12 replies to this topic

[Anthony]

Has any one purchase this ant habitat and how did it work for you

[Crystals]

I have not purchased it. 

I heard the entrance flap that is used to connect/transfer colonies has a small gap that small ants can squeeze through, unless you "stick a pin behind it" (whatever that means...).  Small ants also manage to get inside of the watering system (the sponge).

 

 

I just made an acrylic nest for myself (for less than $2) and I am going to test it this week if I can convince my colony to move.  I tested the hydration system on mine and it works well.  Only downside of mine is that I can not remove the lids on the compartments.

[dspdrew]

I have not purchased it. 

I heard the entrance flap that is used to connect/transfer colonies has a small gap that small ants can squeeze through, unless you "stick a pin behind it" (whatever that means...).  Small ants also manage to get inside of the watering system (the sponge).

 

 

I just made an acrylic nest for myself (for less than $2) and I am going to test it this week if I can convince my colony to move.  I tested the hydration system on mine and it works well.  Only downside of mine is that I can not remove the lids on the compartments.

What are you waiting for Crystals? Let's see some pictures!

[Crystals]

About 2/3 of the ants have moved within 18  hours of being connected, but the last 1/3 are being stubborn.  Typical Lasius. 

 

I wanted to wait until they were all in before taking pictures and posting a new thread.

[LAnt]

Did you just glue together the acrylic?

[dspdrew]

Not sure how she did it, but acrylic can actually be welded with a special acrylic solvent. This is a million times better than gluing it, because it literally melts the acrylic together and doesn't actually apply anything permanent to it. The solved evaporates, and you have one solid piece of acrylic when you're done.

[Crystals]

I used aquarium silicone because both hardware stores were closed (I live in a small town and everything closes early on Sundays).  Solvent might have been stronger, but I can't see the silicone letting go considering how this is set up.  Silicone can hold thousands of pounds of water in an aquarium, I am sure it can hold 3 pieces of acrylic together. 

The silicone was also clear, and the acrylic is crystal clear and looks almost like it was carved from one piece.

 

Still trying to convince my ants to move...  The queen and 4/5 of the nest moved, but a few workers and some larvae are still in the old nest.  These seem like young (and not-so-bright) workers.

[dspdrew]

Silicone sticks to glass really well, but normally does not stick to acrylic very well at all. It's very strange and I can't figure out why, but it's a known fact. I'm gonna quote someone from an aquarium forum: "It bonds in the same way that duct tape works to hold on car parts. If you have enough of it, it will hold things together for a while.".

[Crystals]

I think you may have that backwards...  Aquariums are all glass or all acrylic, because acrylic and glass heat and expand at different rates - which breaks the silicone bond.  In aquariums - this bond breakage is very noticeable - especially in a large tank. 

 

My top and bottom layer are glass (less prone to scratching). I also have epoxy along the outer edges connecting top, tunnels acrylic and bottom.  So my formicarium is fine. 

[dspdrew]

Well I didn't know you were talking about sticking glass to acrylic; that's tough to do no matter how you go about it. Still though after doing some reading, I found that silicone bonds to glass on a molecular level, while it does not bond to acrylic. This supposedly has to do with the fact that glass is made up of silicone (SiO₂₎.

[Tspivey16]

dspdrew, I seemed to have a similiar problem. I made a grout formicarium using a picture frame - however replaced the glass with acryclic thinking it would be stronger. After a few weeks of testing - the silicone seal around the water tank broke down, and flooded the nest. I am glad that I had not yet had any ants, as was doing a test run until I am able to start a colony. So, I just built a new nest and stuck with using the glass that came with the picture frame

[Anhzor]

acryllic warp under heat that could be the reasion why it was coming off.

[dspdrew]

People always think that silicone will bond acrylic together like glass, because it looks like glass (I did too at first), but it does not bond whatsoever.