6 replies to this topic

[gutrug]

So Before i begin I have never kept ants before and i am a complete noob!

 

But i have a plan with my Formicarium ideas which i believe has not been done before. My girlfriend is a ceramicist and has her own studio and kiln, and Seeing that dspdrew has used non glazed Bisque ceramic tiles to soak moisture, made me think. So first off the best thing about clay is its completely natural (usually) so there should be no substance in there to affect the ants in a bad way. Secondly i can form any shape pattern i like, even add other natural substances that will burn off in the firing to give a specific feel or texture to the design. 

Again a bisque firing is a low temperature firing around 900 degrees Celsius so the use of glazes would not work. which is a shame as glazing the outside of the design would of looked amazing but at 1000-1100 degrees Celsius the clay will be too hard to really soak liquid in. this being said it takes paint (non toxic) really well if i wanted it too. 

 

The question first would be which clay to use? so i will be doing some small brick tests to see what absorbs water and so on.

 

So now i need your expertise into Formicariums, and the needs a formicairum must provide and moisture levels and so on? perhaps even some designs?

 

the kiln i have cannot hold massive designs, but i was thinking of if all goes well some sort of tyle designs that would be able to connect to each other in order to build formicarium up as the nest grows. possibly a stacking idea? 

 

Please give me your ideas and thoughts! and when i get started ill post some videos

[drtrmiller]

Tolerances from commonly used ceramic processing techniques are too poor to use in most assemblies intended for ants.  Any clay you use will warp and shrink.

 

The only processing technique I've come across uses ceramic powders that are pressed into molds.  The limited water in these means that there is very low shrinkage or distortion.  Unfortunately, this is a costly and advanced method of manufacturing, better suited for aerospace or other high-tech applications.

[gutrug]

i forgot to post about the shrinkage, at a biscuit firing level the shrinkage will be of around 5% which is not a massive amount, and warpage shouldn't be a worry for something that is mainly of brick shaped, very thin sections would get a warping problem but for the thickness I'm thinking of, that shouldn't really take any effect 

[dspdrew]

Ceramics seems to be a hot topic lately. And yes, from what I've read, low-fire clay shrinks less and absorbs more--perfect for this application.

[jjjakes]

From what I've experienced, it would be very hard indeed to create a clay formicarium for small and some medium sized ants. There is just too much room for error in warping. But for large ants and some medium ants, as long as you sand down the front plane that will be put against the glass/plastic before it's fired, there is minimal enough warping during the firing, that it works. 

 

Also, you cannot make a ytong type block formicarium. Clay past 1/2 inch thick takes forever to dry, and then it might not even be dry on the inside, which can cause it to split or even explode in the kiln when the water gets superheated in the center. 

[gutrug]

We'll only one way too find out lol I wouldn't be going much thicker than that and have done in past sculptures with no problems in the past

Edited by gutrug, January 2 2016 - 11:43 PM.

[Crystals]

It will be interesting to see.

I have never tried firing clay and testing if it warped a bit in firing.  If dried completely flat, it stays flat.

It would be something interesting to test.

 

Carve some clay tunnels, put the clay on glass to dry.  Once dry, fire it and see if it stays flat.  Shrinkage doesn't really matter, since you can fill up spare room with other materials.

 

Like this one - It was made out of clay, siliconed to the side, had gravel added behind and topped with plaster.  I would probably use grout instead of plaster to avoid mold. 

 

You could even add one of these on each side and connect them with vinyl tubing to openings in the back.  Or even have a tube leading to a larger foraging area, and have the container completely made up of tunnels.