11 replies to this topic

[FeedTheAnts]

Paul Juhl

I found this guy a while ago and love his channel!

Just thought I'd share

[T.C.]

(Deleted the other one )

 

Yeah, if you like those kind of videos, check out Anthony Turners channel too. He's got some nice ant setups.

[Spamdy]

Both of them are huge Tar Heel Ants Fanboys.

[klawfran3]

Both of them are huge Tar Heel Ants Fanboys.

Its hard to not be though, Macks stuff is so well made.

[FeedTheAnts]

 

Both of them are huge Tar Heel Ants Fanboys.

Its hard to not be though, Macks stuff is so well made.

 

I'm thinking about buying a Mini Hearth to put my Crematogaster in. Is it any good, and how much better is the museum glass than the regular glass?

[Spamdy]

My experiences of the Tar Heel Ants Fortress, and Mini Hearth (this review is for the Mini Hearth)

 Pros

- Viewing is great.

- Hydration is good, as long as you know how much your ants like.

-The space provided can fit many ants. For example the Mini Hearth can 30+ Workers, Queen, and brood (Camponotus)

-Good aesthetics

-Destructive ants such as Camponotus, Messor, etc.

-The lid is neither hard to open or easy to open, no ants can crawl out and the mesh allows for needed ventilation.

  

 Cons

-Taking pictures is a pain to do, because the chamber is so deep, there are a lot of shadows, when taking pictures, shadows may cover up your ants, but actually looking at them, you can see them clearly.

-The outworld for the mini hearth is too small. A feeder would take up more than 1/3 of the space provided.

-The outworld is too short, though it may look tall, it is only 2 inches tall. When housing a lot of ants, feeding becomes a problem because ants are constantly trying to escape. A solution to this is to apply a barrier.

-The corners are not rounded, they are sharp, big ants can easily scale the corners, while smaller ants can too.

 

I don't think Museum Glass is needed, as they are basically the same thing, if you want to take better photos, Museum Glass is better. All it does is have less Glare. The shadows are something you can't take away. As for the amount of Crematogaster workers you can fit, probably 100+.

It's up to you if you want to purchase it. 

 

                                                                                         

Edited by Spamdy, September 8 2017 - 10:38 AM.

[FeedTheAnts]

My experiences of the Tar Heel Ants Fortress, and Mini Hearth (this review is for the Mini Hearth)

 Pros

- Viewing is great.

- Hydration is good, as long as you know how much your ants like.

-The space provided can fit many ants. For example the Mini Hearth can 30+ Workers, Queen, and brood (Camponotus)

-Good aesthetics

-Destructive ants such as Camponotus, Messor, etc.

-The lid is neither hard to open or easy to open, no ants can crawl out and the mesh allows for needed ventilation.

  

 Cons

-Taking pictures is a pain to do, because the chamber is so deep, there are a lot of shadows, when taking pictures, shadows may cover up your ants, but actually looking at them, you can see them clearly.

-The outworld for the mini hearth is too small. A feeder would take up more than 1/3 of the space provided.

-The outworld is too short, though it may look tall, it is only 2 inches tall. When housing a lot of ants, feeding becomes a problem because ants are constantly trying to escape. A solution to this is to apply a barrier.

-The corners are not rounded, they are sharp, big ants can easily scale the corners, while smaller ants can too.

 

I don't think Museum Glass is needed, as they are basically the same thing, if you want to take better photos, Museum Glass is better. All it does is have less Glare. The shadows are something you can't take away. As for the amount of Crematogaster workers you can fit, probably 100+.

It's up to you if you want to purchase it. 

 

                                                                                         

Thanks! I will be probably buying one after hibernation.

[T.C.]

He does take a while to ship. Like months from what I've heard on some orders. Also there's been complaints of ventilation issues. But they look really good.

[FeedTheAnts]

He does take a while to ship

Wait, TarHeel ants is a specific person. I was kinda under the impression that it was like a large company with tons of people and factories and stuff, that's interesting.

[T.C.]

He does take a while to ship

Wait, TarHeel ants is a specific person. I was kinda under the impression that it was like a large company with tons of people and factories and stuff, that's interesting.

Haha, factories. Hobby's too small for that. He hand builds each one himself I believe.

[Serafine]

Even the companies that produce fully (or mostly) automated usually just consist of a printer and a laser cutter in a back room or garage.

[klawfran3]

Yeah the owner is THA is named Mack, he's very nice and super helpful.

 

I think his mini hearths are wonderful for species that grow slowly, are small, or need hanging space like myrmica, pogonomyrmex, and Myrmecocystus (respectively). The water chamber lasts about a week or two depending on your humidity, and the outworld, even though a bit small is still large enough for any colony living in it, save for a large colony of a large species like camponotus.

 

I've got one with museum glass and the rest without, and I feel like it's a personal preference whether it's worth it or not. I love how it feels like there's no glass between you and the ants, but because I don't spend every minute of my day staring into my ants (a few minutes a week mostly) I'm not sure if the price justifies it. Maybe for a large showpiece formicarium it would be great since you can always see in, but it's up to you. I say get a regular mini hearth and one with museum glass and see what oyu prefer.