When night came, and the mists blew through
the lands, I felt such joy to see that our Ember Islands, along with the various life
forms within it, were coming together beautifully and better than I ever imagined. But now I had just one question. How would the colony deal with their new weather
system? Phoenix Empire’s first rain storm coming
in 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1. Please SUBSCRIBE to the channel, and hit the
BELL icon. Welcome to the AC Family! Enjoy! Rumour had it that a great storm was brewing
in the skies of the Ember Islands, this vast new floating mountains paludarium, kingdom
of the Phoenix Empire, the name given to these young, hard working yet largely inexperienced
colony of fire ants, and rumour had it that the oncoming storm would be unlike anything
they’d ever experienced before, a tempest of great fury, winds, and water. But the question was: how would these fire
ants react to their first rain storm? Would they manage it well, or will they have
mass casualties and have to add more corpses to their colony graveyard here? Well, AC Family, I was set to find out, once
the simulated rains from the automatic irrigation system were set off. These fire ants don’t know it yet, but they’re
about to experience the storm of their lives, and also, little did I know, the fire ants
would surprise me with an innate capability that even I had no idea fire ants could actually
do! All this, after the storm made landfall in
the Ember Islands in T-minus 3 hrs. As a water creature in the Ember Islands,
it was pretty normal to look up and see this peculiar mass floating above you. A living raft of fire ants. Now, if you live in places like the south
of USA, you’re well aware of how fire ants can do this. Fire ants have this amazing ability to float
on the water, and these Phoenix Empire workers are no exception! I’m not sure how these floating rafts form
or why, but I have found this to be a very common behaviour in fire ants. Perhaps they simply fall in individually,
then come together to form groups, and then large masses like this, or perhaps they simply
jump in willingly. Either way, I find it kind of funny watching
the currents blow them all around until they actually hit land somewhere. Perhaps fire ants use waterways to help them
travel to new lands? I wouldn’t put it past them, as fire ants,
as we’ve seen on this channel in the past, are clearly adapted well to life around water. By the way for those of you with pet ants,
I do not recommend you try a setup like this, as most non-tropical terrestrial ants will
drown. Fire ants like these are a tropical species,
and in the tropics where torrential rain storms can hit for months on end, being able to float
is definitely a must for survival, but little did I know, after their first soon-to-come
rain storm, the ants were going to show me they were capable of much more than I thought,
and I would be capturing this unexpected but cool capability in this video. Now even if I wasn’t too worried about these
floating ants, I still empathized for them and couldn’t help but drop in a stick to
save them. Not sure if they wanted or needed to be saved,
but I often did it just in case. It was somehow both reassuring and satisfying
to watch them crawl up the stick and onto terra firma! Tell me the truth guys, would you have done
what I did, and stuck in sticks to save the floating ants? Or would you have just let nature take its
course? I’m sometimes divided on whether or not
I should interfere in these kinds of situations. Personally, I think they’re happy about
the sticks conveniently appearing out of nowhere. But then an ominous movement caught my eye. A beast below the waters. OMG imagine being one of these ants and seeing
this huge, blue water creature looming beneath you? Terrifying! I’d be up that stick in 0.2 seconds! It’s our resident Betta. I placed him in here, in hopes that he’d
possibly eat any mosquito larvae which we saw appearing in a previous video. But thankfully for the ants, he’s not too
interested in eating them. He is however very busy actively hunting for
other creatures that live in these waters, creatures I’ll be showing you shortly. By the way, guys, this Betta needs an official
name, so check my pinned comment on this video and to cast your vote for a name simply hit
the LIKE button on the name option or options (you can choose more than one if you can’t
decide on just 1) that you vote for. The name options I chose were suggested by
you guys in a previous video. As for the other species of fish that live
here, the chili rasboras, they also patrol the waters in search of the same creatures
the Betta is looking for, and aren’t too interested in the ants either. They used to swim in one massive school when
they were first moved in here, but now that they’re much more secure and familiar with
these waters, they mostly come together in loose schools of about four or five to hunt,
if not swimming around solo. I just love how healthy and vibrant red they
are now. They also need a name so be sure to LIKE the
name option or options that you vote for, also listed in the pinned comment of this
video. So, about the creatures our fish are hunting
