"Now where in Ant-Man's quantum world am I?" the ant wondered, as she waved her antennae
through the air, trying her best to smell what lay beyond. This all appeared very strange to her. Everything was just so unfamiliar. She thought she'd memorized these Hacienda
del Doradan lands like the back of her pre-tarsus, but suddenly tonight, it was like she had
woken up to a totally different kingdom. Something wasn't right... and then suddenly... "Ahhh, an itch!" The plague of body mites that had touched
the entire ant colony as of late, had sadly made its way onto this ant's body. But though encumbered by the mites, the ant
had to keep going. Her job tonight was to bring back food to
the rest of the colony, but emerging from the nest to find this strange world above
ground truly psyched out this ant, as she cautiously tried her best to navigate the
foreign terrain, which was strangely oscillating, bobbing up and down in eerie waves. In fact, upon further investigation, it appeared
as though she was completely surrounded by water! She was on a raft of plants. So now the question was, where do you go when
you don't know where the heck you are? Maybe here? Hmmm... something doesn't smell too right
on this side. Or perhaps over here? Ok, something smells pretty interesting in
that direction. Yes, it's a fellow ant from the Golden Empire. Perfect! It was time to go meet her and figure out
what she knows, might be going on here. But now to get to her. "Shall I try this way? Hmmm... No. My anty senses are telling me I need to go
around this way." The ant makes her way around the outside of
this floating plant to try to get to her fellow colony member, who didn't seem to want to
move from her spot. Man, navigating the confusing entanglement
of unfamiliar plants was proving to be quite the challenge for this ant. She felt lost again, and quite disoriented,
and itchy! How did she even wander out here in the first
place? And all this time, she couldn't quite put
a mandible on what smelled... toad-ally off about all this. But she knew she that once she could compare
her notes with those of her fellow Golden Empire colony member, she could get all the
answers she was looking for. The ant crossed over to the other side to
join her sister. When reunited with her sister ant, she reached
out into the darkness of the leaf fold in which she hid, "Hey, sis! Isn't all this pretty weird? Let's go find food together!" But the fellow Golden Empire ant was not moving
from her spot. How odd! She knew something, and in just a moment,
this ant too, would get all the answers it needed. It decided to wander off on its own to try
its best to get back to its business of finding some food for the colony. "You know, it was ok that things were a little
different. Not a problem for this ant! They were the Golden Empire, after all, always
victorious in the face of any danger! And hmmm what an interesting rock!" Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel, and hit the
BELL icon. Welcome to the AC Family. Enjoy! You guys totally should have seen them, the
day I introduced them into the Hacienda Del Dorado. It was hilarious! I could hear the lid clicking as they hopped
around inside. The moment I lifted the lid, like a jack-in-the-box,
the Death Sprites sprung out onto the scene, revealing themselves to us for the first time. AC Family, let's have a look shall we? They appeared rather froggish for toads, all
that wet, slimy, and squishy skin, and sure enough, upon further researching these painted
toads, that are known scientifically as Kaloula picta, native to the Philippines where I live,
they actually don't belong to the family of true toads, at all, so for the purposes of
this video, we'll call them painted toads or frogs, even if they're technically Microhylid
frogs. Boing! And they jump like frogs, too! So if you're new to the channel, and are wondering
why the heck so many people care about watching a video about frogs in a terrarium, well,
first off, welcome to the Antiverse! What you're witnessing here is the beginning
of Phase B of what we, the AC Family call "Project Cloverfield - the introduction of
Death Sprites". We all have been anticipating this deployment
of Death Sprites, i.e. these painted toads into this terrarium, called the Hacienda Del
Dorado, because these toads have a very special and important purpose: to kill a population
of zombie, mite-infected ants living in this terrarium. To catch you up to speed real quick, not too
long ago these lands were ruled by a beloved, thriving massive supercolony of yellow crazy
ants, called the Golden Empire, an OG colony on this channel, loved by millions, with seven
queens, millions of loyal workers, and a force none could stop, until a plague of parasitic ant blood-sucking
mites crippled the entire colony and reduced them to a sick, weakened population of just
a few thousands. We scrambled to extract as many ants as we
could from the Hacienda Del Dorado, and quarantine a good portion of the colony to treat them
using predatory Hypoaspis mites, which eat the bad mites, and as we saw last week has
helped the colony recover. But the remaining mite-infected ants in the
Hacienda Del Dorado needed to be exterminated, lest the mites went on to infect all other
neighbouring ant kingdoms and creatures in my Ant Room. And so guys, here we are. The first three Death Sprites have landed
in the Hacienda Del Dorado, our biological assasains to annihilate the zombie, mite-infected
ants, and what ended up happening from this moment on is a story that will leave you mind-blown! The events that happened this week, were nothing
