912 replies to this topic

[Rstheant]

Here is a little prototype nest I just made with my new mold.



Made with hydrostone, and it has a THA water tower that’s removable. Credits to YsTheAnt, he helped me visualize the design,( we made one together).

Edited by Rstheant, March 14 2019 - 2:23 PM.

[Nylanderiavividula]

This is NOT K23, or Ytong...this is the hardest #$*& ever...just straight up hard as hell firebrick...

 

 

I used a cordless Milwaukee drill on hammer setting with a few sizes of masonry bits to remove most of the material, then I used a small hammer and mini-chisel to round the walls and what not.  I have another full-sized brick and the other half of this one...  But it was SUCH A TASK that I'm not exactly itching to get to work on them...  I need to find a better cover for this one.  I have not moved any ants in, yet.

[ANTdrew]

Dang! Does that material absorb water?

[Nylanderiavividula]

It does! I need to order some plates of acrylic for the cover and some decent magnets to hold it. I had used Elmer’s glue and a cut piece of CD cover. I rinsed the brick to clean it and it absorbed quite a bit of water, so before I put the cover on, I set it on top of a radiator heater over night. The next morning I put the cover on and within minutes there was condensation clinging to the surface on the inside. The picture above is not the totally finished product. I also drilled small holes in three places to use as hydration ports. That picture is not the best because is hard to tell that I deepened two chambers and left two of them more shallow. It was a satisfying project, but it took the better part of four hours with a dust mask, muffs, hammer drill, and hammer and chisel to get it where I wanted it!! I only recommend this route to the most-stubborn of us ant keepers... And if you’re not a cusser, you may well be by the end!

[ANTdrew]

Haha! K23 firebrick would take 20 minutes and a PG vocabulary. Your material sounds ideal for so called destructive species that could gnaw right through k23, though. Post final pics and updates on how your ants do in the nest, please.

Edited by ANTdrew, March 16 2019 - 8:57 AM.

[Rstheant]

It seem like the time when I tried carving grout. I couldn’t get a dremel so I used a screwdriver. Couldn’t make a DENT. Some cussing was involved, until my mom put an end to it, and I got a free detention! Yay!

[TennesseeAnts]

Really, because non sanded grout I can carve with a tooth pick.

[Rstheant]

I’m talking about sanded grout mixed with sand, that’s been dried for 2 weeks. It’s really hard, look at one of Crystal’s tutorial.

Edited by Rstheant, March 16 2019 - 3:49 PM.

[Nylanderiavividula]

This is simplistic, but I the Rubbermaid Brilliance containers come in all sorts of sizes...I really plan to play around with some of these + the above firebrick nests to see what I can come up with.  The ONLY drawback to the Brilliance containers is that it is annoying to have to pop those little locking flaps every single time you need to take the top off...but I think I can figure out a way to obviate that problem. 

 

 

For founding formicaria it's hard to get much simpler than this.  Just don't forget to drill out an extra 3/8" (or whatever size you prefer) hole in preparation for upsizing if need be.

 

 

This is a simple little shelf I built to hold ~six founding formicaria and get away with keeping them on our little kitchen table without my wife killing me.  I ran the 6' heating cable back behind them.  I also have a section for test-tube-queens that is hard to see in this picture. 

[anttics]

Here are some pics of my new hybrid nest. It has both anttropolis style in one half the other half is red clay for them to dig. Once they stablish trasg site ill add more decorations.







This is a massive terrarium. 2'x2'
Anttropolis alone will.be able to hold 20000 workers. They have enough dig space for a few thousand more. I have also introduced a spring tale Colony. Which has disapear. 1 day after I put the novos in. I hope they are hiding. Ill show the inside of the nest and the hidding spots for the springtales. I dump some rice for them. Unfortunately the novos took it outside. So no foof for the spring tales for now.

Edited by anttics, March 18 2019 - 6:12 PM.

[Zeiss]

I have also introduced a spring tale Colony. Which has disapear. 1 day after I put the novos in. I hope they are hiding. Ill show the inside of the nest and the hidding spots for the springtales. I dump some rice for them. Unfortunately the novos took it outside. So no foof for the spring tales for now.

It doesn't look like it is humid enough for springtails, but great work on the formicarium.

[anttics]

I have also introduced a spring tale Colony. Which has disapear. 1 day after I put the novos in. I hope they are hiding. Ill show the inside of the nest and the hidding spots for the springtales. I dump some rice for them. Unfortunately the novos took it outside. So no foof for the spring tales for now.

It doesn't look like it is humid enough for springtails, but great work on the formicarium.

You have not seen the inside of the formicarium. Do you see that pink cover. That whole thing 2 feey lonh is the nest. The bottom would be the habitat for the spring tales

[Barristan]

I like using nests made out of AAC (Ytong), but I don't like it's quite unnatural looking white color. So I tried natural loam paint, which consists of loam, chalk and talcum. You just mix the powder with some water and can start painting.

 

I originally planned making a laying nest, which I painted completely (except for the bottom):

 

 

Unfortunately  there was a crack in the ytong which went straight through the water reservoir and caused the water to leak. So I saw off the water reservoir and drilled a new one on one side and made a standing nest:

 

 

As you can see the water can pass through the paint and will even and my Lasius niger colony already moved some larvae into the nest:

 

 

So far I really like the result, however it is not a good idea to paint the outside with it since the paint is not water resistant and will easily wash away if you touch wet parts. So it is better to use another type of paint for outside parts of the nest.

 

 

[Nylanderiavividula]

I think I speak for most of us Americans when I say I am very jealous of the Ytong availability in Australia and European countries...

[TennesseeAnts]

There is one supplier in the U.S.

[CoolColJ]

You can stain it with a chocolate drink

[Rstheant]

Or just take the simple option and paint it with some paint.

[Xanuri]

 Moved Here:

http://www.formicult...um-beta-design/

Edited by Xanuri, April 2 2019 - 11:19 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

I just carved this little wooden nest today. I have my C. nearcticus queen in it. I designed it specifically for smaller Camponotus, Formica and Lasius.

P.s. If anyone wants one, I can make more.

 

 

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, April 27 2019 - 7:40 PM.

[Zeiss]

I just carved this little wooden nest today. I have my C. nearcticus queen in it. I designed it specifically for smaller Camponotus, Formica and Lasius.

P.s. If anyone wants one, I can make more.

 

 

This looks like it turned out pretty well!  The only problem is that could probably very easily chew their way out of that nest.