4 replies to this topic

[Mandingueiro]

Hello guys, i am planing to make formicarium for my niece since she is so into animals and i think this will be the best educational gift for her. 

Anyway i am completly newbie, did few antfasrms when i was kid, but never something serious. I want to make more professional approach and do this right.

I've read some articles, but some stuff are not quite clear for me..

Anyway lets get started. I am hoping you guys will help me with my silly questions. 

 

Ok so i want to use old aquarium and add double glass to it and make everything in one peace together with outer world:

Something like this:

 

    

 

As you can see floor of the aquarium would be outerworld and sides double glass would be formicarium. What do you think?

 

What bothers me is what to use for the materials. Should i use soil for ants? if yes what is the best mixture to make it? If there is some topic about this please provide link.

Maybe to put something firm and to carve tunnels like cast gypsum? In this case how do you solve humidity problems? do you sprinkle it or? In the begginer guide on forum, formicarium part is completly closed 

and i am confused how do you add humidity inside? https://www.formicul...-for-beginners/

 

and also how to connect formicarium with outworld? Is there difference if i go from upper or lower side? its easier in design for me to go from upper side..

Below, arrows are exits to the outer world.

 

Thank you for your answers in advance. And if there is any similar desing feel free to redirect me there.

 

Best regards

[ANTdrew]

That’s really cool you’re taking the time to do this for your niece! I’d advise working on a smaller, simpler nest to start. This is an excellent guide: https://docs.google....Q7Y/mobilebasic

A lot of your questions will depend on the species you are keeping. I would focus your energy there initially. They will not need such a large setup for a long time, if ever.

[CreepHazard]

So since you're a newbie like you said, I'd say do not go for complex designs and try to avoid all-in-one glass tanks for a first try. You could use the aquarium as a separate outworld but including the nest part in there is pretty troublesome to pull off. so here's my recommendation
Depending from where you're at you could find different materials to make ant farms, like Hydrostone plaster, Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (aka AAC, Hebel, Ytong), or acrylic. Lets just keep acrylic off the discussuon cuz that's really hard to pull off. So with hydrostone follow this guide:

https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharing
With Ytong follow this tutorial:

these should explain almost everything. Also don't give the ants too big of a nest, they might fill up the extra space with trash.

[Mandingueiro]

Thanks for the reply guys, both of the links are very educational. I've learned a lot. I will use some ideas and create something interesting for sure. I can't wait to get started.
One more question. What to do with the queen ant. Lets say i find only queen and i have ready setup? Do i let her inside or what?

[Kaelwizard]

Thanks for the reply guys, both of the links are very educational. I've learned a lot. I will use some ideas and create something interesting for sure. I can't wait to get started.
One more question. What to do with the queen ant. Lets say i find only queen and i have ready setup? Do i let her inside or what?

If you mean you should put her in a formicarium right away, generally no. If you mean you should move her into a test tube setup, then yes. There are some formicaria meant for founding, however. I can link some to give you ideas if you want to make some of your own.

https://tarheelants....products/discus

https://tarheelants....tom-formicarium

Edited by Kaelwizard, May 10 2021 - 3:12 AM.