less than epic, suspenseful, full of problem-solving, crises, and perseverance, and oh yeah, cuteness
overload, and by the end of it all, I was left in utter breathlessness at the miraculous
splendor of nature, unfolding before our eyes. This has got to be one of my absolute favourite
episodes on this channel, so sit back and enjoy how I created a haven for Death Sprites
and a hell for zombie, mite-infected ants. Oh yeah, and AC Family, you guys will love
the major event happening at the end! It was the first night our the three painted
toads would spend in the Hacienda Del Dorado, and I observed them very carefully, to see
if they would actually perform and eat the ants like we were hoping they would. At this point the mite plague was bad. It pained me to see these tainted, mite-infected
worker ants, encumbered by their blood-sucking mites. It was as if they no longer were ants of the
Golden Empire, but were like infected cancer cells that needed to be destroyed before the
cancer would metastasize and spread. The Golden Empire ants, which used to work
around the clock when they were healthy, were now only emerging at night, when less predators
were around, in attempts to preserve their numbers as best they could. But oh, the irony of it all! Tonight they were gathered around and feeding
on this rotten piece of banana, placed here precisely to bring them out. It has also attracted the attention of the
resident Guardian Goblin, seen in last week's video, a house gecko who came to drink from
the bananas sweet juices. But this gecko was not interested in our ants,
in fact, it was even more interested in eating the fruit flies the banana attracted. To eat the ants, discreetly wandering the
grounds tonight, I was really counting on the Death Sprites to prove their worth. AC Family, check out this pile of leaves. Below it lies one of our painted toads now. It comes out for a breather. Now, based on what I've been able to observe,
these painted toads are not foragers when hunting for food, but are more ambushers in
hunting style. They kind of sit still and wait patiently
for food to come near. Have a look at those unique and gorgeous,
platinum-coloured eyes... And oh... movement... It spotted something approaching and retreated
under the leaves. Our Death Sprite was in ambush position as
it stared at its food crawling about nearby - an ant dragging its gaster around likely
from the torment of biting mites. My heart raced watching the toad, watching
the ant, like an assassin waiting for the right time to strike. It shocked me how patient the toad was, not
moving from its spot for a very long time, until the ant got close enough. And then! I was relieved to watch our Death Sprite eat
its first ant. Over the next three hours, I watched it consume
two more ants. But this feeding rate was a bit concerning
to me. You see, assuming the toad ate an average
of one ant an hour, that means that one toad could consume about 8-12 ants a night, and
with only three toads in the Hacienda Del Dorado, that only meant an average of 24-36
ants eaten every night. This was simply not enough to kill the estimated
hundreds of ants left living in these lands in due time. We needed these ants along with the mites
on their bodies eaten ASAP. And now that we knew our Death Sprite's rate
of ant consumption, we now knew they wouldn't be able to carry out their mission alone,
as a three-toad group. They needed some back up, and I had the perfect
plan brewing to make that happen. AC Family, behold! Our second troop of Death Sprites. Within these containers are 15 highly equipped,
able-bodied painted toads, each hungry and ready to eat Golden Empire ants upon sight. With 15 painted toads bringing the Death Sprite
count to 18, collectively eating an average amount of up to roughly 216 ants a night,
this was a much more promising force at eliminating our infected ant population in the Hacienda
Del Dorado. But before I could introduce the toads into
these territories, there was a very important and key change I needed to make to these lands
before introducing the new troop, and that AC Family, is where the most epic journey
began! The man who gave these painted toads to me
said they can survive in these containers for a few days without problems provided I
change the bedding and water daily. I knew these guys wouldn't be staying in here
too long, however. What I was about to do was a pretty easy project
to pull off in my mind, but little did I know, up ahead was what was going to be the most
painstaking undertaking I'd ever worked on as your Creator of Worlds, as well as some
surprising results that would go down in history, as the coolest thing I've ever created in
the Antiverse! Behold the new pond I'd installed into Hacienda
Del Dorado to provide our toads with the moisture they needed. It offered a satisfactory watering hole for
our three painted toads, but now that we were going to add 15 more toads into the mix, this
watering hole would be like 18 people sharing a bathroom. It was not enough. It wasn't just a crowding issue, though; it
was also very much so a health hazard, as this small body of water could become a poisonous
cesspool once ammonia builds up from the frogs' waste, and frogs having such permeable skin,
so permeable in fact that frogs even absorb dissolved oxygen from the air through their
skin, would quickly absorb the poisonous ammonia and die. And so, AC Family, as Creator of Worlds, I
decided the Hacienda Del Dorado was going to have a brand new pond, but not just any
