15 replies to this topic

[starcraftjunkie]

This is a work in progress and also testing along as I go. I figured since us Americans can't get our hands on ACC concrete, good ol' fashioned concrete should be the next best thing right?

 

Pictures are wet because I'm trying to test water retention. Honestly, not too happy with my first trial. Need to fix it, but it looks okay. It's not finished yet either, need to attach screen mesh on the outworld and hook up the rubber tubing up as well. Probably going to throw this one away and try again very soon.

 

The picture frame is hollow and is water tight. On the second to last picture, there are holes that can allow water in.

 

 

[Rstheant]

Nice! Is that moss in the outworld or hydration system? The chambers look too deep though. Next time you might want to make them a tad smaller.

Edited by Rstheant, February 25 2019 - 7:27 PM.

[starcraftjunkie]

Nice! Is that moss in the outworld or hydration system? The chambers look too deep though. Next time you might want to make them a tad smaller.

I'm not sure what I want to do with the moss box. I could add an out world and also keep a moss box for extra hydration. I wonder if ants will drink from wet moss?

The nest was supposed to be for Camponotus, but you'd suggest more shallow Chambers?

I have some new concrete coming tomorrow, so I was going to take another stab at it. It should work much better then, hopefully.

[Rstheant]

Use grout or hydrostone, it is much better for ants, and more water absorbing. Try using that. Also, large Camponotus like vicinus and quercicola can live in chamber width up to 8mm. Also extra deep chambers makes visibility harder as a colony develops.

[starcraftjunkie]

Use grout or hydrostone, it is much better for ants, and more water absorbing. Try using that. Also, large Camponotus like vicinus and quercicola can live in chamber width up to 8mm. Also extra deep chambers makes visibility harder as a colony develops.

I'll keep that in mind.

However, I have tried hydrostone (plaster) and had issues with mold. Concrete I hear is very mold resistant. Grout is what I used for the first cast, however I had strength issues and slow setup time. I will be receiving a high strength (higher tensile strength) and fast cure time grout mix today and I hope it will make a better cast for me.

[LIFEsize]

I would like to shed some light on this topic as well. This is from my experiences working with these materials.

Plaster: easy to work with, moderate strength, fast water absorbtion, fast cast and cure time, smooth to touch, can get moldy easily.

Sanded Grout: strong and durable, slow-steady water absorbtion, can pool water, 24-48hr cure time, can be gritty to the touch, good for complex moulds, mostly drill friendly, very mold resistant, sand might degrade a tiny bit over time.

Unsanded Grout: moderately strong and durable, slow-moderate water absorbtion, 24-48hr cure time, smooth to touch, caution needed with drill, can be used for complex moulds, care needed working around narrow width edges, mold resistant, little to no degrading.

K23-Firebrick: easy to work with, no cast or cure needed, very dusty, strong and durable, very water absorbent, light weight(much more than the ones above), much like y-tong but softer, can be carved and cut with basic tools, mold resistant, chaulky to the touch, no water degrading but certain ant species might be able to chew it(not tested).

These are the only materials I have worked with. I find myself using primarily the sanded and unsanded grout although it has a slow cure time, but i’ve had the best results with it. Now my favorite to work with was the K23-firebrick for building quick modular nest. If you have some grinding bits for a drill then it’s a piece of cake. It just gives me a bit of anxiety that the ants might be able to chew it, however I think you can mix a small amount of grout and paint the inside parts of the nest with it to prevent potential chewing. I have not tried concrete because it might repel water, I think the biggest issue with all the materials, is which ones provide the best humidity control. IMO I think the firebrick evaporates much faster than grout and plaster, so I recommend painting or sealing the outside. And also I’m not talking about the concrete looking firebrick, it’s the ceramic kind. This is all I have to add really, hope I was able to give some useful feedback.

[Rstheant]

Unsanded grout, I think, has more perlite, which makes it more water absorbing. I’m might be wrong. Hydrostone plaster only mold when large amounts of water remain in the nest for long periods of time. I find it helpful to paint the inside of hydrostone formicariums with some sand.

[Rstheant]

Use grout or hydrostone, it is much better for ants, and more water absorbing. Try using that. Also, large Camponotus like vicinus and quercicola can live in chamber width up to 8mm. Also extra deep chambers makes visibility harder as a colony develops.

I'll keep that in mind.
However, I have tried hydrostone (plaster) and had issues with mold. Concrete I hear is very mold resistant. Grout is what I used for the first cast, however I had strength issues and slow setup time. I will be receiving a high strength (higher tensile strength) and fast cure time grout mix today and I hope it will make a better cast for me.

I don’t think concrete absorbs a lot of water. If however you want to continue concrete nests, build a water tower like THA, with will be an much more sustainable and more mold resistance option. A petri dish with the lid cut out; glued with mesh.

[LIFEsize]

Unsanded grout, I think, has more perlite, which makes it more water absorbing. I’m might be wrong. Hydrostone plaster only mold when large amounts of water remain in the nest for long periods of time. I find it helpful to paint the inside of hydrostone formicariums with some sand.

To my suprise I had some old plaster of paris nest get mold that were never used. They were just sitting on the shelf and my house has really good airflow. Wonder why that happened? The unsanded grout is better than sanded for sure when it comes to soaking up water, honestly just had extra things fail with unsanded because it’s more fragile to work with. Precasting is the way to go with that, the sanded grout stays very solid so long as you don’t make any risky modifications. I tried just the other day to make a screw down plexiglass plate for a new unsanded grout nest and when I tightened down the last screw it pulled up on the grout and now it’s in the trash can lol *facepalm

[starcraftjunkie]

Much much much better this time with a new type of concrete. It cured super quick and didn't break at all when I tried to move it, where as the old one cracked multiple times. Next time I think I'll hold off putting on sand and painting a slurry of sand over the cured concrete. I'll make a new pour soon and experiment some more. I'll also get an outworld running too.

 

[Rstheant]

deleted

Edited by Rstheant, March 11 2019 - 5:53 PM.

[Rstheant]

Also, for the 12th try, it finally came out. I made a hydrostone nest, that slid out of its mold container no resist. NO JOKE. I used non-stick canola spray oil.

[starcraftjunkie]

Newest batch, tried something different. What do you guys think? I could put a picture guide up if anyone feels these look any decent. I'm getting close to something really good I feel. This one holds water like a champion. The little reservoirs on the side will be covered. I also have a water system for the outworld to give them drinking water, more on that to come soon.

 

[Rstheant]

Nice, maybe refine if a tad more, give it a clean look? Much better improvement on the nests.

[starcraftjunkie]

Nice, maybe refine if a tad more, give it a clean look? Much better improvement on the nests.

Thanks.

I plan on trying to seal the concrete on the exterior and then paint a concrete slurry ontop the nesting area and sprinkle sand on it. I think it'll look close to a finished product after that.

[Rstheant]

Also, got the tube/nestmate, make sure you fill the gaps around the hole.