6 replies to this topic

[Vendayn]

I put my Pogonomyrmex rugosus into it. I didn't empty them out, but just put their founding container on its side so they can move on their own. I'd have just set it normally with the opening on top, but Pogonomyrmex don't tend to be the best climbers.

 

In any case, as for the packaging and shipping... the entire formicarium is so much better than I originally pictured it being. Packaging was great. He packages his formicariums very well, with a lot of styrofoam bits, and plastics around the formicarium itself. Very minimal if any risk in anything being damaged during the shipping process. It did take almost a month to get here, my fiance ordered it on September 6th and now its October 3rd. But, that isn't too bad of a wait really. I don't really have anything to compare the time to, but I read sometimes it can take many months to order formicariums from other sources.

 

Now the formicarium itself. The box is really high quality plastic, very sturdy. Very clear as well, very nice condition. Its pretty heavy, according to the UPS box its 9 pounds. Overall just a great quality, and very nice looking formicarium. The tunnels are nicely sized, though might be too big for small ants. For medium sized to large ants they are perfect though. I didn't see an option for tunnel size for the pinnacle. The formicarium however would be escape proof for any ant. I went with the clear lid, and actually the lid looks very professional. There are holes on each side for air, so that isn't an issue. As a bonus, not even tiny ants like Monomorium ergatogyna/minimum or Pheidole megacephala could escape out of this. Which is a HUGE bonus for me, since I often like to keep small/tiny ants.

 

As I said though, I'm using it for Pogonomyrmex rugosus, which is great for them. For the supplies, I got a syringe (that has an actual needle, so for those buying for kids or are a kid, keep that in mind.), which connects to the tiny holes to fill up the water towers (which there are two). I think the only actual issue I have is that I don't know how filled up the water towers are. Like Drew's formicariums I can just look right at the water storage container(s) and see how empty they are. Maybe I'm missing something or not looking at it right, but it isn't very obvious to see how filled up or empty they are.

 

Besides that, it has got to be my best looking, highest quality formicarium I ever have had. It looks amazing, and while the tunnel sizes are kinda big, it would work for some small ants (the ones that make huge colonies like Pheidole or Monomorium, which would love the extra space the large tunnels provide). I'm extremely happy with my gift (since my fiance actually bought it for me). I'd definitely get another pinnacle in the future.

 

Also as a bonus, the small bag (which I should add, look through the box before throwing anything out. The small bag is packaged in the box, not in the formicarium)...contained a (black) rubber cork to plug the hole on the side. Which fits perfectly. The hole allows easy expansion to other formicariums in the future. For me, not having to drill an extra hole is a HUGE bonus. In fact, that additional feature if its missing in a formicarium is a huge negative for me and kinda ruins the formicarium without it. Even though its kinda a small thing, I really love the ease of expanding with an additional hole to connect others up. Without having my dad drill one with a bunch of ants already inside. But the Pinnacle included a hole for expansion, so that is great.

 

I'll also be adding a bunch of springtails into it as well. They don't do any harm, and I have an entire "farm" of them. I probably have a few hundred to a thousand springtails, though they are the species that actually likes it semi-arid and not wet all the time. And they are springtails, not mites. They are elongated, very fast and jump. Mites are round, look like tiny spiders, are slow, and do not jump. But, I notice they only choose areas that are dry, they seem to avoid wet dirt and wet areas of the formicarium. Guess some type of desert/dry-climate springtail. They'll be a great addition though, keep things clean and supposedly they eat mites as well. Not sure if last part is true or not, and maybe it depends on the species of springtail.

 

And don't worry as I know many of you like pictures. I'll be taking pictures AFTER my ants move out of their founding formicarium and settle into the Pinnacle. But, definitely expect a lot of pictures. its an amazing formicarium, so I definitely want to show it off.

Edited by Vendayn, October 3 2016 - 2:22 PM.

[Kevin]

Good review! How large are those magnets on it and how is the outworld attached?

Is it ytong or grout?

[Vendayn]

Tarheel uses ytong.

 

As for magnets. Mine (Pinnacle) didn't come with magnets. Its a high quality plastic box, and the ytong/water towers are inside it. There isn't anything to disconnect/connect with tubing or magnets or anything. 