pond, this was going to be the most epic body of water that these lands had ever seen. The Hacienda Del Dorado actually once had
a body of water, if you recall the Golden Springs, back in its open-concept days, before
it was removed at the onset of the mite outbreak. It was a glass receptacle that housed a waterfall
over an impressive rockscape with plants and moss growing epiphytically on its surface. But the problem with this setup, though beautiful,
was it still featured a body of water contained in glass, that sort of floated in the air
in a weird state. An aquarium within an aquarium, so to speak. It was more of a concept design, and not so
much a naturalistic one. But this time, AC Family, I wanted to attempt
what I wasn't able to achieve with the Golden Springs. This time, I was going to set out to create
a completely aquatic region within the Hacienda Del Dorado, no floating water receptacle,
but a functioning, bioactive, in ground water world, turning the lands into a true marshland
haven for our Death Sprites to thrive in, and do their great work at eliminating remaining
ants, but this was where all the problems started! Here we go! My plan was to completely dig out the earth
at the eastern region of the terrarium. As I removed the driftwood, I could see mite-infected
ants scurrying about. I began to clear the area I imagined in my
mind would be ideal for submerging under water. I had a rough idea as to what I wanted the
pond to look like, but I was going to improvise as I went a long, seeing as I'd never done
anything like this before. The Selva De Fuego, the part water, part land
paludarium of the Fire Nation, my fire ant colony was already built with a water partition
at its genesis, so that was easier to construct. This pond, however, was truly going to be
an involved engineering and biological design project, pushing my terrarium and aquarium-making
skills to its very limits. So now I needed physical barriers, to keep
all the water contained, and so the best thing I could muster up were these. Plastic tupperware-type containers cut into
pieces with scissors. I also had some aquarium-safe, non-toxic silicone
to bind the wall together and into place. And so I went straight to work! First, I laid out all the tupperware pieces
down in the general shape that I hoped for the pond to assume. Eventually, I was happy with this general
form for our new pond. What do you guys think? I went in to lay a thick amount of silicone
to bind all the tupperware pieces into the places in which I had arranged them. I had accidentally bought black silicone of
the same brand, but at this point, I figured it didn't matter as we weren't going to see
the silicone anyway, but oh, more about that later. And then it was done! It looked messy, but I knew when this was
all finished it would look spectacular, at least in my mind it did! I allowed the this entire arrangement to dry
and cure overnight, shining a bright light over the construction site to deter any of
the three frogs from coming to the area. Now even though the painted toads still had
their pond, I made sure to also water the lands just to give them some extra moisture
for the night. In the shadows, I spotted one of our Death
Sprites, waiting quietly for insects to pass by, watching me closely. What a gorgeous creature! Another thing that occurred to me in this
moment, was that this painted toad was probably quite lonesome. You see in the wild, these painted toads live
in large groups of up to hundreds if not thousands of individuals, where they gather en masse
in ponds, rivers, and marshes. Worry not my little toad, when I'm done, you'll
have a huge new gang to meet and frolic with together in a frog haven. The next morning, when all had dried, I had
to construct three final details to the pond. Now check this out guys. I wanted this area here closest to the glass
to act like the bank of a river, a mossy shelf, which would act as a sort of shallow wading
area for the frogs. A frog beach, if you will. And to do that, I had to remove the current
pond from its spot, as it was in the way. I then began to lay on the silicone which
would bind the shelf, this tupperware cross section, to the entire pond structure. See where I'm going with this yet, guys? Oh, this was going to look so cool! I made sure to use a generous amount of silicone
to secure it all together, as I didn't want any leaks. The next structure on my list, was also going
to be pretty epic! After laying a tonne of silicone, I laid down
two more pieces to create another shelf. You'll see what this shelf is for in just
a moment. Next, I had to silicone and mask the bare
tupperware with some artificial rock. As much as I love the look of bare tupperware
in my setups (not!), I wanted the final result of this pond to look as natural as possible. In my mind, I wanted to make it so that once
this area was filled with water and decorations added, we wouldn't be able to tell that it
was completely man-made. To fill in some of the spaces, I also siliconed
in some real rocks to the bank work. I allowed all of this to dry and cure once
again overnight, but to temporarily replace the toads' pool, I added this bowl and filled
it with some fresh water. This was going to be the last night, they
would be bathing in such a small puddle of water, or at least, this was what I had thought. I turned off the lights so the toads could
hunt in peace. And so AC Family, the big day had come! The day our new epic pond was going to be
born, and boy did I have a surprise for you! I laid down the soil substrate, and placed
