10 replies to this topic

[ragingbananas]

Finding a US Supplier is proving challenging, and I wonder if anyone had found a way to buy this material? It seems even Ebay is dry here.

Any suggestions is appreciated

Thanks

[Zeiss]

I believe there are some companies that sell AAC, but it's for construction, so no pieces are just solid blocks.  I also believe they only sell wholesale quantities.  Some other people could probably link them or a quick search would bring results.  Otherwise, I have not found just bricks available.  You might be able to contact Mack from TarHeelAnts for blocks.  The only substitution I could think of for it would be firebrick.  It's tough to find somewhere in the US that sells it.  Your best bet would be to import.

[TheRealAntMan]

Menards, Home Depot, and some locations of Lowe all carry firebrick.

[dspdrew]

Menards, Home Depot, and some locations of Lowe all carry firebrick.

 

The only fire brick I've seen home improvement stores carry is the very dense, hard fire brick.

 

To find the soft fire brick, I would check ceramics supply stores.

[AntsMaryland]

I've personally had great luck with firebrick from this supplier: https://www.delphigl...ools/fire-brick

 

Very soft and light. So far, with the Tapinoma sessile colony, I have housed in one, it appears to be working great. However, I have only had this formicarium with ants in it for a few months now. I still need to test this material with other species.

 

But from my understanding, this firebrick seems to be very close to what AAC is like.

[TheRealAntMan]

 

Menards, Home Depot, and some locations of Lowe all carry firebrick.

 

The only fire brick I've seen home improvement stores carry is the very dense, hard fire brick.

 

To find the soft fire brick, I would check ceramics supply stores.

 

Really? At my local Menards they carry soft firebrick. Not sure about Home Depot or Lowe though.

[ZllGGY]

amazon has soft fire brick for sale

 

https://www.amazon.c...soft fire brick

[Jamiesname]

Finding a US Supplier is proving challenging, and I wonder if anyone had found a way to buy this material? It seems even Ebay is dry here.
Any suggestions is appreciated
Thanks

I make it. I can send a small sample block if you're interested. I have my C. pennsylvanicus, L. Neoniger and A. Tenn. all housed in it. Here's my very first brick. . .

Edited by Jamiesname, August 27 2018 - 3:16 PM.

[Trythis22]

As many of the helpful members here have linked, substitutes for AAC exist and pretty much do the same thing. If you MUST have AAC, the easiest way is to buy and ship a pallet of the stuff from overseas, but if you don't want to throw thousands of dollars into it just mix it yourself. 

 

Background info on AAC and concrete (skip if you don't care): Regular concrete strength used in construction vary from being rated at 2,500 psi to 4,000 psi depending on the mix ratios. AAC is about half that, more or less. The main advantage of AAC is that it is extremely lightweight and still strong enough for building standards in developing countries. Hell, even at half the strength of regular concrete it's strong enough for a variety of applications. Of course it's overkill for ant formicariums, so no worries on longevity since it'll last longer than your ant colony will. Because it is so light, John and Joe can build a wall with it using only their hands and some mortar. This is important because these countries do not have lots of forests or the right kind of wood such as Douglas or Hem Fir so they rely on concrete to build structures we normally use wood and drywall for in the states. Even in developed countries this is true although to my knowledge they use regular grade concrete anyway because they have building inspections. Throw in some other variables and the result is magnificently overpriced housing.

 

Anyways, here's the mix ratio for AAC. 

 

7 parts fly ash, 1 part lime, 1 part cement, 1/2 part plaster and 1/10 aluminum powder. I suspect this formula will need to be tweaked to fit the application, which is nesting material for ants. The major one being that more aluminum powder ought to be added to increase permeability for moisture. 

 

Yeah you need to buy bags of the stuff, but remember you can create many dozens of bricks with what you buy, which is going to total less than $100, which is not even a fraction of a fraction of the cost you would incur by ordering a pallet from overseas. All the materials are cheap and widely available in my area. You do need to rent a cement mixer if you don't have one though to aerate the mix properly. Carving or creating a mould is easy so no explanation required there. Also no autoclave but this brick is not holding up 30,000 lbs of wall and truss/roof so... 

 

I plan on making a dozen of these nests once my colonies get large enough, but it seems like it'll be quite a bit before they'll be ready for it. Jamiesname, if you mix AAC yourself would you mind sharing your mix design and mix process? I'll be posting my trial and error on here once it's my time but it's always helpful to have a second opinion. 

[drtrmiller]

I have plans to make and sell a proprietary composite product that emulates AAC in form and function.  Here is a proof of concept photo from an early material test.  Both samples are the same weight.

 

Edited by drtrmiller, August 27 2018 - 9:54 PM.

[dspdrew]

 

 

Menards, Home Depot, and some locations of Lowe all carry firebrick.

 

The only fire brick I've seen home improvement stores carry is the very dense, hard fire brick.

 

To find the soft fire brick, I would check ceramics supply stores.

 

Really? At my local Menards they carry soft firebrick. Not sure about Home Depot or Lowe though.

 

 

That store is only located in some states.