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test tube setup + bendable straw = refillable setup?


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21 replies to this topic

#1 Offline CoolColJ - Posted January 15 2019 - 8:28 AM

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I just had a bit of a brain flash...

A bendable straw inserted through the side of a test tube setup's cotton into the water could allow one to fill it up from the outside.
bend the exterior part of the straw upwards for easy filling with a syringe and then block it up with Blu Tack or something.

Although I would use those sponge bits that you can get from Aliexpress or similar instead of cotton for a longer lasting setup.

https://www.amazon.c...B01N1ZKZE4?th=1


Edited by CoolColJ, January 15 2019 - 8:30 AM.

Current ant colonies -
1) Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant), Melophorus sp2. black and orange, Pheidole species, Pheidole antipodum
Journal = http://www.formicult...ra-iridomyrmex/

Heterotermes cf brevicatena termite pet/feeder journal = http://www.formicult...feeder-journal/


#2 Offline Shifty189 - Posted January 16 2019 - 6:37 PM

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Honestly, I don't see the appeal. Granted I have only been anting for a single season, I haven't had a need to refill any test tubes. I kept a fair number of queens, but most of them died well before the water level was a problem. The queens that I did raise were ready for a true nest before it became a concern. I realize by your activity and posts on this forum that you keep a lot of ants, so is this idea to keep a colony in a "tubes and tubes" setup?



#3 Offline nurbs - Posted January 16 2019 - 7:33 PM

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That doesn't work. Inserting a straw or any kind of long object into the cotton (I once tried using a thin wooden chopstick stick between the cotton and the water so that honeypots could hang) causes the water reservoir to leak.

 

But more importantly I've never had an issue with needing to refill the water in a test tube. Usually the cotton gets moldy and dirty first before you ever need to refill, and by that time you just make a new test tube setup.


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#4 Offline CoolColJ - Posted January 16 2019 - 9:00 PM

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Well I keep my ants in moldy cotton test tubes until it's near dry anyway :D

Current ant colonies -
1) Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant), Melophorus sp2. black and orange, Pheidole species, Pheidole antipodum
Journal = http://www.formicult...ra-iridomyrmex/

Heterotermes cf brevicatena termite pet/feeder journal = http://www.formicult...feeder-journal/


#5 Offline ANTndonesia - Posted February 25 2019 - 3:21 PM

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Try this and you don't have to worry about water supply.


Polyrhachis dives. I 5 Queens, 83 Workers. << This colony keep biting and pulling 2 of their queens from the nest, so i decided to get them out. P. Dives III and P. Dives IV.

Polyrhachis dives. II 1 Queen, 16 Workers. First egg February 12th 2019.
Polyrhachis dives. III 1 Queen, First egg May 15th 2019.
Polyrhachis dives. IV 1 Unfertilized Queen.


#6 Offline CoolColJ - Posted February 26 2019 - 12:19 AM

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Try this and you don't have to worry about water supply.


You can't use a water tank with that tube though, only soaking a sponge or cotton.

Current ant colonies -
1) Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant), Melophorus sp2. black and orange, Pheidole species, Pheidole antipodum
Journal = http://www.formicult...ra-iridomyrmex/

Heterotermes cf brevicatena termite pet/feeder journal = http://www.formicult...feeder-journal/


#7 Offline Canadian anter - Posted February 26 2019 - 10:58 AM

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Had a brain flash last night. This could probably work if you integrated the cotton into the straw before hand. Like you have the straw glue inside two rings. If you could use those rings to hold the cotton, this idea could probably work.
Visit us at www.canada-ant-colony.com !

#8 Offline Ants4fun - Posted February 26 2019 - 10:49 PM

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Not sure what problem this is trying to solve? Just buy a bigger test tube if you want it to hold more water. Trying to wedge something between the cotton sounds like a flood waiting to happen.



#9 Offline CoolColJ - Posted February 26 2019 - 11:16 PM

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Try this and you don't have to worry about water supply.