in the decorative rocks that I envisioned might look good in the pond. Now my aquascaping skills were being put to
the test! I never really know what the final outcome
would be when creating these biological worlds, but I always hope the finished results would
be pretty sweet! Alright, guys and now to reveal the surprise! AC Family, perhaps the coolest feature of
this entire pond, is this! Do you recognize it? Yup! It's the rock face of the Golden Springs! Many of you guys asked what I did with the
Golden Springs after removing it from the Hacienda Del Dorado, and well, of course I
kept the entire unit just in case, and I'm so glad I did, because now the time had come
to reinstall it back into the territories, this time in a proper, more naturalistic orientation. I had siliconed it the day before to the side
wall of the terrarium, and allowed the entire thing to dry overnight. I then went in to gather some of the substrate
which contained a lot of the valuable beneficial bacteria needed to help neutralize ammonia
and other toxic nitrogenous compounds resulting from the frogs' waste in our pond. I laid all this bio-rich muck onto the bottom
of our pond! This was it, AC Family! The completion of our awesome pond was here! I poured in the purified water. Yes, after all our hard work over two days,
it felt so good to watch our beloved project come to life! With all the pond water now in, I installed
the filter and pump to power the waterfall of the Golden Springs. I plugged in the filter and held my breath. I was really hoping this would all work out! I poured in some water through the top of
the spring to get the pump flowing, and AC Family, in the end this is what it all came
to! Success! A pond and waterfall, complete with a wading
shelf, bioactive substrate, decorations, and just the beauty of natural wetland splendor. Wow! Can you believe this, guys?! It actually worked, AC Family! I made sure to add some Stability product
to help promote the proliferation of more beneficial bacteria in the waters. I then went ahead and added a couple rasbora
fish from the old Golden Springs, some java moss, as well as two red shrimp. These four creatures were enough for this
new aquatic environment for now until the entire system took the time it needed to biologically
stabilize. The rasbora fish danced and played in the
turbulent dripping waters. Our pond was now complete and I couldn't believe
we had pulled it all off, easily and problem-free. Or at least this is what I thought. A couple hours later, I came back to this. The water level had dropped considerably. Oh no! Could it be what I think it was? Looking at the soil on the other side, it
did look a bit damp. No, don't be silly, I said to myself. Perhaps moisture was just seeping into all
the fake rock of the setup. I just needed to add more water. But then a few hours after that, I came back
to this nightmare. The water level had dropped even more, and
underneath the water bowl, I saw this! My worst nightmare had come true! There was definitely a leak somewhere. I had to abort the project and assess where
we went wrong. I unplugged the water filter, and fished out
our four aquatic creatures. Then I needed the help of my trusty Shop-vac
to suck up all the water from the soils. It was crazy. Every time I sucked up some water, more water
came flowing in. It was now night time, and I knew I had to
fix all of this ASAP, so I was prepared to work overtime, through the night to make my
necessary repairs. One of the toads stood from its corner again
watching me work the whole time, and that made me feel bad. This was supposed to be the night, it could
enjoy the company of other toads in the crystal flowing waters of its new custom pond. I felt as though I had failed it. I began to clear away some of the swampy mess
on the other side of the pond walls. Assessing the damage, my guess was that the
leak was somewhere here. Whatever the case, before proceeding any further
with repairs, there was something important that I needed to attend to first, before proceeding
any further. So the fifteen frogs had now spent three nights
living in their holding containers. I changed their moss beddings and water every
day, but I wasn't going to let them spend a another night in these containers, while
I was taking the time to repair the pond. And so AC Family, you will not believe what
I had planned for them! Alright let's do this! Behold, an empty half tank with some sphagnum
moss. I began to add more sphagnum moss and broke
it all up evenly so it could nicely carpet the bottom. Don't get any ideas, guys. It's just moss! Next, with this mossy carpet, I needed to
make it frog-friendly. I poured in some fresh purified water, then
moved the moss around, pressing it into the water so it would soak up all that delicious
moisture. I wanted to create a place where if I were
a frog, I'd want to hang out! I then placed in some fake rock for shelter. I also anchored in some plants removed from
the Hacienda Del Dorado during pond construction. These plants would help absorb some of the
toxic ammonia and nitrogenous compounds from the frogs waste. There we go! Looking toad-ally awesome already! Haha! And now to create a place to attract some
frog food. I mashed up some banana and placed it in a
bowl. This bowl of mashed banana would be perfect
at attracting fruit flies and even ants to the site, which would be perfect for our painted
toads. And now for the shocker! AC Family, are you ready for this? So, I didn't really have a huge tank on hand
