912 replies to this topic

[100lols]

My first perfect cast formicarium! Could have made the cavern bigger. But there is plenty of room.

[UtahAnts]

Amazing! I like the glass or plexiglass you used, how did you match the nest block's edges with the curve of the glass?

[Locness]

That's cleannn.

[ANTdrew]

I put the finishing touches on this new setup for my explosively growing Monomorium minimum colony. I call it the MonoMansion. I kept details to a minimum to not obscure the tiny Monomins, but I did put lava rocks from Guatemala.

Here is photo update of this nest after a few months of use. Look at this MonoMania!

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

Oh yeah i forgot about this thread specifficly for showing off these sorts of things.
 

My new large nest I recently made for my Pogonomyrmex occidentalis. Done in perfect cast, this is my 6th nest ever made, and my 2nd nest that was useable at all.
 

I used sand for sculpting, and modeling clay for sealing the mold against leaks where i had port tubes/water fill tubes/etc.

 

 

IMAGE FROM DIFFERENT NEST(same tuebs)

I used especially tiny water fill tubes of  .5mmID/2mmOD
This fits tightly over the blunt tip syringes commonly used, and allows filling the nest from what would have otherwise been very awkward/impossible angles to use in the more common designs with flush mounted fill tubes. Also you never bump or vibrate the nest when using these fill tubes.
I like these a lot and highly recommend using them in your next build.
The challenge of using these is they can be pulled out and then you are kind of borked for refilling if that happens. Though they are fairly snug in the nest their silicone nature kept the perfect cast from adhearing to them. I had to be very careful when removing the mold, to ensure the fill tubes didn't get pulled out when taking it off.
https://www.amazon.c...B0BJ1XCKGK?th=1

 

No more tape holding a heat cable on the side of the nest, but a simple copper tube(plumbing pipe) fits neatly into the nest and allows the heat cable to be passed through it. The chambers on that side of the nest are just above the heat pipe. And the tube is small enough in diameter, I believe this could be added to any common already made ant nest mold.
I used a pushpin on one side of the mold to hold the tube in place. the bump on the base of a pushpin is just big enough to not fit into the tube. Blocking up one side of the tube and pressing the other end of the tube firmly into the mold.

Here it is in use:

 

[100lols]

Personally I feel the pictures do this build no justice… but first time trying something like this! So much fun

& the tape is an extra precaution, as I have many magnetic formicariums in a small space usually.

Edited by 100lols, October 31 2023 - 3:51 PM.

[100lols]

Oh yeah i forgot about this thread specifficly for showing off these sorts of things.

My new large nest I recently made for my Pogonomyrmex occidentalis. Done in perfect cast, this is my 6th nest ever made, and my 2nd nest that was useable at all.


I used sand for sculpting, and modeling clay for sealing the mold against leaks where i had port tubes/water fill tubes/etc.





IMAGE FROM DIFFERENT NEST(same tuebs)
I used especially tiny water fill tubes of .5mmID/2mmOD
This fits tightly over the blunt tip syringes commonly used, and allows filling the nest from what would have otherwise been very awkward/impossible angles to use in the more common designs with flush mounted fill tubes. Also you never bump or vibrate the nest when using these fill tubes.
I like these a lot and highly recommend using them in your next build.
The challenge of using these is they can be pulled out and then you are kind of borked for refilling if that happens. Though they are fairly snug in the nest their silicone nature kept the perfect cast from adhearing to them. I had to be very careful when removing the mold, to ensure the fill tubes didn't get pulled out when taking it off.
https://www.amazon.c...B0BJ1XCKGK?th=1



No more tape holding a heat cable on the side of the nest, but a simple copper tube(plumbing pipe) fits neatly into the nest and allows the heat cable to be passed through it. The chambers on that side of the nest are just above the heat pipe. And the tube is small enough in diameter, I believe this could be added to any common already made ant nest mold.
I used a pushpin on one side of the mold to hold the tube in place. the bump on the base of a pushpin is just big enough to not fit into the tube. Blocking up one side of the tube and pressing the other end of the tube firmly into the mold.

Here it is in use:

Epic build!! Thanks for sharing dude!!

I’m going to try to document the building process one of these days, but I totally agree that it disrupts natural flow. Maybe I could ask for a camera man lol.

[FormiCanada]

Hi all,

 

Check out this small, basic formicarium for foundress queens & small colonies. These are called the Pro-Series Mini I & II, which have been a long-overdue in development. 

The formicarium comes with a 1mm non-bending glass top, is made of a combination of moisture-absorbent medias, and is sealed by top-tier neodymium magnets. There is a hydration hole for water which you just slip the glass to the side to access, without bothering the ants. The exterior is a 3-D printed durable frame. The entrance way fits snug into the foraging arena, so no tubes are required. Holds moisture for over a month easily & promotes the basis for bioactivity in the form of cleaner crews (springtails, hypoaspis mites, isopods etc). This is about two-decades' worth of experimenting on what works and what doesn't. The magnets on the exterior have been updated to black coated, anti-rusting & look clean.

 

For those of you who may not know us, we're FormiCanada and we've been around since 2006 as a company, and ten years prior as a group of hobbyists (circa1996 ). 

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Edited by FormiCanada, January 29 2024 - 7:11 AM.

[ANTdrew]

FormiCanada, that is a very sharp design.

[rptraut]

Hello FormiCanada, 

 

Welcome to Formiculture, great looking setup.  Also great to have another person and company as a resource and supplier.