One way to get that to work is to glue a mesh inside the tube. Then you put a small test tube inside with it's cotton/sponge against the mesh :)
Pull the test tube out to refill and refresh as needed

Current ant colonies -
1) Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant), Melophorus sp2. black and orange, Pheidole species, Pheidole antipodum
Journal = http://www.formicult...ra-iridomyrmex/

Heterotermes cf brevicatena termite pet/feeder journal = http://www.formicult...feeder-journal/


#10 Offline Trythis22 - Posted February 27 2019 - 12:24 AM

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Well Antz4fun, it's not necessarily a problem I think CoolColJ is trying to solve, he's just trying to brainstorm and invent something that may benefit everyone here. Out of 100 ideas, 99 fail but 1 improves the world by a slight margin. Or something like that. The world's first computer was considered a hobbyist's item at first. Although your point is valid, playing devil's advocate and entertaining new ideas without accepting them can be fun at times. 

 

While we are at it, I would challenge the idea of using a cotton ball as a medium to convert a potentially lethal body of water into something less dangerous for ants. We are trying to find a material, or combination of materials, that can perform the following: 

 

1. Retain and block off a body of water,

2. Either retain water within itself or allow moisture to pass through itself (breathable) without violating rule #1,

3. Able to be penetrated without losing the ability to perform rules #1 & 2, with or without the assistance of other materials. 

4. Be small or able to be cut down into a size and shape to fit a general use test tube for its intended use. 

 

I think we have cotton balls, meshes, sponges, washers ("rings"), and glues/adhesives/putties so far. I would add in garden fabric (permeable barrier) and cotton/polyester fabrics. Also, we can take advantage of the fact that surface tension holds water molecules together so tiny holes in any materials in direct contact with the water reservoir do not interfere with rule #1. Hopefully these 4 rules may generate more ideas. Additions/revisions are always welcome. 



#11 Offline GeorgeK - Posted February 27 2019 - 5:02 AM

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Do you plan on having straw go thru the whole length of test tube into water reservoir, or drill a hole on the back of test tube and insert straw there?



#12 Offline CoolColJ - Posted February 28 2019 - 12:11 AM

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Do you plan on having straw go thru the whole length of test tube into water reservoir, or drill a hole on the back of test tube and insert straw there?


The former

The later method doesn't work well

Current ant colonies -
1) Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant), Melophorus sp2. black and orange, Pheidole species, Pheidole antipodum
Journal = http://www.formicult...ra-iridomyrmex/

Heterotermes cf brevicatena termite pet/feeder journal = http://www.formicult...feeder-journal/


#13 Offline GeorgeK - Posted February 28 2019 - 8:00 AM

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Since I keep rather small ants, Solenopsis Fugax, the test tube they are in is even today big for them, and cotton isn't moldy for some reason. I had already refilled their tube 3 times using syringe, and I guess this is relevant piece of information.

Gl4JBPT.jpg

In order to avoid this situation, you would need to have another hole/straw to let the air escape the water chamber, or just fill it half way. Here is how I solved the issue.

NntwKFJ.png


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#14 Offline Trythis22 - Posted February 28 2019 - 5:01 PM

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I'm surprised you were able to drill holes on a curved glass surface without cracking it.

 

There is another way to do this, although it kind of cheating since we were supposed to use straws. In the attached diagram (+ my artistic rendition of an ant) you can see a check valve combined with the open tube linked by ANTndonesia. The 90° coupling isn't necessary, although gravity will help flow through the check valve. So whenever you wanted to refill the main reservoir, you would simply turn the tubes upright for the backup water to flow back into the main reservoir. 

 

I am more familiar with industrial valves but I am sure a homemade version can be made for less than $5 using common materials found at any hardware or plumbing store. In my personal opinion, this concept is more useful when scaled up for larger formicaria. Although a tricked out test tube sounds cool. 

