32 replies to this topic

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Hello fellow ant enthusiasts! Arguably, one of the most difficult aspects of ant keeping is replicating the natural environment  of an ant via formicaria. However, after searching the web, I have found a video that will help those [like me] who have difficulties making formicaria, but either don't want to buy a formicaria when you can make your own, or don't know who supplies good formicaria. And for those people, (and people who want to make lab style formicaria) I have great news! After watching The Ant Network's video Making a Lab-Style Ant Farm | Ant Keeping 101 (https://www.youtube....nMXPZJq&index=4), I can say that his way of making lab-style formicaria is both cheap, and effective at housing your ants. So watch the video, if you don't believe me, or need formicaia help.  

 

 

[Ants4fun]

Yup! It’s an excellent tutorial. It’s always a good thing to support quality informational media like The Ant Network, and Ant Lab. It’s a nice contrast to some more dramatic depictions of ant keeping.

[TennesseeAnts]

Yup! It’s an excellent tutorial. It’s always a good thing to support quality informational media like The Ant Network, and Ant Lab. It’s a nice contrast to some more dramatic depictions of ant keeping.

*cough*antscanada*cough*

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

 

Yup! It’s an excellent tutorial. It’s always a good thing to support quality informational media like The Ant Network, and Ant Lab. It’s a nice contrast to some more dramatic depictions of ant keeping.

*cough*antscanada*cough*

 

[Miles]

Thanks for sharing our video, and for the kind words. It takes a lot of effort to produce these, so it's always nice to see folks supporting our work and helping us grow our presence.

[kgollehon]

As someone who makes formicaria myself, I always love seeing new techniques and styles of for building and designing appropriate habitats for any genus! Awesome video!

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Thanks for sharing our video, and for the kind words. It takes a lot of effort to produce these, so it's always nice to see folks supporting our work and helping us grow our presence.

You're certainly welcome. Especially in this age where finding quality ant videos is becoming an ever taxing task 

[dspdrew]

Thanks for sharing our video, and for the kind words. It takes a lot of effort to produce these, so it's always nice to see folks supporting our work and helping us grow our presence.

 

Nice to see videos with good audio and lighting.

[Boog]

Thanks for sharing our video, and for the kind words. It takes a lot of effort to produce these, so it's always nice to see folks supporting our work and helping us grow our presence.

We enjoy seeing someone out in the field, the new videos are exciting and we hope The Ant Explorer series has a long and fruitful run! Everyone should check out the Ant Network channel.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Been watching it for a while, have no complaints about it

[SuperFrank]

I despise that design. Always either too wet or too dry and you have to water them constantly. Also the round design makes storing large amounts of them annoying. More of a gimmick than a functional way of housing a large number of specimens imo. Also tedious to make compared to the few seconds a test tube requires. Tubes provide steady, long term humidity and drinking water, put a bit of substrate in it if you don't like the bare tube and congratulate yourself for now wasting your time making that petri dish thing.

[Ants4fun]

I despise that design. Always either too wet or too dry and you have to water them constantly. Also the round design makes storing large amounts of them annoying. More of a gimmick than a functional way of housing a large number of specimens imo. Also tedious to make compared to the few seconds a test tube requires. Tubes provide steady, long term humidity and drinking water, put a bit of substrate in it if you don't like the bare tube and congratulate yourself for now wasting your time making that petri dish thing.

1. Watering system works pretty good. And you are able to regulate the humidity, unlike test tubes.
2. Storing them is pretty easy considering they are stackable.
2. Very functional, considering it makes great use of space, and little is wasted, not to mention, actual ant labs use them. This means that scientists who have to house many colonies choose to use these over test tubes. It has also been used professionally such as by Ray Mendez for raising Pogonomyrmex for exhibits. Consider these 2 videos if you have time: https://youtu.be/LADgNlKp4BY.

4. Test tubes have been a staple in the hobby, but you can't argue against some of the negatives.

There is a limited environment - ants behave differently without adequate space to stack brood, an out world to feed in, etc. A lack of space encourages more colony deaths than people think. Ants have to resort to storing brood in the out world and other places to avoid disease and stuff.

Test tubes are a good short term setup, but for established colonies, a formicarium such as this lab style Petri dish, is better suited.