to house 15 painted toads, and the Hacienda Del Dorado certainly wasn't ready to accommodate
them, but I did realize that what I did have was the perfect 200 gallon enclosure for them. AC Family, check out my 200 gallon enclosure
- my guest shower. It was perfect! Clean, large, and sealed, and I don't use
this shower often so why not? That's right, AC Family, I was going to move
15 toads into my shower. The idea was crazy, but it would have to do
for now until the pond was completed. I placed the two containers of painted toads
onto the moss. The frogs were just waking up now and emerging
from their day's slumber. Talk about cute! At first, they weren't moving much from their
containers, and then suddenly out of nowhere, the toads began to spring into action! Some toads decided they would reconceal themselves
into the moss. It was just hilarious watching these tiny
toads hopping around my shower. I also made sure to moisten the tiles to keep
the wandering toads hydrated. I also situated some ramps using the container
covers to help the toads find their way back in if they needed it. But I knew these toads were more than capable
of hopping in if they so wanted. So funny interacting with these shy toads. But little did I know, these toads would soon
warm up to me, and of course they would! I'm literally giving them my home! Haha! So through the night, I stayed up to drain
remaining water from the mess. I needed to locate the source of the leak
so I could make necessary repairs. It blew my mind that the pond structure leaked. I had thought, hey some silicone and plastic
tupperware walls should be enough to hold some water in a place, right? But apparently not. I guess this is why engineers and architects
undergo rigorous schooling to make things like this happen on a large scale. I filled the pond with more water, and with
the help of my shop-vac I watched carefully to identify where the leak was coming from,
and voila, the leak was coming from this area here. I did my best to wipe the area of repair clean
of water and debris. I sucked up all water from the pond. I then lined paper towels to keep moisture
from the soils away from the area of repair. I then used a special sealant used for sealing
leaks in pipes and roofs to cover all areas where the silicone was in contact with the
plastic. My guess was the silicone wasn't attaching
well to the plastic tupperware surface. I used a paintbrush to help smoothen out this
layer of sealant. Then once that dried, I covered the sealant
with another high performing sealant as back-up! I couldn't afford for there to be another
leak! Overnight, I used a mini hair dryer to help
speed up the drying process. I did everything I could to make this repair
work! I frequently threw out the paper towel when
it had soaked up full of water, and kept this entire trench area clean of debris while the
sealant dried. This time, our pond construction would be
fail-proof. It had to be, for the sake of our beloved
toads. Through the night, while waiting for sealant
layers and reparations to dry, I would make frequent visits to the toads in my shower,
to help pass the time and de-stress. As you can imagine, at this point, I really
needed it. And I wasn't going to just sit there all night
and watch sealant dry. I quickly learned that not only were these
frogs hilariously cute, but they were also pretty incredible! They could hop up and stick to a flat surface
for an impressive amount of time. They also were beginning to become less shy,
and would often just sit and watch me. Some individuals were even bold enough to
come check me out! This toad totally hopped on me, and jumped
onto my knee staring up at me in bewilderment. My heart shrieked inside at the cuteness! They were just so nimble with their Spiderman
moves! Could we be looking at the evolutionary transition
of a toad to tree frog or a gecko-like toad? Overall these very active painted toads were
a delight to watch do their thing all night, and I was happy to offer them a temporary
hotel resort in my shower. In the morning they always left me with a
mess to clean up, and sometimes a straggler, which I gently helped into the moss so it
could crawl into bed. Mmm... Nope, I don't think this rock pit will do. Aha! Much better. Sleep tight, my Death Sprite! When you wake, there will be an awesome pond
and a haven for toads waiting for you. And so the moment of truth. AC Family, it was time to try again and test
our pond, after a whole night, day, and following night of repairs. All layers had dried and in my mind, there
was just no way, there could be another leak, or at least I hoped! Could you guys imagine the pressure and anxiousness
I was feeling at this point? I mean how could there be a leak, right? We were going on three layers now. I cleared the trench, so that I could fully
see if there was any leak happening. I took a deep breath and began to fill the
pond up with water. OMG! It was working! No! My heart cried out. It looked like water was pouring out from
several places. I was broken, I was destitute, I was exhausted,
and most of all, I was hurt that I had once again failed the Death Sprites, who didn't
deserve my sheer ineptitude. I was so stupid. How could I let this happen? The three Death Sprites were going to spend
yet another night without a proper pond and restricted access in the Hacienda Del Dorado,
the 15 toads would be spending yet another night in my shower, and who knows how many
more attempts it would take to perfect this pond. I decided to give up and resolved to let the
15 frogs go later that evening. This all wasn't going to work. I needed to come up with a better plan to
