6 replies to this topic

[tscott1632]

Hello everyone. I've been doing some research the last few days and figured I'd ask the pros some questions. I plan to catch a queen and start an ant farm this summer. I've always been interested in ants and now I have a 3 year old boy and an even better excuse to start a farm. I'm struggling to find a good ant farm/container that is larger than the ones I've been finding. I want one that is narrow so my son can see them dig tunnels and the way they live. Most are only about 5-7 inches wide or so.
Here is the style I want but don't want to spend 85 dollars on something so small.
https://www.amazon.c...CTOPWVPO0&psc=1

So I was thinking of buying this
https://www.amazon.c...3MGALQMCB&psc=1

And gluing in a sheet of plexiglass inside in the back to make the skinny sand section. Hope that makes sense. Does anybody see any issues with this before I waste time and money on build?
Also how narrow should the walls be for the sand/tunnel wall part?
Thanks in advance for any help!

[T.C.]

I'd steer away from sand farm builds. If your in it to watch the colony grow, it can make viewing them somewhat hard. Look into building or buying a formicarium that isn't a box of sand. I've used them for some of my colonies but it's not my favorite.

[Manitobant]

Yeah don’t use one of those toy ant farms. I’d recommend you get a proper formicarium, such as the ones from tarheel ants or arthropod antics.

[NicholasP]

Hello everyone. I've been doing some research the last few days and figured I'd ask the pros some questions. I plan to catch a queen and start an ant farm this summer. I've always been interested in ants and now I have a 3 year old boy and an even better excuse to start a farm. I'm struggling to find a good ant farm/container that is larger than the ones I've been finding. I want one that is narrow so my son can see them dig tunnels and the way they live. Most are only about 5-7 inches wide or so.
Here is the style I want but don't want to spend 85 dollars on something so small.
https://www.amazon.c...CTOPWVPO0&psc=1

So I was thinking of buying this
https://www.amazon.c...3MGALQMCB&psc=1

And gluing in a sheet of plexiglass inside in the back to make the skinny sand section. Hope that makes sense. Does anybody see any issues with this before I waste time and money on build?
Also how narrow should the walls be for the sand/tunnel wall part?
Thanks in advance for any help!

TarHeelAnts makes high quality and beautiful nests. Arthropod Antics makes nice nests as well but specialize in giving the customer the best view of their ants and for a cheaper price. Here's my 2 recommendations which would be 2 options you could go with that I'll leave links for.

 

TarHeelAnts Lair: Lair Formicarium – Tar Heel Ants
I personally love the lair style since it's a horizontal nest making viewing and pictures a whole lot easier. I haven't bought a lair but I make my own and the designs from THA are great.

Arthropod Antics Formisquarium: Formisquarium | Arthropod Antics

The Arthropod Antics Formisquarium offers a good view of your ants from above, a simplistic design that makes it easy for anyone to understand and use, and is a very good price.  Afterall they really do "Make the ants the star of the show".

Make sure to read the description of BOTH PRODUCTS as Arthropod Antics sells their outworlds separate from their nests and THA sells their Lairs without an outworld unless the option is chosen in the selection of what you want the nest to have. I hope this helps you out and feel free to ask me questions!

[ZTYguy]

I highly suggest getting a nest from Cocdeshijie. He has affordable prices and his nests are great for viewing and can accommodate almost every ant species you can think. Here is his website: https://ants.qwq.xyz/shop/

 

Also may I ask what species or genus of ant you are going for?

Edited by ZTYguy, April 17 2022 - 1:47 PM.

[UtahAnts]

I believe AntsVienna did something similar to what you were thinking of building in this video.

 

Personally I think sand formicariums work great as long as the right substrate is used and the walls are close enough to allow visibility. The width of the walls depends on the species. The one problem I see with the build is the ants piling sand to get to the top of the container, so maybe make the Plexiglas retaining wall at least 3 inches shorter than the rim of the large container to allow for a proper escape barrier to be applied with some extra room for the substrate the ants will inevitably pile above the Plexiglas. I would also recommend finding a better way to hydrate the ant farm than directly pouring water on the substrate, as this can lead to inconsistent watering and collapsing tunnels. Some people use a base layer of hydro-stone at the bottom of the substrate from which they hydrate the ant farm, by letting the water disperse through the hydro-stone or plaster, creating humidity at the bottom of the substrate.

[T.C.]

I believe AntsVienna did something similar to what you were thinking of building in this video.
 
Personally I think sand formicariums work great as long as the right substrate is used and the walls are close enough to allow visibility. The width of the walls depends on the species. The one problem I see with the build is the ants piling sand to get to the top of the container, so maybe make the Plexiglas retaining wall at least 3 inches shorter than the rim of the large container to allow for a proper escape barrier to be applied with some extra room for the substrate the ants will inevitably pile above the Plexiglas. I would also recommend finding a better way to hydrate the ant farm than directly pouring water on the substrate, as this can lead to inconsistent watering and collapsing tunnels. Some people use a base layer of hydro-stone at the bottom of the substrate from which they hydrate the ant farm, by letting the water disperse through the hydro-stone or plaster, creating humidity at the bottom of the substrate.

Agreed. Drew had one of the best designs yet. I believe he called them "dirt boxes." I had a few he had made for a year or two. They were flawless. Worked awesome but I ended up selling the colonies in them.