8 replies to this topic

[UtahAnts]

The title says it. I know that many of you have made formicarium's from it, and I have made a couple myself. The thing is, every colony and queen I put in has large worker die-offs and small brood increase. I have tried with multiple species and colony sizes and results are always the same. The material I am using is K-23 firebrick and I got off of amazon a few months ago. It is very dusty material and most likely contain crystalline silica. I know no workers escaped and so I can only assume this dust was the major factor. I have successfully raised many other colonies in other materials like wood, plaster and soil, so I doubt it was something I did. Idk, maybe I'm just using a bad material or something I did was wrong. Any answers or experiences would be appreciated.

-thanks

[Ants_Dakota]

The title says it. I know that many of you have made formicarium's from it, and I have made a couple myself. The thing is, every colony and queen I put in has large worker die-offs and small brood increase. I have tried with multiple species and colony sizes and results are always the same. The material I am using is K-23 firebrick and I got off of amazon a few months ago. It is very dusty material and most likely contain crystalline silica. I know no workers escaped and so I can only assume this dust was the major factor. I have successfully raised many other colonies in other materials like wood, plaster and soil, so I doubt it was something I did. Idk, maybe I'm just using a bad material or something I did was wrong. Any answers or experiences would be appreciated.

-thanks

the problem with firebrick is that you can't water it well. the water just seems to disappear. you need to have a dedicated water system that is not firebrick

[UtahAnts]

I would usually use a sponge imbedded in the material, accessed with a small hole. But seeing my ant colonies dying, I decided to place the firebrick nests in a centimeter deep pool of water. They definitely had water, if not from the firebrick, then from the condensation on the glass. Even doing this they still continued to decline. Thanks for the feedback though.

[steelplant]

I think some kinds of firebrick contain aluminum - could it be this?

[Ants_Dakota]

I would usually use a sponge imbedded in the material, accessed with a small hole. But seeing my ant colonies dying, I decided to place the firebrick nests in a centimeter deep pool of water. They definitely had water, if not from the firebrick, then from the condensation on the glass. Even doing this they still continued to decline. Thanks for the feedback though.

that is actually a amazing system. i might have to use that in my designs! 

[KitsAntVa]

In my nest making I have discovered that amazon bought firebrick has a type of material that is not good for even humans, it causes cancer. It smells exactly like dirt or diatomaceous earth which is basically glass made into a powder, it cannot harm us unless we inhale it but insects on the other hand it basically destroys everything but their exoskeleton. maybe after carving a nest it doesn't get rinsed out enough, which leads to trace amounts of the dirt in the nest.

[Ants_Dakota]

In my nest making I have discovered that amazon bought firebrick has a type of material that is not good for even humans, it causes cancer. It smells exactly like dirt or diatomaceous earth which is basically glass made into a powder, it cannot harm us unless we inhale it but insects on the other hand it basically destroys everything but their exoskeleton. maybe after carving a nest it doesn't get rinsed out enough, which leads to trace amounts of the dirt in the nest.

or you didn't rinse it out enough when you dremeled the holes

[KitsAntVa]

exactly

 

 

In my nest making I have discovered that amazon bought firebrick has a type of material that is not good for even humans, it causes cancer. It smells exactly like dirt or diatomaceous earth which is basically glass made into a powder, it cannot harm us unless we inhale it but insects on the other hand it basically destroys everything but their exoskeleton. maybe after carving a nest it doesn't get rinsed out enough, which leads to trace amounts of the dirt in the nest.

or you didn't rinse it out enough when you dremeled the holes

 

[UtahAnts]

Yeah I probably should have rinsed it out.   That is good news though as it means I won't have to throw out all of those nests I made.