get rid of the remaining Golden Empire, and a little voice in my head that suggested I
just completely throw out the entire Hacienda Del Dorado all together, throwing away the
years it took to develop the complex biological soil system inside, so I could just start
a new, haunted me. As I cleaned the shower, preparing the frogs
for their release back into the wild where they were collected,
I looked into the moss habitat I made for them. The fruit had attracted a lot of ants, and
one toad had retired in that area, probably after an entire night feasting on ants. I saw a lot of toads huddling up in the moss
looking cozy. Some snuggling together under the fake rock. And oh, there was another straggler! There was always that one frog in the mornings
that had trouble hopping over the wall and just decided to camp out somewhere outside
the mossy wetland, and that, AC Family was when an idea hit me! No, I was committed to Project Cloverfield. I had to do it for every little soil creature
in the Hacienda Del Dorado, for these toads, for the Golden Empire, and for all the ants
and creatures of the Antiverse. We, the AC Family, were not quitters and were
not going to be defeated! I had another plan, an awesome plan to make
the Hacienda Del Dorado great again! I was going to toad-ally trump the leaks,
and build a wall! One thing I learned upon further investigation
is that not all silicones are created equal, and that some silicones were made specifically
to not only hold water within a barrier, but also to bind to both glass and plastic. I think my mistake the first time was the
silicone I used was made to attach to glass, but not the tupperware surface. I went in to smother all areas with a tonne
of this new silicone. In the hard to reach and see places, I had
to completely fill my hand with a blob of silicone, and literally smother it onto the
walls, floor, and layers of sealant laid in the previous days. I made sure to reach all the way to the back
of the pond and literally stuff the area with silicone. I smothered the silicone everywhere I could,
emptying 8 whole canisters of the stuff on all areas from front to back. There was no way, I would allow another leak! Look at how much there was now! And now for the wall! This glass wall, which I was hoping to position
in this area, was designed as a contingency plan, in case after all this, there would
be another leak. I actually felt this wall was a great idea,
as well, because it could also section off a sort of marshy region, kind of like where
the 15 Death Sprites were living now. Watching them cuddling up in all that wet
moss, gave me the idea to replicate that environment, in a special wet section between the pond
and the dry land of the terrarium, that was separate from the pond, but also separate
from the dry land. It allowed us to create this transitionary
wet area, without having to flood out the entire land portion of the terrarium and completely
drown our necessary soil creatures. If there was a leak, then hey, no problem. It would be a wet area anyway. If it didn't leak, awesome! I'd be filling it with water anyhow! I only really needed the silicone binding
this glass wall to the glass of the terrarium to work at keeping water from escaping. Let's cross our fingers, AC Family, and hope
this finally works! That night while waiting for the silicone
to dry and cure, I offered the toads a special treat of baby roaches along with a promise
that this was going to be their final night living in my shower, and that if things didn't
work out, I'd surely let them go, but that I also felt like things were going to work
this time. I also released some baby roaches into the
darkness of the Hacienda Del Dorado with a special promise to the three original Death
Sprites that had been so patient that they would be united with a huge group coming soon,
along with a haven for toads. It would be the last time they would need
me to shower them. The next day when the silicone had dried,
it was time to try one last time. If this didn't work, I don't know what I would
do, but inside I wasn't going to accept failure. In went in with the water, and I watched the
barrier like a hawk. The pond began to fill up and I held my breath,
feeling my heart beating fast in my chest! And what happened next, AC Family, will completely
shock you. It worked. The water was still as it held its form within
our newly sealed pond barrier. I held my breath as I stared in silence at
the water, which looked still as glass. But the question was, would this pond remain
in tact permanently, or would it spring a leak in some unforeseen location again? Only time would tell, but you know what, AC
Family? When night arrived several hours later, the
pond was still 100% full-bodied, without a single leak in sight. AC Family, it was finally time to have some
fun! Later that night, I fixed up the Hacienda
Del Dorado, to prepare the lands for the homecoming of the Death Sprites. The guardian gecko had emerged from hiding
to have a look at the new Hacienda Del Dorado that lay before her, and I bet she couldn't
believe her reptilian eyes. AC Family, it is with great honour that I
present to you, the new Hacienda Del Dorado, haven for Death Sprites. It was all just so magical, I was completely
spellbound by the sheer beauty of this haven for frogs. Check out the natural spring, feeding filtered
clean waters to our pond, I just couldn't look away. Let me show you around. So the plants originally growing on the Golden
Springs, ended up wilting, due to the change in moisture while the Golden Springs were