RPT

[FormiCanada]

FormiCanada, that is a very sharp design.

 

Thanks! It's much appreciated! 

[FormiCanada]

Hello FormiCanada, 

 

Welcome to Formiculture, great looking setup.  Also great to have another person and company as a resource and supplier.

RPT

 

 

Thanks RPT! I hope you like your setup as well ! Feel free to bounce back any ideas that come to your mind with your model! Cheers

[rptraut]

Hello FormiCanada;

 

It's been a week since I received my order and the ants have settled in nicely.   The Crematogaster and Lasius queens are enjoying diapause in their winter storage and the Prenolepis colony is field testing the formicarium and outworld right now.   I have high hopes for them all.

 

Thanks for your attention to my order.  I'll let you know how everybody makes out.  

RPT

[ANTdrew]

Hello FormiCanada;

It's been a week since I received my order and the ants have settled in nicely. The Crematogaster and Lasius queens are enjoying diapause in their winter storage and the Prenolepis colony is field testing the formicarium and outworld right now. I have high hopes for them all.

Thanks for your attention to my order. I'll let you know how everybody makes out.
RPT

You got Crematogaster!? That’s great. They are the funnest species to keep.

[rptraut]

Hello ANTdrew;

I wondered if you’d notice that I’ve decided, based on your recommendation, to keep two Crematogaster queens (separately of course) and enjoy raising colonies of them. They aren’t common around where I live, so I bought two at a great price. I only hope, based on their reputation, that the funnest part of raising them isn’t chasing after escapees. I look forward to the challenge and the joy of watching those little heart-shaped butts waving in the air.
RPT

[futurebird]

 

Today they chewed a hole in the tube connecting their log to the outworld so I took the opportunity to have my husband take a photo of me holding the colony. Fixing the tube now and getting everyone back inside. 

 

I'm really impressed with how they tore up the plastic tube. They have powerful little jaws. I've added a nylon cover and some gap filler. I'm also very happy that they still can't make a dent in the log itself... which would have been a much more annoying issue to resolve. "Foranto" did a great job selecting wood for these nests. These ants are some of the most persistent and they can't do very much at all with the wood. It's just too dense and solid.

 

All the escaped ants ... what do you think they did? Wander the apartment? Raid the pantry?

Nope. There were about a dozen of them just sitting directly under the log. I guess they want a bigger log now? They have no desire to be far from their home... what with the sugar fountains and conveniently injured insects that fall from the sky.

Basically like when my mom set a boundary for me as a kid and I'd stand just on the other side... feeling the rush of illicit power from being out of bounds.

 

 

 

"They'll never find me here!"

 

 

 

And here is a recent link to what they've been up to inside of the log. 

https://sauropods.wi...904189919990414

[TacticalHandleGaming]

Just a simple outworld I made using some perfect cast and some rocks. Nothing special.

 

 

[FormiCanada]

I absolutely love creating and making formicariums & ant-related stuff. With a couple of magnets, an acrylic cutter & cotton pads, I was able to create a nice vertical test tube rack. Add some red acrylic and it works perfectly for queens. 

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[rptraut]

How I Make an AntForm

 

The idea of an AntForm (short for ant formicarium) came about as a result of my attempts to find a way to display ants in our living room without incurring the wrath of my wife and her rule that no ants are allowed in the house.   I really should consider myself lucky that I can keep ants in my attached workshop, but I'd really like a colony in the house to watch, even if they're just an interesting diversion from TV commercials.   So, I came up with the idea of an AntForm, a formicarium that doesn't look like one, yet there are ants living in it.   

 

 

 

 

 

The first AntForm I made was inspired by a decoration I found in a pet store that looked like a tree frog on a stump.   It was hollow inside and there looked to be plenty of room for a small colony of ants.  I filled the inside with small test tubes, pieces of tubing, small bottles, moss and wood chips, anything ants would like to nest in.  I put a small founding Myrmica colony that was living in a walnut, in the bottom.    Ideally, I'd prefer the AntForm to be an all-in-one style, but ants can have different ideas.   The colony has been living in this setup for two seasons so the small cube attached to the left was added the second year for any queens who might want to set up away from the main colony.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

A castle decoration for an aquarium is what I used for another AntForm.  There are test tubes, tubing and wood chips inside the castle for the ants to nest in.   I attached a small Camponotus colony to it and they used it primarily as an outworld this season.   I'd rather they'd move in completely but I'm also willing to wait and see what happens.   I don't think they've arranged things inside the castle to suit themselves just yet.   This is the "no trash" formicarium I've referred to in other posts, so these ants were fed only meat products all season.   I never had to clean this setup.

 

Even if they only use the castle for an outworld or a satellite nest, this project shows how the useable space for ants in an outworld can be made larger by taking advantage of all the three-dimensional space that's available.    

 

 

 

 

 

Another AntForm under construction.   I'm hoping to put a Camponotus colony in it when completed, I'll show you when it's done. 

 

I have yet to convince my wife to let me put one of these in the living room, but I'm always hopeful.   If nothing else the AntForm style adds interest to the setup for me and I believe it gives the ants more opportunity to exhibit natural behaviours as well.  

RPT

 

 

 

[michiganantsinmyyard]

Small work in progress crematogaster nest. Based off of my backyards crematogaster colony that I broke into when I was five. I notice their nests are more open, and less chamber based, so I based it on that principle. I don't have any kind of natural shiner to make it look better, but I don't care about that.