 

The foraging area is also in the box, so its just all one solid ant farm. Personally, I kind of like that more than having to connect the outworld to it. But, maybe others prefer it to be separate so maybe I should have included that in my post. Can still connect up a foraging area to it if you want, since it includes a hole to put tubing into and connect other things up. But, the person buying would have to do that on their own. He does have other designs that use magnets though that connect outworlds.

 

As for magnet size. When I got the Labyrinth, they were small-medium sized magnets. Not small, but not that big either. 

Edited by Vendayn, October 3 2016 - 3:23 PM.

[kudofo]

Super excited for mine to show up!

[NightsWebs]

ok, I might be confused but how many ants exactly are you putting into your pinnacle?  The pinnacle is a very large formicarium in comparison to other THA formicariums and Rugosus founding tend to be slow to get started.  I currently have 3 THA Nucleus and all were designed for a specific species. Pogonomyrmex, NovoMessor, and the third for myrmecocystus.  I hope your connecting tunnels from side to side are pluggable so you can restrict movement (open or close) nest areas dependent on the size of your colony.  I wish you the best of luck as Mac does a great job with the formicariums.  As far as your water towers.  Fill your water towers with your syringe and see how many it takes before water runs over the mesh into the nest.  this hydrates the nest and the ytong block will absorb most of the water just take it slow so you know how many full syringes it takes to go from empty to full and the time it takes for the towers to fill.  Also, I hope you didn't get any plants in your foraging area as your Pogonomyrmex will wreck them. 

[Vendayn]

ok, I might be confused but how many ants exactly are you putting into your pinnacle?  The pinnacle is a very large formicarium in comparison to other THA formicariums and Rugosus founding tend to be slow to get started.  I currently have 3 THA Nucleus and all were designed for a specific species. Pogonomyrmex, NovoMessor, and the third for myrmecocystus.  I hope your connecting tunnels from side to side are pluggable so you can restrict movement (open or close) nest areas dependent on the size of your colony.  I wish you the best of luck as Mac does a great job with the formicariums.  As far as your water towers.  Fill your water towers with your syringe and see how many it takes before water runs over the mesh into the nest.  this hydrates the nest and the ytong block will absorb most of the water just take it slow so you know how many full syringes it takes to go from empty to full and the time it takes for the towers to fill.  Also, I hope you didn't get any plants in your foraging area as your Pogonomyrmex will wreck them. 

The Pogonomyrmex rugosus colony has 75 workers or so (it was actually pretty crowded in their founding container that Drew made that came with the colony). They got boosted a bunch from Pogonomyrmex californicus brood some time back, plus a ton of their own brood. To be honest, I didn't mean to get so much Pogonomyrmex californicus brood, but I must have dug up a ton of eggs. Oh well. Might still be big for them (since you are right, the Pinnacle is pretty big), but they seem to like it. I allowed them to move on their own, and they moved out pretty fast. If they didn't like the new formicarium, I doubt they'd have moved so fast into it. Plus, I didn't force them to move, which I imagine would definitely be a bigger issue. In fact, once they found the hole into the tunnels, the one worker explored a bit underground. Then she came up, a few more workers explored, came back and the entire colony moved in after that. It was pretty fun to watch. 

 

However, I DID add some sand of my own mixed with peat moss into the tunnels. I plan to add a bit more. I know Pogonomyrmex like to dig, and I want to make it more natural for them. At least with Pogonomyrmex californicus, a lot of the times they don't do well at all in substrate-less setups. Plus, I like adding substrate to any formicarium. So, that "might" have enticed them to move since their founding formicarium had no substrate at all.

 

And thanks for the water tower tip. That is actually what I did, just filled it up until it overfilled a bit and then I stopped.

Edited by Vendayn, October 3 2016 - 7:51 PM.

[NightsWebs]

Yeah one thing about the THA formicariums you really need to shoot water down the entrance every few days just to keep the moisture levels up.  I actually shoot 9 CCs (3  small syringe fulls) straight into the entrance.  The ants will drink as well which is kinda neat to watch.  I really hope you enjoy the THA formicariums I think they are awesome.