for, the way I discovered them was through the introduction of two new water creatures,
which I added to the waters the day before. Meet our two new snails! As mentioned in a previous video, I was set
to add a couple Clithon corona snails, yes, “corona” snails, who get their name from
the spikes on their shell which look like a crown. So guys, as usual, these two snails will also
need names, (we name everything on this channel, right?), so do feel free to leave your name
suggestions in the comments, and the AC Senate will choose a Top 5 for all of us to vote
on together in a future video. The AC Senate by the way, guys are a special
team of channel supporters that have special rights, inside information, and perks on this
channel. You’ll see who the AC Senate members are
among you in the comments, as they sport badges with various colours next to their names. Do be sure to greet and honour these highly
dignified members of the AC Family. A simple “BOW” would do. You can click here to learn more about joining
the great AC Senate. I placed the corona snails into the waters,
and watched them slowly disappear into the masses of moss below. Now I deliberately allowed a large patch of
algae to grow on the glass so I could show you guys just how awesome they are at algae-eating. Check out the clear path it ate through that
carpet of green algae. They’re truly some of the best algae eaters
available in the aquarium trade, and I highly recommend them for any freshwater tank especially
if you may be struggling with algae. I use them in my main fish tank and they are
super thorough! Look at all that algae poop it excreted! I can’t believe it ate and processed all
this algae overnight! Oop! Looks like a tank mate has come along to check
out the new snail. Of course, almost equally as great at eating
up algae are these amano shrimp! They have been super thorough at keeping all
the moss of the pool, algae-free. They also have been quite amazing at finding
and eating decaying matter that the ants drop into the waters, as you can see here, and
if I were to guess, they probably nibble on dead ants, too. Some of them have begun to adopt a mottled
brownish colour due to all the various things they’ve been eating in these waters. Again, guys, like the betta and the rasboras,
please VOTE for the official name of these amano shrimp in the pinned comment by hitting
LIKE on your favourite option or options. Now, have a look closely at this sheet of
algae on the glass. This is where I discovered what our fish were
hunting. With a closer inspection, see all those little
white specks of various sizes. Some of them are even moving. They’re small water creatures, water fleas
and the like, that feed on algae, mosses, tiny nutrients, and decaying matter in the
water. I also see a lot of these peculiar little
bugs that seem to skate quite well on the water’s surface! It’s clear that these waters have had time
to mature and develop a very rich biodiverse set of microorganisms and water creatures,
which have become an excellent food source for our betta and rasboras. In fact, AC Family, you’ll love this! Check this out! An amazing biological cycle already exists
in these waters. Small particles of ant garbage, as well as
decaying matter like fungus from our fungal waterfall, which by the way, also needs a
name so VOTE for it in the pinned comment, end up floating around and being carried by
the water’s currents. And then the fibrous mosses help filter and
capture these particles, trapping them in their leaves. The mosses also manage to filter any dead
ants dumped into the water. The nutrient-rich particles then go on to
nourish the moss, provide valuable food for the microscopic creatures, as well as the
shrimp, who pick the mosses clean of this edible debris. The fattened microscopic creatures then go
on to feed our betta and rasboras. Algae as we’ve seen naturally grows, as
well, providing nutrition for our snails, shrimp, and microorganisms. I also believe the moss appears to be dense
enough for the microorganisms to hide from their predators, allowing them to breed at
a high enough rate that they won’t be eaten to extinction. It’s truly an amazing symbiotic system that’s
evolved here in these waters, and though I do feed the fish and shrimp, additional pellets
and flakes, for the most part, these waters are very much so self-feeding. Moving on now to land. The rains are set to make landfall in 1 hour. I watched as the ants were moving brood to
a new area of the rock shelf. I was certain that there was an established
nest somewhere inside the rock shelf, suitable enough for brood storage now and possibly
the queen. Perhaps they found a cavern we couldn’t
see somewhere, or an open pvc pipe as you might have seen in the previous video. But, as I watched them going about their business,
I was a bit nervous for them. The fire ants were about to be hit with the
greatest storm of their lives. 10 minutes before the storm, I gave the ants
their first roach on the rock shelf. The ants came swarming and were distracted
by all the roach meat, and then, the skies of the Ember Islands began to rumble. AC Family, the great storm had finally arrived. I watched wide eyed as thick blasts of water
