912 replies to this topic

[Luckylegsluke]

Just built this for my daughter's new messor barbarus
Just built this for my daughter's new messor barbarus

[Kaelwizard]

We can’t see the pictures.

[Domagoj]

I'm building these little things for my young queens.
They are roughly 80 x 55 mm, with microscope slide as cover (not installed in the picture).
They have a 12 ml water tower (mesh visible in bottom left chamber) and two ports for connection with outworld and possible future expansion.

 

Materials used are grout (the thing for filling spaces between ceramic tiles; that's what you guys call grout, right? I'm asking in case there is some language barrier.) and modelling clay (fast drying school supply thing, I don't really like it it's hard to clean afterwards, which is visible in the picture) for modelling chambers. There is still some clay that I used to stabilize the water tower during the grout pouring and curing phase. I'm not sure if I want to dig that out since it's providing a nice guide for inserting the water tower filling tube.

 

Since the microscope slides are quite small (75 x 25 mm or 3''x1'') there are some gaps between glass and grout. I'll fill that up with some aquarium silicone.

I'd appreciate your thoughts and constructive criticism.

[ANTdrew]

Looks good to me. In the future, you could try molding the chambers with wet sand to avoid some of the issues you describe with clay.

[Domagoj]

I'll give it a try. I also have another idea I'll try out. I'll keep you posted on those fronts.

Meanwhile, do you think this residual clay could be an issue? Should I worry about cleaning it out thoroughly or it makes no difference?

[ANTdrew]

I don’t think it will be an issue if it’s safe for kids who eat everything.

[Boog]

I considered the initial grout, plaster, and vermiculite casting that I made from a food container a failure because it shrank after curing and was no longer friction tight in the original container I was planning to house it in. Then I decided to test out my newly acquired mitre box and sawed the casting at a 45 degree angle to see how it'd cut and to get a crosscut look at my casting pour. Eyeballing the failed casting in a new light made me realize I could carve into the angled cuts with a Dremel for some chambers and redesign them with an angled view into the nest chambers. So don't consider your failures as deadends, rethinking your formicaria build approach may end up with something better than you originally intended.

I lined the chamber walls and ceilings with Milliput stalactites with epoxied sand and left the floors mostly bare except a test layer in the middle chamber of the nest on the right above. I wanted to keep these as dry satellite nests so there’s no hydration system but I believe the respirating ants keep themselves comfortably humid. A few months in and my colony seems to love the coziness of the design as they seem so chill in these nests as opposed to the 3D printed one I also provided them at about the same time. Both nests have a screened hole in the bottom chamber for ventilation and I haven't noticed them chewing at anything inside.

Edited by Boog, August 20 2021 - 1:33 PM.

[futurebird]

I love the design, boog. It really makes the ants easy to view. 
 
I have a more humble submission. It's a simple plaster nest with a glass lid. You can easily add magnets too, but after placing the glass they didn't seem needed. 
 
I highly recommend these inexpensive 50mm glass discs from aliexpress. They are great for all kinds of nests. I want to make something similar out of wood as well.






If you want to hydrate this nest you could make a hydration chamber, or simply put a drop or two of water near the edge of the glass to make it more moist. I'm still working on my "less wet nests, more water access" theory for a few species and this will be a home for a small lasius colony, connected to this cheap aliexpress outworld. 
 

Edited by futurebird, August 21 2021 - 1:24 PM.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

Simple tub and tube setup I made using a $12 amazon acrylic box and some perfect cast. Added some fake succulents for some color.

 

[kmoore79]

Here are my formicarium's.

 

These are C. pennsylvanicus. that I got from Brian, thank you so much! The nest is made from Hydrocal, and they have an outworld, but it's currently being remodeled.

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Another C. pennsylvanicus colony from Brian. Hydrocal and non-sanded grout.

()

This is my Formica Sub colony that I got from TAH. However, I made a bigger outworld, because the colony is bigger and I needed the little outworld.

()

This is my Crematogaster colony. I call them "almost", because my Wife almost stepped on the queen as we were going outside. Here I reuse the old outworld from my F. Sub colony.

()

This is my old C. Discolor that I got from TAH. Sadly the queen died, and there are only 8 workers left, but I still love and take very good care of them. (Yes he sent me new ones, but they're in a test tube still).

()

If anyone would like to identify the two gold ants I have, please DM me and I'll send high res photos.

 

Thanks for looking and everyone's replies that has made this hobby a dream come true. =) 

 

 

 

 

[ANTdrew]

Looks good. Put your heat cables on the glass to eliminate that condensation. A higher ambient temperature would also help, aka turn down the AC.

[kmoore79]

Looks good. Put your heat cables on the glass to eliminate that condensation. A higher ambient temperature would also help, aka turn down the AC.

I don't really have an option as far as AC goes. My wife likes it cold in the house.