 

3XFqSmW.jpg


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#15 Offline ANTndonesia - Posted February 28 2019 - 5:31 PM

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try this one by attaching 2 tubes.

tube for water reservoir is bigger than the queen setup.

easy to clean up the mold.

20190228-064112.jpg


Edited by ANTndonesia, February 28 2019 - 5:32 PM.

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Polyrhachis dives. I 5 Queens, 83 Workers. << This colony keep biting and pulling 2 of their queens from the nest, so i decided to get them out. P. Dives III and P. Dives IV.

Polyrhachis dives. II 1 Queen, 16 Workers. First egg February 12th 2019.
Polyrhachis dives. III 1 Queen, First egg May 15th 2019.
Polyrhachis dives. IV 1 Unfertilized Queen.


#16 Offline Reacker - Posted February 28 2019 - 6:23 PM

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This is an old idea. There are descriptions of "christmas tree" style formicariums in research labs, with the accompanying black and white photos. They consisted of ring stands with test tubes and custom glass junctions mounted around it, like a christmas tree and branches. The description I read indicated that instead of cotton the water plug was actually plaster of paris. The back ends of the tubes had syringe sized holes for additional water as needed.

 

I'm not entire sure how they managed to pour the plaster to only make a short plug rather than filling the entire thing, or making one that doesn't seal completely. The solution I came up with involves freezing a quantity of water in the tube to the desired reservoir depth, pouring the plaster, then you create the syringe holes. I don't know if they drilled the holes or heated the tubes enough to pass a needle through. If they did it with ice they may have drilled because heating a sealed glass tube full of unventable water is obviously bad. I don't know enough about traditional labware glass working to really know.

 

The photos used to be easier to find on the web but now they're buried under millions of modern style formicariums. I think there's pictures in the back of The Ants if you have a copy.


Edited by Reacker, February 28 2019 - 6:26 PM.

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#17 Offline GeorgeK - Posted March 1 2019 - 1:33 AM

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I'm surprised you were able to drill holes on a curved glass surface without cracking it.

To be honest with you, I just received my glass drill bits, so I haven't tried that on glass. So far I only did it with plastic tubes.

 



#18 Offline CoolColJ - Posted March 1 2019 - 3:08 AM

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try this one by attaching 2 tubes.
tube for water reservoir is bigger than the queen setup.
easy to clean up the mold.

20190228-064112.jpg


yeah I did something similar with two plastic test tubes joined via s short piece of vinyl tubing


problem - you need meshing in front of the cotton so you can pull the second tube out to replace the moldy cotton, so maybe sponge is better.
The mesh prevents the ants from getting onto the cotton/sponge

And then you can refill the second tube once it is detached to prevent leaks

Current ant colonies -
1) Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant), Melophorus sp2. black and orange, Pheidole species, Pheidole antipodum
Journal = http://www.formicult...ra-iridomyrmex/

Heterotermes cf brevicatena termite pet/feeder journal = http://www.formicult...feeder-journal/


#19 Offline nurbs - Posted March 1 2019 - 1:25 PM

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Instagram:
nurbsants
 
YouTube
 
California Ants for Sale

 

Unidentified Myrmecocystus

https://www.formicul...ls-near-desert/

 

Undescribed "Modoc"

https://www.formicul...mp-ca-5-4-2017/

 

Camponotus or Colobopsis yogi:

https://www.formicul...a-ca-1-28-2018/

 
Camponotus us-ca02
https://www.formicul...onotus-us-ca02/

 

Unidentified Formica

https://www.formicul...l-ca-6-27-2020/

 
Pencil Case and Test Tube Formicariums
https://www.formicul...m-and-outworld/
 
Bloodworm Soup
https://www.formicul...bloodworm-soup/


#20 Offline Trythis22 - Posted March 1 2019 - 7:52 PM

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Whomst'd've. 

 

JexVOi2.jpg






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