pelted the floating mountains and all the exposed ants of the Phoenix Empire. I couldn’t imagine what this must’ve felt
like, but I knew in theory, they should have been able to handle this tempest. And then, the rain stopped. I checked the ants to see how they were. And it looked to me like they were fine! Just a little wet, and as expected they handled
it like champs! Thank goodness. But now, AC Family, at the beginning of this
video, I mentioned that the fire ants showed me something totally amazing that I had no
idea they could do, an ability that I hadn’t even seen my former fire ant colony, the Fire
Nation do. Check this out, guys! The next day, their cockroach meal had been
finished, but their other cockroach I placed into one of the mountains the day before had
somehow ended up in the water. Perhaps they carried it there or were carrying
it to their nest when the storm blew through and it ended up in the waters. Whatever the case, I found it pretty cool
that the fire ants were still feeding on it, even if it was partially submerged. Can’t waste a single bit of meat right? Well, I also noticed something else pretty
amazing. Have a look! Looking just below the water’s surface,
I was thrilled to discover that a shrimp was also feeding from the roach from below. How nice of them to share! And then, that’s when I saw something totally
crazy! Look! The ants were diving under water! See them?! They move so well underwater, too! We all know that fire ants can float, but
did you guys know they can actually move around underwater? This was the first time I’d ever seen this
in fire ants! And also, check out this ant that has brought
down a bubble of air with it, as it climbed around the mosses. Scuba diving fire ants? How interesting! Well, guess you learn something new every
day, and though I’ve been keeping ants for years now, they never cease to surprise or
amaze me. How about you? So, it looks like today, the Phoenix Empire
showed us that fire isn’t always put out by water. These ants have shown us that evolution has
truly crafted them into some exquisitely adaptive and versatile organisms, perfectly suited
to their wet and in this case, amphibious environment. I mean, the ants dive! This will forever blow my mind! You know, whenever I feel sad at all the terrible
and imperfect things happening in our world today, I visit our Phoenix Empire, and witness
the various things of nature that are amazing and perfect, and it’s enough to remind me
that there’s lots of beauty in this world to look forward to and nurture. I just love sharing it all with you guys each
week. I feel so happy seeing our beloved little
world, the Ember Islands, this fantastic archipelago of floating mountains, we created together,
truly thriving, with all its amazing, interdependent inhabitants. I believe the Phoenix Empire will do really
well in this new kingdom, and I bet if they could thank us for making it for them, they
would! Thank you for watching and supporting the
ants. I’ll see you guys again next week. It’s ant love forever. Now about the Golden Empire... AC Family, did you enjoy today’s episode? Now that the Phoenix Empire has settled in
nicely into their Ember Islands, a lot of you have been requesting an update on our
yellow crazy ants, the Golden Empire! I have some good news and some bad news regarding
these ants, but I am planning a new yellow crazy ant home, equally as epic as the Ember
Islands, and of course want all of you guys to VOTE again on the paludarium design. You don’t want to miss out on this golden
journey on some of the most amazing ants of our Antiverse, so if you haven’t yet, do
SMASH that SUBSCRIBE button and BELL ICON now, and hit ALL so you get notified at every
upload. Also don’t forget to hit the LIKE button
every single time including now. It would really mean a lot to me, guys. Thank you! AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie
for you here, if you would like to see extended play footage of the fire ants and shrimp sharing
their roach meal. Do check it out! And guys, did you know that it’s anting
season in the Northern Hemisphere, and you don’t even need to leave your home to start
an ant colony?! You can catch pregnant queen ants from the
safety of your own backyard, balcony, or open window starting this month! Be sure to visit AntsCanada.com for all your
ant keeping and collecting gear shipped to you in a special package from our ant-loving
facility in the USA, so you can get the most out of your ant keeping experience. We ship worldwide and also offer full email
support if you need our help! We also have a helpful forum and ant colony
trading marketplace on the site. Visit AntsCanada.com today. And now it’s time for the AC Question of
the Week. Last week, we asked: Name one thing growing in the
Ember Islands that we didn’t expect. Congratulations to LIT_ FL4ME who answered: Moss Congratulations LIT_ FL4ME, you just won a
free Ultimate Ant Keeping Handbook from our shop! In this week’s AC Question of the Week we
ask: What is giving our shrimp their new colour? Leave your answer in the comments section
and you could also win a free Ultimate Ant Keeping Handbook from our shop! Hope you could 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!
