Ants in the sand filter-how to get them out

[EzriJax]

I opened the pool yesterday, for the first time ever on my own. I mean, my husband and son helped me with the gigantic loop loc cover and some skimming but otherwise, it was me doing the dirty work out there. You know, sticking your hand in the skimmer with god knows what decomposing in there…

Anyway, I had quite a bit of algae to deal with and so so SO many dead crickets, that I spent most of the day running and emptying Daryl the Dolphin (our robot vac) and brushing and skimming. I also had a jungle around my equipment pad I had to cut back so I could inspect back there. I noticed a lot of ants all over everything but especially the filter. I put the sight glass, pressure gauge, and plug on the filter, but ran out of daylight to do anything else.

Well, today I went out to the pool as soon as I got out of work so I could fire up the pump and start filtering now that the algae is mostly dead and crickets are gone. There weren’t nearly as many ants today. On the pad anyway…

Apparently, I trapped them in the filter. I strongly suspect they were nesting in there. There were initially so many ants in the sight glass it was totally black.

I LOATHE ants. The language I usually use when talking about ants is def banned here. Probably would make a pirate blush. Hate em. So, I happily turned the pump and filter on and DROWNED them. But, ants so so evil, I’m afraid now that even in death, their treachery continues inside my filter. Will a good backwash blast them out and solve the problem or is there more I should do? Burn their lifeless exoskeletons for good measure?

 

[ferretbone]

Fire up the pump and pour chlorine into your skimmer. Then back wash, they are just ants, backwash them all out.

 

[SDor]

I wouldn't bother with the chlorine in the skimmer. Strong chlorine can damage your heater. Probably not one bottle, one time, but it's not necessary so why do it. The water flow through the filter followed by the backwash should take care of those ants.

 

[EzriJax]

Ok, so just backwash (which I have to do anyway while filtering out so much dead algae.) Got it. I’ll sleep well now knowing the the filter is unscathed.

I put a Crud load of ant bait stations around the equipment pad and the patio tonight. Those little bleep bleep bleeps need to go. They are ruining the patio, tracking sand in the pool, and ruining my lawn. I see others talking about spraying to get rid of the ants but I can’t. We have a pond w/fish and all kinds of frogs so hubby won’t let me spray anything. Borax bait it is then. I read it kills them by creating gas in their digestive system. I can’t think of a more fitting death for an ant! By lethal gas pain? Heck yes! Or, (if exposed but not ingested) it breaks down their exoskeleton and they ooze to death. Right on!