[Mud]

We had a bunch of rain recently and ants are sneaking in my aquarium room. Oddly, they are swarming the bottle of Seachem Flourish Excel but completely ignoring the fish food. One container of fish treats was even partially open.

It is not a big deal but I'm really curious why they are after the underwater plant food?

TIA!

 

[MoreliaViridis]

That is very interesting....it shouldn't have any sugars.
Maybe excel is similar to one of the pheromones they use or something.


Flourish excel is a chemical called glutaraldehyde, or its isomer (same stuff, but arranged bit differently.)
It contains carbon and breaks down into chemical that plants use during photosynthesis. So it is a carbon source, basically a less efficient CO2.
It can be used to kill some types of algae at higher doses, as it is disinfectant.

 

[somewhatshocked]

Remember that correlation does not mean causation. Is it possible the Excel container had something else on the bottom or sides of it? Could there be something sweet or attractive to ants on the container?

Glutaraldehyde (real talk: Seachem didn't come up with their own, new chemical when glutaraldehyde already exists) is a neurotoxin in addition to being an algicide/fungicide. Many 'cides attract insects and bees, which is why some of them are so problematic. So it's possible it has a sweet or attractive aroma - likely when it dries or begins to evaporate.