out of commission, despite all my feeble attempts to water them every night. So I simply planted some new moss, some new
bird's nest fern, and my absolute favourite, some hanging Spanish moss to help some of
the water trickle down into the pond nicely. At the surface, I've positioned some branches
with some java moss attached to them, bathed by the Golden Springs to keep them green. I've also added some water lettuce and some
frogbit, floating plants to help eat up any ammonia build up in the pond. And guys, look, our mossy shelf, exactly how
I'd envisioned it, the perfect frog beach! I never in my wildest dreams would have ever
imagined our pond would end up looking this beautiful. But guys, now it's time to show you another
cool area and hangout for the frogs! The marsh! Now remember that trench section behind the
wall, well, to turn the area into that mossy wetland we dreamed of, I first added a layer
of activated carbon. Although the sealants and silicones I used
are allegedly non-toxic and safe, I still wanted to add this purifying layer of activated
carbon to absorb any impurities in this area for times to come. Then on top of this carbon layer, I added
some clean black sand. Next, I added a layer of sphagnum moss. Don't get any ideas guys. It's just moss! And after adding a tiny bit of soil and some
live moss this is what our new marsh area looked like! It was wet, pillowy, mossy, and just ready
to envelop any frog wanting to snuggle in its marshy goodness! In the really wet, deeper areas, I placed
in some java moss as a cushion. One thing I wanted to show you guys real quick,
was that I was able to cover all the unsightly silicone up against the glass, with these
decal removable stickers from WallEuphoria.com which I cut to shape. It's great because you can't even see it unless
you look closely. While gutting out the Hacienda Del Dorado,
I actually found this huge piece of driftwood deep inside the soils, which I don't even
remember putting in here, but it was perfect at creating a border between the wetlands
and the dry lands of the territories. Which brings us, AC Family, to the other half
of the newly renovated territories. After hours of fun, soaking in our ever refreshing
pond, the frogs could then choose to swim up the beach, and hop their way over to drier
grounds. The Death Sprites could choose to hop deep
into the thickened foliage down this pathway under a grand wooden arch, which leads deep
into a plethora of awesome habitat for the painted toads to setup ambush, or they could
travel this way into these tighter spaces if they so wish. And then, once the frogs dried out they could
return to the hydrating Golden Springs and pond to bathe. Isn't that neat? What a cool space to live if you were frog
right? And AC Family, check this out real quick! You may notice a bunch of dried leaves laying
around, and well these leaves are actually talisay leaves, which upon decaying release
tannins and other nutrients into the water that help condition water, and even acts as
an antiobiotic! This would prove super beneficial for our
painted toads with their super permeable skin, once they hide under these leaves and in the
water in which the leaves are decaying. I've scattered them everywhere. Finally, this driftwood piece was repositioned,
and stocked with a new assortment of plants including bromeliads both old and new, pothos,
and gorgeous flowering tilandsias. And now, the moment we've all been waiting
for. It was time to add our team of Death Sprites. Put on your wet suits, guys! This is going to be a blast! The toads were now awake, but they had no
idea of the epicness ahead. I carefully collected each toad and placed
them into this container of fresh water, to cleanse them for their homecoming. One by one, I collected them each by hand
searching carefully through the moss, until I finally collected all 15 frogs. Look at them! Time to take you to your new home, my Death
Sprites! And here they were, sitting atop the Hacienda
Del Dorado, and I couldn't help but feel a variety of emotions. I felt joy, that Project Cloverfield B was
making its final execution now, relief in light of all the trouble it took us to get
here, and gratitude that I had chosen to not give up on our plans and these Death Sprites... OK, ok! They were clearly eager to be released. Let's get to it! First in is Andy Warhol, next Pablo Picasso,
and Vincent van Gogh. Andy, Pablo, and Vincent stood completely
still in a daze. Next I added in Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo,
and Henri Matisse. Wow! Leonardo went to hide completely under water. Henri and Michaelangelo were just chillin'
like villains. Vincent was way back there under the waterfall! Next was Jackson Pollock, Edvard Munch, Claude
Monet, and Rene Magritte. The frogs were loving it! Pablo was just chillin on the beach, and Claude
floating on his water lettuce raft! And my Michaelangelo, look at you mountain
climbing the Golden Springs! How appropriate that you're up here! Henri
had found a cozy spot to hang within the Tillandsia. While Leonardo, Pablo, and Claude continued
to enjoy the calm shallows waiting for the final Death Sprites to be added. Salvador Dali and Yayoi Kusama Rembrandt, Frida Kahlo, and finally Raphael! And that was it! The Death Sprites were in, and from the looks
of things they were quickly getting used to their brand new surroundings! Pablo was quick to find dry land and found
his beachfront home under some moss. Salvador loved his waterfall view, but it