[ANTdrew]

Looks good. Put your heat cables on the glass to eliminate that condensation. A higher ambient temperature would also help, aka turn down the AC.

I don't really have an option as far as AC goes. My wife likes it cold in the house.

I get that. Try heating the glass, though, because that much condensation can cause problems.

[Mandingueiro]

While i am waiting for my queen Crematogaster scutellaris to start the colony i need to kill some time and I started building my first formicarium. 

I found an old aquarium dimensions 23 x 13 x 16 cm and i am going to transfer it into formicarium, nest and outherworld all in one. 

Materials i used is ytong. Outworld is still not finished, just in case i need to change something in the nest.  

Biggest whole diameter is aprox. 2.5 cm, and hallways from 0.5 to 1 cm. Depth aprox. 0.5 - 0.7 cm.

Any advice is appreciated. 

Here are the photos. 

 

 

 

Edited by Mandingueiro, September 13 2021 - 7:17 AM.

[cap_backfire]

While i am waiting for my queen Crematogaster scutellaris to start the colony i need to kill some time and I started building my first formicarium. 

I found an old aquarium dimensions 23 x 13 x 16 cm and i am going to transfer it into formicarium, nest and outherworld all in one. 

Materials i used is ytong. Outworld is still not finished, just in case i need to change something in the nest.  

Biggest whole diameter is aprox. 2.5 cm, and hallways from 0.5 to 1 cm. Depth aprox. 0.5 - 0.7 cm.

Any advice is appreciated. 

Here are the photos. 

 

IMG_20210913_102458.jpg

IMG_20210913_104703.jpg

IMG_20210913_122745.jpg

IMG_20210913_130400.jpg

IMG_20210913_132721.jpg

IMG_20210913_170855.jpg

 

Love this design.   Love the idea for the brick usage.   Thanks for posting!  

[Mandingueiro]

thank you.

I've made hollows a bit tidier and added real plant to make it look more natural. 

[Leptomyrmx]

I'm working on a hexagonal all in one nest. It's not quite done, just need to add some red sand and add the hydration tubes, but this is it for now. There's a small, medium and large nest, I'll start the ants off with the small nest and block up the bigger ones, and open them up as the colony grows.

I hope those images worked.

Sorry the photos are horrible

Edited by Leptomyrmx, September 17 2021 - 4:39 PM.

[skocko76]

While i am waiting for my queen Crematogaster scutellaris to start the colony i need to kill some time and I started building my first formicarium.
I found an old aquarium dimensions 23 x 13 x 16 cm and i am going to transfer it into formicarium, nest and outherworld all in one.
Materials i used is ytong. Outworld is still not finished, just in case i need to change something in the nest.
Biggest whole diameter is aprox. 2.5 cm, and hallways from 0.5 to 1 cm. Depth aprox. 0.5 - 0.7 cm.
Any advice is appreciated.
Here are the photos.

IMG_20210913_102458.jpg
IMG_20210913_104703.jpg
IMG_20210913_122745.jpg
IMG_20210913_130400.jpg
IMG_20210913_132721.jpg
IMG_20210913_170855.jpg

C. scutellaris are excellent climbers, arboreal. I doubt you'll be able to contain them in the aquarium due to the wide joints between glass sheets. Plan on crafting a double lid with wide edge - otherwise you won't be able to open the lid without them spilling out. By double lid I mean a lid with a relatively small hole in the middle. Then a second lid for the hole. You apply fluon or oil to the big lid. The small one can have a mesh for aeration. Also, hydration is not really necessary, so long they have a constant access to water in the outworld. I have a journal on them if you're interested.

Edited by skocko76, September 17 2021 - 11:08 PM.

[Leptomyrmx]

I find it really fun to make tiny nests. This one I made inside a toothpick jar, those ones with the rotatable top that opens up different holes. I can use those for hydration.

It's a plaster nest, I just used plaster of paris, since I don't believe we have access to Perfect Cast in Australia. If anyone can send me a link to somewhere that sells it with international shipping that would be appreciated.

Also a moulded the chambers with Blu-Tac, I think it makes it look really nice and a bit like some of the Empire of Ants nests.

 

 

Blurry photos.

Edited by Leptomyrmx, December 5 2021 - 7:21 PM.

[PaigeX]

 

I find it really fun to make tiny nests. This one I made inside a toothpick jar, those ones with the rotatable top that opens up different holes. I can use those for hydration.

It's a plaster nest, I just used plaster of paris, since I don't believe we have access to Perfect Cast in Australia. If anyone can send me a link to somewhere that sells it with international shipping that would be appreciated.

Also a moulded the chambers with Blu-Tac, I think it makes it look really nice and a bit like some of the Empire of Ants nests.

 

 

 

 

Blurry photos.

 

You can buy tile grout at Bunnings that has mold resistance. Can be used for casting too. Also comes in multiple colours and pigments.

Edited by PaigeX, December 5 2021 - 8:13 PM.