7 replies to this topic

[AntaholicAnonymous]

I'm making a epoxy resin pond in my ant tank and I wonder if yall know if it's bad for the ants.
I read on the container that it's bad for fish but water creatures are a lot more sensitive I assume.

If you have no expertise I can update if they still life after I'm finished.
The ants are gonna be in the tank while it cures cause I can't remove them so I'm worried about the fumes. We will see if a fan is enough to get the toxic fumes out.

[ANTdrew]

The fumes emitted while curing will be toxic for your ants. Use silicone instead, which I know from personal experience is not toxic while curing.

[aznphenom]

I am curious if the fan technique will work. How are you stopping them from walking over it while its curing?

[AntaholicAnonymous]

Thanks for the reply.
The reason I'm using resin is that it looks like water when it's cured so silicone is not an option unfortunately.

The tank is huge and the pond is on the opposite side of their nest.
I might build something like a fume hood that I leave on while it's curing over night.
Before that I will run experiments with workers from outside to test their reaction under similar conditions.
Its pretty much impossible to get around using resin and still making the pond.
I'll see what I can figure out.
The result should look beautiful judging off some tests I did.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

I am curious if the fan technique will work. How are you stopping them from walking over it while its curing?

That is very good question I'm not sure how I'd stop them.
I'd hate to but I might have to wait until winter when they are all underground.
For now it can remain as the pit where they dump their corpses which looks pretty cool already. lol

I have no doubts that I can pull it off in the winter.
I can make a barrier separating that side of the tank and a fan that gets the air out of that separated section and away from the tank. I can close up their nest entrances just for extra safety.

The tank dimensions are large enough that I can easily section it off.

[aznphenom]

I would add decorations to it. Some fish. Maybe a lily pad. Something like this

[AntaholicAnonymous]

The pond will be at the front on the left.
It's gonna be fairly deep so I will create a little under water world.
There is a floating island above the pond and there will be a cliff of some sort towards the top of the tank where the fog machine is.

The whole optic is subject to change. The tank is under construction and incomplete and I'm trying things out.
Manica are very aggressive and sting so I have to work carefully. lol
Have never been stung by them surprisingly.

[dspdrew]

Epoxy resin is perfectly safe for most anything once fully cured. I even did testing on ants with partially cured resin, and I don't remember it even hurting them then.