So I've been thinking about trying to build a formicarium that would meet several requirements I am specifying for it:
- I want to allow the ants to dig their own nest.
- I want to be able to see the nest tunnels and caverns
- I want to be able to transport this with me to home shows and classrooms so I can share this colony with lots of other people
With those requirements in mind, I was thinking about taking a 10 or 20 gallon aquarium and using silicon and glass to create a false wall on one end of the tank, about 1/8 or 1/4 inch from the actual end wall of the aquarium, and filling the gap between the actual wall and the wall I install with a fine sand for nesting in, and on the ground of the rest of the aquarium I would glue sand, gravel, and some rocks so that they are present, but can't be nested in. I was thinking about attaching something to the exterior wall of the nest that would cover it most of the time to keep the nest dark, but can be moved out of the way to allow people to see into the nest. Food and moisture woule be provided to the ants in the "outworld" portion of the formicarium.
This set up would allow me to have a dirt nest that can be observed from outside, has a nest and outworld contained in one setup, and can be easily moved around/transported without disturbing the ants too much.
Is this a good idea or a recipe for failure? Does anyone have any ideas that I have missed?
Thanks,.