110 replies to this topic

[FSTP]

Hey JPS,

 

They're not hard to find. They're the little ones used to house security and surveillance cameras. The bottom part is just a petri dish in the corresponding sizes.

 

-Jess

[dspdrew]

Small update. 
 
 
I plant on making some formicariums out of these supplies I got today. They're little domes and petri dishes I will combine to make chambers. I'm hoping to use these to house CA's native leaf cutter ant. They will have HS bottoms which I will integrate my water reservoirs in, I will use the hard acrylic tubing to connect the three.
 

 

I wonder what it's going to be like trying to open those when there's a colony living in them.

[CrazyLegs]

I'm imagining the bases being glued down to some sort of display platform.

[soulsynapse]

Where'd you find your acrylic boxes? Gorgeous formicariums

[Jelly]

Awesome tutorial! Thanks

[FSTP]

Ok so I decided to make a different style of formicarium to accommodate the newly captured Pogonomyrmex queen I recently found. She wasn't liking her test tube it seemed and you guys suggested to give her a setup she could dig in. So I made something with a couple of large petri dishes, some hydro-stone, sterile modeling dirt, and a WaterPort™ like the ones in my other builds.

 

Here it is. Its just a prototype I'm testing, if it works I'll further refine its design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm hoping that since the only spot she can dig is that tubing piece she'll start digging there, as I also started a small hole to encourage her to start there.

 

The way I designed it will allow for petri dished of various sizes to be attached as the colony grows. Since its expandable I"ve been calling it "PogoPlex" lol

 

So what do you guys think?

 

 

Where'd you find your acrylic boxes? Gorgeous formicariums

 

 

 

I got them custom made from a plastic fab shop called lorexpl1, they have an eBay store with lots of cool pre-made enclosures. Or if they don't have exactly what you want they will custom make one to fit your needs. They're also pretty reasonable on their pricing IMO.

Edited by FSTP, March 27 2020 - 1:01 PM.

[CrazyLegs]

Very nice.

[FSTP]

Well so far this concept is working rather well. I caught another queen and placed her in my new style formicarium and she found the entrance to the nest and right away started digging the dirt out of the tube.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice.

Thank you!

Edited by FSTP, March 27 2020 - 1:18 PM.

[Jelly]

This might sound silly, but what kind of dirt is this?

[FSTP]

This might sound silly, but what kind of dirt is this?

 

Sorry I didn't see your question. 

 

its a basing material from this website https://us-store.war...ucts/rocky-sand

[CallMeCraven]

Awesome designs. Assuming its not a trade secret, I have a question:

 

Does the waterport^tm (lol) on your new pogoplex lead to a petridish covered in mesh similar to your original design, or does it simply hydrate the hyrdrostone in the formicarium?

[FSTP]

Yeah it uses the same waterport^{tm (its not really trademarked that was a little joke)} . I have it placed in the floor of the digging chamber. Currently when I add water which is about once every  7-10 days I over fill the Waterport slightly so a bit of water gets absorbed be the surrounding dirt. 

 

If someone wanted to have longer watering intervals they could just make a later waterport using a larger petri dish. The one I used was 30mm. I don't have a huge collection of ants so I don't mind having to water that often I find it keeps me more responsible in maintaining the ants if I have to have scheduled watering and maintenance.

Edited by FSTP, April 28 2017 - 2:15 PM.

[CallMeCraven]

Yeah it uses the same waterport^{tm (its not really trademarked that was a little joke)} . I have it placed in the floor of the digging chamber. Currently when I add water which is about once every  7-10 days I over fill the Waterport slightly so a bit of water gets absorbed be the surrounding dirt. 

 

If someone wanted to have longer watering intervals they could just make a later waterport using a larger petri dish. The one I used was 30mm. I don't have a huge collection of ants so I don't mind having to water that often I find it keeps me more responsible in maintaining the ants if I have to have scheduled watering and maintenance.

lol i assumed the ^tm was a joke but I've seen lesser things trademarked. I thought i saw the mesh under the dirt in your pics but i wasn't sure. This new design looks pretty great for founding formicaria, and the larger petri dish idea also sounds like a possible winner.

[brian]

How did you make the water tower? I mean is that just a small circular container with wire mesh on the top with a tube leading to it?

 
Basically yes. 
 
Here are some pictures explaining it since I just happened to make some more today.
 
First I take a 30mm petri dish and cut out the lid:

 
Then take some 100 micron nylon mesh and double it then epoxy the petri dish closed:

 
After it the epoxy dries and cures cut them out and drill small hole on the side corresponding with the size of tubing.

 

 
Then thread the clave onto the tubing and insert tubing into the water reservoir.

 
 
Really simple.
 
Hope that explains it somewhat better.

Do you have a link to where others can buy those self sealing quick connects.

[FSTP]

I have lots of access to medical equipment and supplies, so I just use mine. However, I did a quick search and found this place however I've never ordered from them.

 

This is a different brand then the ones 'm using but they work exactly the same.

 

http://www.chinookme...cgi?&item=02158

[brian]

I have lots of access to medical equipment and supplies, so I just use mine. However, I did a quick search and found this place however I've never ordered from them.
 
This is a different brand then the ones 'm using but they work exactly the same.
 
http://www.chinookme...cgi?&item=02158

Thank you.

[zlez93]

For the hearth design, how exactly did you create the chamber?

Also, would it not have been easier to just use the small tubing and leave the clave out ?

[T.C.]

You should update these pictures.

[AntsCalifornia]

I know that in a lot of formicariums the ants are able to drink from the water source and it provides humidity. I was wondering, does the water tower provide all the hydration the ants need, or do you give them a water source to drink from? I don't think ants can drink through mesh that easily...

[AntsCalifornia]

 

I have lots of access to medical equipment and supplies, so I just use mine. However, I did a quick search and found this place however I've never ordered from them.
 
This is a different brand then the ones 'm using but they work exactly the same.
 
http://www.chinookme...cgi?&item=02158

Thank you.

 

I did a quick search using the number he posted, MP1000-C, and found this https://www.vitality...-connector.html as the first result. You have to pay a $7.00 shipping fee and I don't know how to get the tubing for it, but those are the exact same ones he uses.