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Because I am cheap, I am sieved some sand and sediment to use for my bases. And, I have tiny ants in my sand. Currently, the sand fills a Maxwell House plastic coffee can, and is closed.

Any idea how to get them out? Just let’em suffocate? I don’t like the idea of my models having living creatures in them.

Use a sifter perhaps?

 Power Elephant wrote:
Use a sifter perhaps?

I don’t have anything smaller that will get rid of them that way. Tiny is the operative word.

Bake the sand in the oven, the ants will shrivel and char into dust, and won’t be visible in your basing.

 Badablack wrote:
Bake the sand in the oven, the ants will shrivel and char into dust, and won’t be visible in your basing.

Thanks, on a cookie sheet? Tinfoil? How long and how hot would you say?

Perhaps bait them out with shugar or flush them out with vinegar? That seems cheaper and quicker than baking them. I'm 99% sure it would work.

Put the sand in a metal can and PURGE IT WITH FIRE.... Obviously you have a 'Nid infestation....

Pour in a lot of water, and the ants may just float to the top to be skimmed off.

Get some more sand?

 Apple Peel wrote:

 Badablack wrote:
Bake the sand in the oven, the ants will shrivel and char into dust, and won’t be visible in your basing.

Thanks, on a cookie sheet? Tinfoil? How long and how hot would you say?

I'd get an old baking tray to spread the sand thinly then Put the oven on full for an hour or so. Less time would probably work. You could put something like a grape next to the sand. When the grape us totally incinerated then its unlikely that any ants would survive. Tardigrades, yes, but not ants.

 Flinty wrote:

 Apple Peel wrote:

 Badablack wrote:
Bake the sand in the oven, the ants will shrivel and char into dust, and won’t be visible in your basing.

Thanks, on a cookie sheet? Tinfoil? How long and how hot would you say?

I'd get an old baking tray to spread the sand thinly then Put the oven on full for an hour or so. Less time would probably work. You could put something like a grape next to the sand. When the grape us totally incinerated then its unlikely that any ants would survive. Tardigrades, yes, but not ants.

Thanks, now I need to convince someone to let me bake sand in their oven.

 Flinty wrote:

 Apple Peel wrote:

 Badablack wrote:
Bake the sand in the oven, the ants will shrivel and char into dust, and won’t be visible in your basing.

Thanks, on a cookie sheet? Tinfoil? How long and how hot would you say?

I'd get an old baking tray to spread the sand thinly then Put the oven on full for an hour or so. Less time would probably work. You could put something like a grape next to the sand. When the grape us totally incinerated then its unlikely that any ants would survive. Tardigrades, yes, but not ants.

Not sure about the grape but otherwise what Flinty said sounds perfect. Layer less than an inch thick at 350 Fahrenheit for an hour would be my plan. May not incinerate them but I doubt they’d live.

This is by far the darkest modeling Q&A session I've read in a while.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:
This is by far the darkest modeling Q&A session I've read in a while.

You’re welcome.

There is a way that doesn't involve incinerating them - but is no less "horrible" a death for them.

Borax.

Put the sand on a cookie sheet as noted - but instead of baking it in the oven, sprinkle with borax.

The ants will consume the borax (they love the stuff) - however, once ingested, it combines with any moisture into boric acid - and boric acid forms VERY pointy stabby crystals. It basically rips them apart from the inside.
There'll be torn and shredded bodies and ichor everywhere - just like an Avengers movie.

It seems to me that anything you do will cost more than just getting some more sand? Cost of propane or gas for heat, borax, etc. Of course if this is really about purging heretic ants...

edwardmyst wrote:
It seems to me that anything you do will cost more than just getting some more sand? Cost of propane or gas for heat, borax, etc. Of course if this is really about purging heretic ants...

I mean already have sand, and I can always get more sand for free, but my sand and the free has ANTS in it.

Yeah, but 50 lbs of playground sand cost, maybe, $3. If you can't find a way to clean all of your sand in less than 20 minutes you are working for less than minimum wage to do it. Don't waste money/time trying to make a "free" product work.

As suggested, just add water. Some ants float, so that should let you get rid of them. Probably the easiest solution, so try it first.

fwiw, You can also repel ants with vinegar.

 Apple Peel wrote:


Thanks, now I need to convince someone to let me bake sand in their oven.

No oven? Pour the sand in your toaster, set to "dark", use the bagel option if present.

one more fun idea,

mix some honey with baking soda

they'll be attracted to it (quickly) and die

You could put an ant trap into the container. The brand I use in the US is called RAID, it works wonders.

Just stop being ultra cheap and buy a bag of sand that doesn’t have bugs in it. What nobody else mentioned here are all the other bio organisms that live in the sand too, or how sand you just scooped up from outside has bits of dirt, poop, etc mixed in.

I repeat. Just go buy some. It will cost like 5 dollars, at most.