345 replies to this topic

[XZero38]

Wow, I can't believe how long it's taking for these to saturate. Some of them, like the PVA sponge, are barely wet on the tops. Anyway, i filled the water tanks all the way up to saturate the sponges as much as possible, which should speed things up a bit. I also got some measurements while doing it.

 

Here's the rough running totals (g H2O):

 

PVA sponge - 10g

Powdered perlite - 20g

Clay dirt - 13g

Sphagnum moss - 20g

Powdered vermiculite - 23g

so sponge and california clay dirt are not the best.

[dspdrew]

Well, not at this point. if that PVA sponge was saturated, it would probably win.

[dspdrew]

Well the PVA sponge is a lot wetter on top now, but still not fully saturated, so I'm going to let the test continue. I did however, get accurate measurements up to this point, and topped off the tanks again while I was at it.

 

Here's the running totals (g H2O):

 

PVA sponge - 27.6g

Powdered perlite - 20.1g

Clay dirt - 13.4g

Sphagnum moss - 22.8g

Powdered vermiculite - 23.4g

 

Like I thought, the PVA sponge is now in the lead. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how well the sponge does, there is no way I can afford to fill these things with PVA sponges. I just included it as a reference.

 

Edit: After looking around, I guess using a PVA sponge wouldn't cost too much, it would just be a lot of work to shape them.

Edited by dspdrew, March 28 2017 - 1:07 AM.

[dspdrew]

Not sure why I didn't think of this before, but sodium polyacrylate looks like it would work perfect for hydration in formicariums.

 

 

 

I'm going to have to get some of this and experiment with it.

[dermy]

Not sure why I didn't think of this before, but sodium polyacrylate looks like it would work perfect for hydration in formicariums.

 

 

 

I'm going to have to get some of this and experiment with it.

Drew's off to get some diapers! I bet all the people in Walmart are gonna be looking at you funny haha just buying diapers nothing else

[dspdrew]

Drew's off to get some diapers! I bet all the people in Walmart are gonna be looking at you funny haha just buying diapers nothing else

 

Haha, no need for that nonsense.

 

https://www.amazon.c...t/dp/B0051V40AO

[XZero38]

I've actually known about this trick for keeping plants hydrated for longer, but never thought to try and apply it to a formicarium

[sgheaton]

Do you do this for your house plants?

[dspdrew]

Ive actually known about this trick for keeping plants hydrated for longer, but never thought to try and apply it to a formicarium

 

Yeah, I'm going to have to leave that stuff alone, it's just too biodegradable. It's not going to be long lasting.

[dspdrew]

The PVA sponge is completely saturated now, so I will call this test complete.

 

Here are the final results:

 

PVA sponge - 28.2g

Powdered perlite - 19.7g

Clay dirt - 13.4g

Sphagnum moss - 23.5g

Powdered vermiculite - 23.5g

 

So the PVA sponge did by far the best. Not sure how the powdered perlite actually went down.

 

Obviously the choice is going to be between the PVA sponge, sphagnum moss or powdered vermiculite. The problem with the PVA sponge isn't so much the money, but the fact that it has to be cut and formed to fit. The problem with the powdered vermiculite is I have to process it. The problem with the sphagnum moss is that I have to sit and pick all of the dead grass and other non-sphagnum moss plant material out of it.. or maybe I don't...  I don't know. I guess the acidity of it would inhibit fungus growth for the whole mixture, sphagnum moss or not.

[Kevin]

I think that was the stuff used in the grotube hydration chambers.

[FSTP]

I work with sphagnum moss a lot. Its quite resistant to fungus and mold, and can last quite some time. Milled Long fiber sphagnum might be an option, but it breaks down much quicker then intact LFS. If longevity is the goal you're going to want to use really high quality LFS. That means New Zealand LFS. I've had pure NZLFS last up to two years without considerable breakdown. Then you need to either add more LFS to replace the loss in volume as it breakdown. However in this application you might just want to do a complete replacement on regular intervals. You'd have to experiment to see how it performs in this application but 6-8 months might be a good place to start.

Edited by FSTP, March 28 2017 - 11:05 PM.

[sgheaton]

Something something, the perlite reached a peak where the particles were displaced so much that the ability to move water was destroyed, something something..... 

[dspdrew]

I work with sphagnum moss a lot. Its quite resistant to fungus and mold, and can last quite some time. Milled Long fiber sphagnum might be an option, but it breaks down much quicker then intact LFS. If longevity is the goal you're going to want to use really high quality LFS. That means New Zealand LFS. I've had pure NZLFS last up to two years without considerable breakdown. Then you need to either add more LFS to replace the loss in volume as it breakdown. However in this application you might just want to do a complete replacement on regular intervals. You'd have to experiment to see how it performs in this application but 6-8 months might be a good place to start.

 

I'm actually already using sphagnum moss in a few of my dirt boxes, including the 10 gallon tank I have my Pogonomyrmex rugosus in. It's been a few years now and still seems to be working great. Last night I spent a few hours using a blender to turn a whole bag of sphagnum moss into what almost looks like peat moss. This allowed me to remove all the non-water-absorbing impurities and make it more fluid.

 

I'm probably going to go with sphagnum moss for this solution, because it's the easiest and the cheapest.

[sgheaton]

That's one of the journals I'm wanting an update on! Just take a picture of them and I'll be content..for the week!

[dspdrew]

That's one of the journals I'm wanting an update on! Just take a picture of them and I'll be content..for the week!

 

They're on Mikey's live stream.

[sgheaton]

Ahhh... Was unaware! I'll be searchin' for them tomorrow then. Thanks!

[dspdrew]

Well, here we go again. Every time I'm about to move forward with this, I end up with another question. I just want to make sure I'm getting the most hydration benefits for the lowest cost.
 
I'm testing the sphagnum moss and the vermiculite again. This time I'm testing to see which holds the most water, compressed, or loose. Also, I milled the sphagnum moss into fine particles and removed all the impurities, so it will be interesting to see how much better either of them does than the first one.
 

[sgheaton]

Stickin' with #2, no whammies. 

[dspdrew]

So far...

 

Loose vermiculite - 18.6g

Compressed vermiculite - 24.1g

Loose milled sphagnum moss - 13.9g

Compressed milled sphagnum moss - 25g

 

Makes sense.

 

From the test before:

Powdered vermiculite - 23.5g

Sphagnum moss - 23.5g

 

If the current test results don't change much more, I would say it's hardly worth while processing/milling the sphagnum moss.

 

I just added one more thing I forgot to test--compressed powdered vermiculite.