Hello All!
I figured I'd start documenting my process of building an easily customizable, but very interchangeable line of 3D printed formicaria. My reasons for wanting to create them myself, rather than purchase one of the many listed for sale are as follows:
1. I love to design things.
2. None of the products available have the customization I would like.
3. My 3D printer would love to be used.
Before I get too far into what I've done so far, I'd like to introduce myself a little.
I'm originally from Texas and started getting into anting back when I lived there a few years ago. I'll admit, when I was really young, I was given one of those gel ant farms and a handful of Pogonomyrmex workers. This was back when these had just hit the market. Watching those poor workers dig amazing tunnels over the next few days planted the seed for my interest in ants. At the time, I thought it was dumb to only have workers that would live a few months, then die. I just never pursued the idea of catching a queen.
Fast forward several years and I happen to see the nuptial flight of what I believe was a C. Sansabeanus colony in a friend's backyard. The queens were huge and beautiful. Thankfully, I didn't catch any (they were just emerging) and instead I went home and did some research. I had a lot of fun learning all I could about ants and even tinkered around with creating formicariums from clay and getting them fired. In the end, using that method was not as precise as I needed for the ants I tried to keep (P. Longicornis, and a couple Camponotus).
I took a break for a couple of years and started getting back into the hobby about a year ago, when I finally bought a 3D printer. I'd also moved to Utah, so I spent some time learning about what species lived here, where to find them and when they flew. Last summer I was able to find a spot that had a large concentration of black Formica sp, I assumed as F. argentea and found several queens. However, I bought my first home soon after, and in all the mess and confusion of the move, my queens were left in the car too long. RIP
The mass death, settling in to the new house, and new house projects effectively stalled my anting for the rest of the year until a few weeks ago, when I pulled up my half made designs and started tinkering again.
- Water tank beneath the formicarium.
- Removable part that holds a wicking agent up against a small ceramic tile.
- Tile slots.
- Formicarium landscape is based on real world landscape data. (This one is Texas hill country, with an exaggerated height increase)
- One connection port.
The test print came out rather well, but as always, there are minor adjustments I needed to make. The largest change I am making to the design is overhauling the hydration system. Originally, the tile spaces were square, and the tile was placed from above, resting by gravity. After putting in some thought, I decided it would be too difficult to precisely create tiles to fit the slots. Now, my current hydration system will use circular tiles, and be placed from below. Small circular tower-like structures that I used before to contain the wicking agent will now hold up the tile as well, when inserted into the formicarium. I've also increased the size of the tile, and changed it to a single one for this sized formicarium. For the landscape, I want to first try out a group of well known canyons in the American west.
Edited by Jakerobs, January 3 2021 - 11:41 AM.
