Trials and prototypes

[Deansie26]

I've become very guarded about my ventures these days Dean!

Why post a photo then? :p

[Britishants.com]

It was before I was guarded lol

[Britishants.com]

I was playing around with a few variations of a submersible unit a few weeks back, designed to dropped in to a tank of water and featuring platforms that the ends can access from within the tube

[RichardP]

Like it. It's an interesting idea. A couple of observations. First, ants don't get on really well with vertical lifts on smooth acrylic but I'm sure that can be accommodated somehow. Andrew has mentioned putting branches in before. The other thing that occurs to me is that dropping that nest in water is going to create an upward force equal to the weight of the water that the nest displaces... i.e. it's going to want to float

[Formica123]

Like it. It's an interesting idea. A couple of observations. First, ants don't get on really well with vertical lifts on smooth acrylic but I'm sure that can be accommodated somehow. Andrew has mentioned putting branches in before. The other thing that occurs to me is that dropping that nest in water is going to create an upward force equal to the weight of the water that the nest displaces... i.e. it's going to want to float

Yeah, the nest will definetely float, maybe you could create a seperate bottom chamber that fills with water?

[Acromyrmexbob]

The other thing that occurs to me is that dropping that nest in water is going to create an upward force equal to the weight of the water that the nest displaces... i.e. it's going to want to float

OK I dont think the floating will be an issue Einstein! The clay balls will see to that. I am interested in the stability of this. The weight of the upper pods and the ability of the pipe fittings to support this.
I like the shape. Its very exciting. Its a good direction to go in. I could imagine a tree of 30 or 40 pods like this.
Only thing I would say Sean, is that you need to solve the heating. You are on to something now but this system would need to go into a heated room for it to be best utilised. I really think it would be worth your while working on this. The direction you are going in with these in a 3 dimensional stack is exactly where you should go. The other problem you have is it is so copyable. You will design everything and suddenly everyone else will have it! The only way to get round this is to design something that is made for you with heating incorporated into it that you can copyright or protect somehow. Already I have seen a few examples of copies of your system. Solve the heating in a way that you can do and no one can easily copy and you will have the market, my friend!

[Britishants.com]

Here's the next stage, the weighted base consisting of secret stuff and plaster (1 third) keeps the unit securely weighted with the idea it's stood in a small fish tank with heater, not ideal aesthetic wise but muppet proof in heating. It's just playing around at the moment!

[Britishants.com]

[RichardP]

OK I dont think the floating will be an issue Einstein!

Actually that was Archimedes

I think it's a really exciting idea as well to be honest. It instantly got me thinking how I could apply it to my set up as I still want a dump chamber in the aquarium and have been racking my brains for a solution. It's also a really stylish solution for taking pipe work out of an aquarium and would make great use of any space available.

Would it need to be heated if it was submerged in water of an appropriate temperature?

If you can give me the dimensions of the pod and by how much it would be submerged by I could tell you the weight required to keep it sunk

[Britishants.com]

15 cm height! It could only be submerged to a depth of 9cm assuming you'd want side access, if not you could go for top access only but I'd keep the level at 13cm to be safe, don't want water lapping up over the top. You could seal the whole unit but you'd never get to empty it! Lol