237 replies to this topic

[YawningGull]

I love how elegantly simple and pragmatic these nests are, opposed to curvy, windy, inefficient nests made to look natural. I think I'm gonna draw inspiration from this when making my first formicarium.

Edited by YawningGull, August 26 2016 - 9:37 PM.

[Kevin]

Won't that cost a lot to print?

[drtrmiller]

Won't that cost a lot to print?

 

No, because he owns a 3D printer.  Probably $1 or $2 in plastic filament.

[dspdrew]

Finally made an update to this formicarium. The Liometopum occidentale colony I had in it died a while back.
 
Made a quick mold for a test backing.
 

 
 
I realized a while back that most ants like their nest fairly dry. With the tile across the entire back of these nests, they were getting way too wet, so this time I'm only putting the tile across the bottom chambers.
 
Mold finished. Tile cut.
 

 
 
Covered one side of the tile with painter's tape.
 

 
 
Placed the tile in the mold with the taped side down and poured the resin.
 

 
 
Once everything was cured, I removed the tape and sanded the front down until it was perfectly flat. You can see where the resin has soaked into the tile a little bit. That's what makes the bond so strong. Without the tape across the front of the tile, it would have been all soaked with resin, and I would have been doing a LOT of sanding to get through it. I supposed with the mold being silicone and all, I could maybe apply enough pressure to the tile to keep any resin from seeping under it, but I'm not sure.
 

 
 
I cut the threaded back plate into two small pieces since the back is no longer flat. There's also no need for the chamois anymore since I can just put the water tank directly against the tile.
 

 
 
Here's how it looks with the water tank installed.
 

 

 

 
 
I decided to redo the Hydrostone floor on the out world, sprinkling sand on the surface this time.
 

 
 
I moved my Novomessor cockerelli into it for testing this time. Amazingly, I checked 30 minutes later and they were already moved in. Not sure if that means they REALLY like this nest, or they hate my little founding nests. They really actually seem to like both. Because the tile in the founding formicariums is so small, it should dry out pretty fast, causing the ants to move pretty quickly. I just didn't think it would be that quick.
 

[sgheaton]

Yay! That's exactly like I was describing! And because we are talking in chat about it I'll just go back there. I really like that set up though. I'd put my money on being the best controlled in this fashion. 

[NightsWebs]

except its much too small to hold my N. cockerelli way toooooo small

[dspdrew]

Well I guess the development of this formicarium has come to an end, unless I want to pay outrageous shipping prices for the main containers. The Container Store decided to discontinue them.

 

Mayra A: Hi, my name is Mayra A. How may I help you?

Me: can you tell me when you will have more item 10060544?

Mayra A: Unfortunately this item has been discontinued.

Me: Oh what

Me: Do you still not do any special orders?

Mayra A: Unfortunately we do not, sorry

Me: Are you going to discontinue the others too?

Me: I buy TONS of these from you guys.

Mayra A: Only items 10060544 and 10060546 have been discontinued

Me: What size was 10060546?

Mayra A: Medium Stackable Rectangle

Me: Haha do you have measurements?

Me: Medium is pretty subjective

Mayra A: 11" x 7-1/8" x 3-1/2"

Me: Oh great.

Me: I'm very unhappy.

Me: Thanks.

Mayra A: We apologize for the inconvenience. Have a great rest of your day.

[Kevin]

Well I guess the development of this formicarium has come to an end, unless I want to pay outrageous shipping prices for the main containers. The Container Store decided to discontinue them.

 

Mayra A: Hi, my name is Mayra A. How may I help you?

Me: can you tell me when you will have more item 10060544?

Mayra A: Unfortunately this item has been discontinued.

Me: Oh what

Me: Do you still not do any special orders?

Mayra A: Unfortunately we do not, sorry

Me: Are you going to discontinue the others too?

Me: I buy TONS of these from you guys.

Mayra A: Only items 10060544 and 10060546 have been discontinued

Me: What size was 10060546?

Mayra A: Medium Stackable Rectangle

Me: Haha do you have measurements?

Me: Medium is pretty subjective

Mayra A: 11" x 7-1/8" x 3-1/2"

Me: Oh great.

Me: I'm very unhappy.

Me: Thanks.

Mayra A: We apologize for the inconvenience. Have a great rest of your day.

There is still hope Drew, the shorter ones are available! I haven't had luck getting a reply from the manufacturer.

[nepenthes]

Have you tried Pioneer Plastics?

[dspdrew]

Have you tried Pioneer Plastics?

 

Wow, haven't seen you on here in a long time. I don't think I remember them being a distributor of BoxBox containers.

[Zeiss]

Have you tried Pioneer Plastics?

They aren't acrylic, so I don't think he wants to use them.

[nepenthes]

I just thought I would make a suggestion, that's what we use for out colonies. @dspdrew

[dspdrew]

Oh I didn't know what Pioneer Plastics was. I thought it was a store or something.

[thosaka]

I love the metal formicariums.

[dspdrew]

I love the metal formicariums.

 

What metal formicariums?

[nepenthes]

https://www.pioneerplastics.com/

[T.C.]

So I won't be getting my hands on one of these? Got an old one laying around? I really liked the look of these.

[TKD102]

Hopefully he can figure out if pioneer plastics is good for what he's doing or not, but if it doesn't work out, that's okay too.

[charliebynar]

This morning I checked the water tank, and the Ytong plate was still saturated, without any moisture below it or on the bottom of the tank, so this design should work perfectly. I'll check it again about eight hours from now to be sure, and then I will try putting it up against a larger piece of Ytong about the size of what will be the nest backing, to see how well the water transfers to it from the Ytong plate on the tank. As for the wicking test, it did exactly what I expected; it wicked up to the same level at 85 percent humidity as it did at 60 percent.

[charliebynar]

Drew, how are you measuring humidity of the Yong? It's my understanding that the ideal humidity for Myrmecocystus Mexicanus is between 50%-70%. At what humidity have you had the most success at with this species?