Laboratory Setup v's Natural Setup

[Acromyrmexbob]

So the question here is this. Do you prefer to set up a colony of Leaf Cutters in a display which you are trying to create as natural an environment as possible for the ants, sometimes at the expense of things like visual access to the fungus etc, or do you prefer to put the ants in an environment where it is entirely artificial and you would normally expect to see everything and everywhere within the colony?
Basically a natural setup with soil where they dig their own nest, set up their tunnels to promote correct air conditioning etc. An artificial set up is one where there would normally be no soil, the ants maintained in clear plastic boxes connected with tubes.
Interested to hear your thoughts.

[Deansie26]

I think they have there pros and cons like you said. Being able to see the fungus garden is something I would miss to much now. When I got my first colony of you- I'd be up in the room where they where all the time (annoyingly to my wife) and be lucky if I seen 4 or 5 ants taking a few leafs back and that seemed to last ages lol.

Now my colony is small again but I can see right through the lid as I used a clear box, I can watch what there up to like the fungus being tended to and changing shape and also sometimes see the queen.
I think the natural setup is best to start with without a doubt till you build up your confidence.

Id love a heated ant room in my house but that's not likely to happen any time soon!

[Britishants.com]

Clinical all the way!

The design above that I ripped off the net appeals to me greatly, most of my ants are Leafcutters or harvester and I like the idea of them mixed up in various setups like this! It's uniform but also diverse and allows for easier viewing, covering, maintenance and allows for extensions to be added without more clutter. Having two species completely different side by side is quite dramatic, you've got the Atta run one way with leaves and the Messor running the other direction in a different but identical setup with their various seeds. You've got a chewing group in one unit, fungus in another. You get the idea, I'm ranting again lol

[Atta solider]

Nice set up there I've watch ex the video of them I can't wait for my new set up tho wish Thursday would come soon hahaa

[RichardP]

I really like having a setup where I can see the fungus grow. But equally you wouldn't want that at the expense of the welfare of the abts.

I think the trick is to achieve both welfare and maximum visual impact.

[Daubz1977]

I prefer being able to see all thats going on also for 2 reasons, reason 1, because i love watching all my species of ants at work going about there daily business. Reason 2 because if something does go south with my colony being able to see whats going on could be the difference between life and death, i have worries at the moment with my polyrhachis dives they are in a natural setup and i can only ever see them foraging, i could quite easily be missing something important going on in the nest and i wont know until its to late.

[Acromyrmexbob]

I'm a natural man myself. The best place to see Leaf Cutters is in the tropics. There you do not see under ground, its all about them when they are foraging. So I think, to recreate this in captivity, I like to see a natural nest entrance and a stream of ants issuing from it heading off to their food source.