Edited by Ants4fun, February 16 2020 - 7:20 AM.

[SuperFrank]

I made a batch of 20 and used them for awhile before transfering all of the queens into tubes. If by controlling the humidity you mean constantly (like every couple of days) trying to figure out the exact amount of water to add so that the setup is neither too dry or too wet, then yes, I suppose you can control the humidity. But that is not the method I would ideally use, steady long term humidity/hydration is ideal imo. Yes you can stack them, but that does not do away with all of the wasted space from the round edges. Also having stacks is annoying when you need to feed/water. They take time and effort to make and maintain which may be acceptable for a few specimens but is a giant PITA for any decent number.

Edited by SuperFrank, February 16 2020 - 9:19 AM.

[FSTP]

I made a batch of 20 and used them for awhile before transfering all of the queens into tubes. If by controlling the humidity you mean constantly (like every couple of days) trying to figure out the exact amount of water to add so that the setup is neither too dry or too wet, then yes, I suppose you can control the humidity. But that is not the method I would ideally use, steady long term humidity/hydration is ideal imo. Yes you can stack them, but that does not do away with all of the wasted space from the round edges. Also having stacks is annoying when you need to feed/water. They take time and effort to make and maintain which may be acceptable for a few specimens but is a giant PITA for any decent number.

 

Those are valid complaints. I've tried these simple style petri dish formicariums myself and also found them lacking. So I tried to make some refinements with a proper hydration reservoir and a moisture tile, so that there is an isolated hydration spot. That way you don't have to worry about hydrostone erosion. . It worked well and I liked the way it looked. but the one thing that a petri dish will always be is round, and like you I feel its an ineffiecnt use of space. However for a nice display where space isn't an issue I think they can look nice with the round shape simulating the often round shape that some ants make in the wild. You can see my version of a petri dish nest in my formicarium build thread.  

Edited by FSTP, February 16 2020 - 10:21 AM.

[dspdrew]

 

I made a batch of 20 and used them for awhile before transfering all of the queens into tubes. If by controlling the humidity you mean constantly (like every couple of days) trying to figure out the exact amount of water to add so that the setup is neither too dry or too wet, then yes, I suppose you can control the humidity. But that is not the method I would ideally use, steady long term humidity/hydration is ideal imo. Yes you can stack them, but that does not do away with all of the wasted space from the round edges. Also having stacks is annoying when you need to feed/water. They take time and effort to make and maintain which may be acceptable for a few specimens but is a giant PITA for any decent number.

 

Those are valid complaints. I've tried these simple style petri dish formicariums myself and also found them lacking. So I tried to make some refinements with a proper hydration reservoir and a moisture tile, so that there is an isolated hydration spot. That way you don't have to worry about hydrostone erosion. . It worked well and I liked the way it looked. but the one thing that a petri dish will always be is round, and like you I feel its an ineffiecnt use of space. However for a nice display where space isn't an issue I think they can look nice with the round shape simulating the often round shape that some ants make in the wild. You can see my version of a petri dish nest in my formicarium build thread.  

 

 

This is exactly what I designed my starter formicariums for. I only have to add water about once every 2 months. They're not super cheap, but they sure make things easy. I don't have any erosion problems anymore because I stopped using gypsum cements, like Hydrostone.

[Ants4fun]

Yeah, I guess there are better options, but to say that they are a gimmick and not a functional way to house colonies is kind of untrue, since labs all over the US use this exact same design to house their colonies.

[Technomyrmex]

The shape of a petri dish can make it easy to count and observe captive colonies so I can see why this method would benefit scientists in a lab setting.

Also Miles keep up the great work love the videos!

-Chris

Edited by Technomyrmex, February 16 2020 - 10:11 PM.

[Ants4fun]

I made a couple of these, and they work great. Highly recommend people following the tutorial if you need an easy, cheap, no frills nest.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Looks beautiful. Do you house formica in there? I ask because my formica will (hopefully) eventually out grow the Mini-Hearth.  

[AntsDakota]

I made a couple of these, and they work great. Highly recommend people following the tutorial if you need an easy, cheap, no frills nest.

You told me the Camponotus could escape from them..... they'd probably need to be sealed better.