Formicaria idea
Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2018 5:46 pm
So I had this idea for my potential future ant colony (right now I only have one queen with fungus that is laying eggs so I'm starting out still). I see a lot of people go with sticking the colonies in large plastic boxes and either hydrate with plaster and heat with pads or go with the aquarium water bath trick(this one is new to me and pretty cool).
So my idea is something I kind of got from my research on how leaf cutter ants build their nests in nature. So my idea is to take some firebrick ( can't get AAC in Cali) and dig out most of the brick in the middle leaving a kind of hearth style formicarium (tar heel ants makes something like this) fill it with some kind of dirt and moss and allow the ants to dig it out as they need more space. Probably with the use of magnets I would cover the opening with removable glass. I then would use vinyl tubing through an entrance hole to connect multiples of these and even have a few lead to an out world. I even like the idea of placing these on platforms in a heated water filled aquarium.
I really like this idea because I think it closer replicates the ants natural nesting habits, still allows me to view their progress, the brick would probably hold on to moisture a lot better then a plastic container would, and well there is a level of aesthetics that go into it also.
I am just curious if you more experienced keepers think this could work or would be an utter failure. FYI the Queens I currently have are Acromyrmex Versicolor so they won't get to the crazy size nests Atta can achieve.
So my idea is something I kind of got from my research on how leaf cutter ants build their nests in nature. So my idea is to take some firebrick ( can't get AAC in Cali) and dig out most of the brick in the middle leaving a kind of hearth style formicarium (tar heel ants makes something like this) fill it with some kind of dirt and moss and allow the ants to dig it out as they need more space. Probably with the use of magnets I would cover the opening with removable glass. I then would use vinyl tubing through an entrance hole to connect multiples of these and even have a few lead to an out world. I even like the idea of placing these on platforms in a heated water filled aquarium.
I really like this idea because I think it closer replicates the ants natural nesting habits, still allows me to view their progress, the brick would probably hold on to moisture a lot better then a plastic container would, and well there is a level of aesthetics that go into it also.
I am just curious if you more experienced keepers think this could work or would be an utter failure. FYI the Queens I currently have are Acromyrmex Versicolor so they won't get to the crazy size nests Atta can achieve.