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!
