912 replies to this topic

[DaveJay]

I use acrylic storage boxes from IKEA and 3D printed nests to give my ant farms some individuality =)

Your ad popped up on Gumtree (Australian sales site) so I clicked the link, the website looks great, well done!

[1582268614646806]

New design for my Carebara diversa in their new home (2 queen colony)! This is them after the 48hr move in a design formicarium remixed from artGuard (credit goes to him for the original design). This is still a working project - a vertical modular formicarium able to hold high humidity. Given the height of the column they used the bottom module for storing seeds and the brood and eggs is mainly stored in the highest part of the module probably because of the higher humidity as a result of evaporation. (Before you wonder about the colours, it was my friends who challenge me to do one in rainbow colours to demonstrate the modular effect).

[ANTdrew]

Those look really cool!

[ANTdrew]

I started work on a firebrick formicarium yesterday. I borrowed dremel bits from the shop teacher at the school where I teach. I'll be attaching this with silicone to a 10"x10" cube fish tank I ordered from Amazon as an all-in-one set up. I'll move my tetramorium in here when they're big enough.

 

[Rstheant]

Here is a little test tube transfer/out world container I just made.  The caps are made from acrylic and silicone tubing.   The test tubes fit inside the silicone tubing, and then they screw into the case.    It's nice because the test tubes don't have to be exactly 16mm, but just close enough. There also isn't a lot of obstacles the ants have to walk over between the tubes and the case, where sometimes they choose to hang out for days. It's simply glass tube all the way up to a flat acrylic wall with a smaller hole in the middle that goes through into the case. 

How do you make those though?

[Wa.Va]

This is a nice thread to read at work

I'm busy with open and closed bio active ecosystems. More about this in my journal.

I hope u like it

[DaveJay]

Wow, looking great!

[Wa.Va]

Wow, looking great!

Thnx, glad u like it!

[CoolColJ]

Looks like pumice

[Wa.Va]

Looks like pumice

Made with one tiny screwdriver^^ pretty happy about it. bad part is, I shouldn't have paint it with coffee..

[Rstheant]

Looks like pumice

Made with one tiny screwdriver^^ pretty happy about it. bad part is, I shouldn't have paint it with coffee..

HA! Coffee.
Never thought of that you paint with coffee!

[TennesseeAnts]

Looks like pumice

Made with one tiny screwdriver^^ pretty happy about it. bad part is, I shouldn't have paint it with coffee..

Well hopefully no ants eat the paint!

[Miles]

 

Made with one tiny screwdriver^^ pretty happy about it. bad part is, I shouldn't have paint it with coffee..

 

Ants are repelled by coffee, which contains a natural insecticide (caffeine). Coffee grounds are often used as an insect deterrent in gardens.

 

You're going to want to wash that nest very thoroughly.

Edited by Miles, November 26 2018 - 7:27 PM.

[T.C.]

Very impressive @Wa.Va

[Wa.Va]

Made with one tiny screwdriver^^ pretty happy about it. bad part is, I shouldn't have paint it with coffee..

Ants are repelled by coffee, which contains a natural insecticide (caffeine). Coffee grounds are often used as an insect deterrent in gardens.

You're going to want to wash that nest very thoroughly.

Jup. Luckily for my ants, I'm not using it. The others are painted with tea.

[DaveJay]

Okay, I've spent the last hour and more investigating the half-life of caffeine and decaffeination methods and your best bet is to simply soak, rinse and repeat using fresh water which is one method used for tea and coffee decaffeination only that in those cases instead of throwing the water away the caffeine is removed from the water by activated carbon, then the residue from evaporating the water is added back to the tea or coffee to put the taste back. The other methods won't be suitable for home use unfortunately but being extremely soluble in water you can remove all of the caffeine quite easily just soaking in clean water a few times.

Edit - A couple of things, tea contains about half of the amount of caffeine as coffee, but still a substantial amount so you would be best to soak the tea painted nests too. Also, caffeine is not listed as highly toxic to insects but does have adverse effects on some, the effects of caffeine are exaggerated because they can't metabolise and eliminate it very well whereas it is listed as being toxic to birds, dogs and cats. So I don't think a bit of caffeine will kill the ants directly, but they might behave strangely.

Edited by DaveJay, November 27 2018 - 10:53 PM.

[Wa.Va]

I'm going to clean them. I think it's for the best. The last thing I want is harming my lovely ants. Hm, but what should i use instead.

[Skwiggledork]

 

Just got my new nest, formicarium and outworld from Empire of Ants. They look awesome and I can't wait to wake my colonies up to a new space. I don't think I can clean the formicarium, so when it gets trashed I guess that's it.

The nest I hooked up to my AntsRussia X8 outworld to let my tetramorium colony grow bigger before putting them in the X8 nest. I also picked up a plant. Not sure how that is going to work out, but for now it looks dope.

[CoolColJ]

^ did you paint the plaster nest in the second pic?

should be able to pull the other nest out when the time comes

[xTNxANTMANx]

Out of curiosity, would anyone know how to go about making a formicarium along the same principles as the "Mini Hearth" design that TarHeelAnts has? I love the design(s) but I've had bad experience when ordering from him. Not to mention when he messed up my order and a friends order, he had no intentions on making it right...id rather try and make them myself. I get the concept but the sand texture on the inside of them...how? Wet sand shaped instead of using clay for the chamber(s)? Fantastic design as said before but again, I'd love to make these myself...or something along the same principle.