water. And then it decided to move, an ant came to
check out the huge white shape it could see below the waters, but the beast was ready
to check out its new home. It swam around the corner and cautiously began
to explore the Golden Springs floor. I am sure it could smell all the dead ants
at its feet but it seemed to not care much for them at the moment. I am sure it could also see all the ants crawling
around the other side of the glass, but again not too interested in them either. It moved to check out the filter, which it
could probably feel was making strange mechanical vibrations. And then what it did next kind of touched
my heart. It was staring out at the vast world of the
Hacienda Del Dorado outside the waters. It suddenly occurred to me that this was probably
the very first time, our axolotl had ever seen plants, soil, wood, and even ants. It stood still staring for a long time at
the beauty beyond. OMG! Were these creatures smart? Then suddenly it began to move, probably hoping
to explore the rest of the Hacienda Del Dorado. Ugh my heart. It eventually turned around and began to continue
mapping the edges of its watery domain. Now it's said that the minimum requirement
for an axolotl is 10 gallons and the Golden Springs, now with most of its substrate removed
was about 10 gallons, more wide than tall, but I surely began to feel guilty keeping
it within the said minimum required space. What do you guys think? Anyway, it continued to look around at the
world beyond the Golden Spring's pool. For now, I was going to let it settle in to
its new home where it would take up the task of feeding on drowned members of the Golden
Empire. I watched our white aquadragon for one last
moment as it retreated towards the back to retire for sleep. The next morning, I came to visit the Hacienda
Del Dorado, and could see our white aquadragon from a mile away against that dark substrate,
and strangely, I believe it also saw me coming. It turned to face me as soon as I walked through
the door! Ugh my heart! Why was I feeling guilty for keeping it the
Golden Springs? I felt like it needed something bigger. Well, the good thing was the axolotl seemed
a lot more settled in now, and also appeared to be less stressed and a nicer colour. Also the water had cleared up quite nicely,
the black sands now visible, with all that biofilm from the night before probably settled
in our filter and crevices within the waterscape to do its job at neutralizing our axolotl's
waste. Now get this, AC Family, another great thing
I noticed was its tail had healed nicely overnight! This is actually one of the most amazing features
about axolotls. They're super healers! Surprisingly axolotls don't heal by scarring,
but are capable of regenerating entire lost appendages in a period of months, and, in
certain cases, more vital structures like parts of their brains. Isn't that amazing?! They can also readily accept transplants from
other individuals, including eyes and parts of the brain, restoring these alien organs
to full functionality. It's pretty mind-blowing if you think about
it! Now as I watched the axolotl pace around its
living space, I wondered if it was perhaps hungry. It was hard to tell if it was eating ants
or if simply didn't have a taste for them. There were no more dead ant bodies along the
floor, so could that mean it could have eaten them overnight? But just in case our white aquadragon was
hungry, I decided to give it a house warming gift anyway, as is our AC tradition. Here I had some thawed, frozen bloodworms,
an apparent axolotl favourite. I dropped some into the Golden Springs, and
the blood worms fell straight to the bottom. I instantly knew the axolotl could smell them
as suddenly bam! Some must have floated towards her and she
sucked them up into her mouth. It began to feed happily on the bloodworms,
and when it was done, it moved over to continue ant watching. Speaking of which, the Golden Empire was back
with business as usual. Check them out! They were as busy as ever reconstructing tunnels
and ant hills within the new rich soils, and by the way, do you recognize where this new
soil came from? Ten points if you can tell where in the comments. Now with all the ants now back to frequenting
the Golden Springs, back to traveling their usual trails around the waters, to collect
a drink and distribute the waters within their bodies to all members of the colony, there
was now an added pressure for our white aquadragon to fulfill its task as water cleaner, as effectively
as our former Sapphire Emperor had during his term in the Golden Springs. Which brings me now to me dilemma, AC Family! Here's where I need your help. What should we do? Do you think this axolotl was a good choice
for our Golden Springs? Although the axolotl does seem happy, a part
of me is starting to doubt this choice for a water beast, because even if the Golden
Springs are the alleged minimum required space, I still get the sense this area is too small,
plus I have yet to actually see if it is eating the dead ants. To be fair, it's only been a few days and
I plan on keeping a good eye on our white aquadragon here, feeding it bloodworms daily,
but I'd love to know what you guys think? Should we rehome this axolotl and replace
it with perhaps another crayfish? If you do think we should give this axolotl
a chance in the Golden Springs, what should we name it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments
section, AC Family. As always you determine the fate of the inhabitants
of the Golden Empire, and ultimately, the Antiverse. I love these ants and want what's best for
them, including clean drinking water free of the poisons generated by any drowned bodies. The lives of the Golden Empire and this new
axolotl lay in your hands. Like a massive ant colony ourselves, I believe
collectively we'll be able to make the right choice. It's ant love forever! Alright AC Family, did you enjoy this week's
episode? What do you guys think? Will this axolotl be a passing guest in the
Antiverse or should we keep it? I will be sure to update you on how the axolotl
is doing in a future video, so hit the SUBSCRIBE button and BELL icon now so you can keep updated
on the happenings of the Hacienda Del Dorado and other ant kingdoms! And hit the LIKE button every single time,
including now. If you're new to the channel, and want to
catch up on all your AntsCanada Lore, feel free to binge watch this complete story line
playlist here, which traces the origins of all the ant colonies of the ant room, so you
can follow their stories and better appreciate how these ant kingdoms came to be, and why
we love them so much! AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie
for you here, if you would just like to watch extended play footage of our new axolotl in
the Golden Springs. Talk about a cute, gentle giant! And before we proceed to the AC Question of
the Week, I'd like to plug my daily vlogging channel, daily vlogs which have become a full
out bird dad channel, as I am now raising a baby African Grey parrot! If you love birds, I'd love for you to meet
my new cute little bird! Hope you can subscribe when you're there. And now it's time for the AC Question of the
Week! Last week we asked: Name one reason why having
a large colony is advantageous in the ant world. Congratulations to Smunstu Stinkymonster who
correctly answered: With a larger colony, the workers are much
more efficient at their various tasks like foraging,
keeping the nest clean, and feeding the young. Congratulations, Smunstu Stinkymonster, you
just won a free e-book handbook from our shop! In this week's AC Question of the Week, we
ask: What neat special ability does
the axolotl possess? Leave your answer in the comments section
and you could also win a free e-book 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, and
SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed this video to help us keep making more. It's ant love forever!
I love that channel but I wished he did more research before putting the axolotl in that tank. I’m glad he relocated it to a better enclosure
I really like antscanada's channel but I don't feel like this is the best situation for the axolotl. Maybe relocate the axolotl into it's own larger aquarium and put in dwarf crayfish?
You should really read the comments on that video he’s getting a lot of shit for it. He kinda deserves it though if he did just about any research he would know an axolotl can’t live in tropical temps and live off dead ants
That axo is gonna be dead in a week