didn't beat Michaelangelo's mountianside penthouse suite up in the Golden Springs. The Death Sprites could now set up their stations
and I couldn't wait to watch them perform their work, at eliminating mite-infected ants. It was the first night of the Death Sprites. Yayoi had found his outpost on some water
lettuce. Chillin' in the mosses of our marsh was Claude
ready to take on the ants. There's Henri and Rembrandt in a cozy spot
in the marsh, and look up there! Vincent wanted to go station himself by the
wet mosses of the waterfall shelf. Also awake and ready to feed up in the rocks
was Michaelangelo. He was committed to catching something tonight,
and so was Pablo, who patiently waited for something to pass by. And alas, the hour had come, that the ants
were emerging! Leonardo had his eye on this ant, which appeared
to be lost and disorientated. But Yayoi was also eyeing this promising meal. Mites covered the ant's entire body from head
to foot, which meant the ant was conveniently distracted. "Just a little closer" Yayoi thought and he
could catch it. But he couldn't strike too early, or it might
get away. Here it comes. Oh no, it got away. But now it was Leonardo's chance for a meal,
and " Oh, here it comes. Could this get any easier?! Right into my mouth! Ahhhhh my eye! The startled ant got away. But I didn't fret, because as the night went
on I enjoyed watching our Death Sprites' successful catches! Michaelangelo, Claude, Pablo And guess who else I spotted hiding out by
the wood. It was that one original Death Sprite who
would always watch me from the shadows, he was a witness to all the troubles I went through
this week, but after having surely met his new toad family, I'm sure he was now at peace,
and so I named him Bob Ross. Bob was in my mind, a good symbol of patience,
perseverance, and triumph. Eat and be merry, Ross! I've fulfilled my promise. It's been a whole week since I've added our
Death Sprites to the new Hacienda Del Dorado, and the refreshing waters of our pond have
retained its water and continued to provide moisture to our plants, aquatic animals, and
frogs. I cannot begin to express how satisfying it
was to enjoy witnessing the success of a project which took so long to perfect. I knew the waters were clean despite 18 toads
living about as our fish and shrimp were vivacious and healthy. Over time, I began to notice less and less
ants within the Hacienda Del Dorado. Had it meant that the Death Sprites were successful
at pulling off Project Cloverfield B? I don't know for sure yet, but in case there
were no more ants, I made sure to always lay pieces of fruit around the territories to
attract droves of fruit flies, who also enjoyed stationing themselves conveniently around
the pond, which was perfect for our Death Sprites. I even caught the cleverest toads waiting
around the fruit for flies to land. Needless to say, these high IQ toads were
the fattest of the bunch. I also supplemented their diet with baby roaches
so the toads could have their fill. It was amazing to be part of the coming together
of this magnificent piece of nature, and although it came with a lot of trials and reworking
of plans, the biggest thing I learned from all this, was that if you really want something
to happen, if you want to achieve something truly great, it takes is some real hardcore
perseverance, and commitment to perfection, and once you're all done and you've reached
your desired end, you'll look back at all the work you've done in awe and gratitude. I realized today, that I just needed to make
a promise to do my best, and even Mother Nature was willing to wait for me, to get it right. Don't get any ideas, Michaelangelo, it's just
moss! Wait. What's that noise? Why welcome, Hades! I'm pleased you've finally decided to join
us. Alright, AC Family! So much! Man, this episode is definitely one of my
favourites on the channel, and also one of the longest so thank you for watching 'til
the end. But what a mission it was to pull off. I believe we got what we wanted and then some! It looks like the Death Sprites have completed
their task. And hey, hey! Spread the news that Hades has finally arrived
which means the Rhino Beetle Games are ready to begin! Sound off in the comments which team you are,
and champion your chosen rhino beetle gladiator because in the next episode, it's all going
down! Yeah! So guys, be sure to smash that subscribe button
and bell icon now, so you get notified at every single upload and join us for the 2019
Rhino Beetle Games, and hit the like button every single time, including now. Trust me, guys, you will want to be part of
this super fun and educational experience! 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 both some extended play footage of the new
Hacienda Del Dorado, the toads, and as promised, a bonus video for the week, with a brief update
on some of the other ant kingdoms and creatures in the Ant Room. Seeing as these past couple of videos have
taken twice as long to make, so I wanted to provide an extra bonus video for the week,
because I love you guys that much! Thank you for being part of the Antiverse! And now it's time for the AC Question of the
Week! Last week we asked: What is the name of the
toxin produced by toads? Congratulations to Prozone Kiddo who correctly
answered: Bufotoxin Congratulations, Prozone Kiddo, you just won
a free e-book handbook from our shop! In this week's AC Question of the Week, we
ask: Why was the small original pond
not suitable for 18 toads? 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!
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