My Frameicarium Project

Show us your formicariums and ant setup, ask formicarium-related questions, or share your experiences with building an ant home. Here you will also find formicarium requirements for specific ant species.

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idahoantgirl
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Location: Idaho, USA

My Frameicarium Project

Post: # 33348Post idahoantgirl
Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:12 pm

Hello! When I started ant keeping i thought uncle Milton style (traditional) nests were lame and I only wanted to keep ants in products like the hybrid/ omni nest. Now I am seeing the coolness of keeping a real colony (one with a queen) In a sand formicarium. While i love my hybrid, I think it would be fun to let my growing tetramorium colony who needs a satellite nest have something fun to play around with. I love the idea of having a nest mounted on my wall so I can stare at them easily throughout the day. I am wanting to make this style of nest:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/508856938/ant-farm-designer-hardwood-ant-farm

So my nest will be that design with one major difference: It will have an open top. So basically that nest but imagine the top part of the frame missing. I will just use a barrier of baby powder to keep my ants inside. This is so that I can connect the nest to an outworld without any drilling involved.

The plan is to plant a stick in the sand that touches neither side of glass, that somehow connects to tubing that runs down to my outworld and the colony's other nest. I know its really hard to envision, but it should work.

I will be using an old plastic 8 by 10 picture frame. I will be using the glass that came with the frame (I will glue it in) Then I will get a sheet of glass or acrylic that is a bit larger (1/2 an inch on each side) and glue that to the back of the frame. there should be a 1/2 inch space between the two panes to put sand in. I figure that is a good width so that I can have a queen in it and she can turn around comfortably in her chamber, but also thin enough to encourage digging against the side of the glass. Like I said, it will be open topped so I can hydrate them easily. Hopefully I will figure out how to post pics when I begin working on it soon.

anyhow,
Does anyone know what type of sand I should use? Aquarium ? play sand? Sand that says its for antfarms?

Thanks, Idahoantgirl
Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile

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MadVampy
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Re: My Frameicarium Project

Post: # 33350Post MadVampy
Wed Jan 03, 2018 7:58 am

Hello Idahogirl,

I had very good luck with standard playground sand found at most hardware stores. It's not treated with anything (being playground sand for kids) and my Solenopsis seemed to like it. its a good medium for them to move around also. It sound like your doing some sort of bridge system using a stick and tubing? if so that's a cool idea. Do a drawing and post it to give us an idea of what your thinking of, you know a picture shows a lot, I do that a lot when I'm designing my 3D stuff I print.

Either way good luck and have fun!
MadVampy

Head Forum Admin
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Name is also Mike but please don't confuse me with Mikey Bustos, two different people. :lol:
Keeper of Solenopsis Ants. :twisted:

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idahoantgirl
Posts: 1521
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
Location: Idaho, USA

Re: My Frameicarium Project

Post: # 33379Post idahoantgirl
Thu Jan 04, 2018 7:21 pm

here we go. this is my design plan. Finally I have discovered how to post pictures!
https://i.stack.imgur.com/1oFX3.jpg
Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile

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antnest8
Posts: 1438
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2018 2:11 pm
Location: Detroit, MI

Re: My Frameicarium Project

Post: # 33382Post antnest8
Fri Jan 05, 2018 8:05 am

It looks like an interesting project if you can post a picture the finished product
Some of My Informative Sheets
https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=19099
Includes :
  • Ant Care Sheets
    Queen Hunting
    How To Identify Ants
Goal is to become #2 poster on the forum

Gavinthesheep1234567
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2017 11:04 am

Re: My Frameicarium Project

Post: # 33388Post Gavinthesheep1234567
Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:59 am

I like your design great pic
Keeper of
Camponotus

As Mike would say it's Ant Love Forever :D

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idahoantgirl
Posts: 1521
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
Location: Idaho, USA

Re: My Frameicarium Project

Post: # 33392Post idahoantgirl
Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:11 pm

So that you don't have to follow a link to see the pic:
Image
Last edited by idahoantgirl on Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile

User avatar
idahoantgirl
Posts: 1521
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
Location: Idaho, USA

Re: My Frameicarium Project

Post: # 33393Post idahoantgirl
Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:11 pm

Gavinthesheep1234567 wrote:
Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:59 am
I like your design great pic
Thanks!
Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile

User avatar
MadVampy
Main Forum Admin
Posts: 931
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 6:19 am
Location: Alabama
Contact:

Re: My Frameicarium Project

Post: # 33398Post MadVampy
Fri Jan 05, 2018 8:06 pm

I like the concept, biggest thing is the barrier you'll need to setup where you transition from the stick to the tubing. Plan's on how to do this?
MadVampy

Head Forum Admin
Image
Name is also Mike but please don't confuse me with Mikey Bustos, two different people. :lol:
Keeper of Solenopsis Ants. :twisted:

User avatar
idahoantgirl
Posts: 1521
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
Location: Idaho, USA

Re: My Frameicarium Project

Post: # 33478Post idahoantgirl
Mon Jan 08, 2018 6:18 pm

MadVampy wrote:
Fri Jan 05, 2018 8:06 pm
I like the concept, biggest thing is the barrier you'll need to setup where you transition from the stick to the tubing. Plan's on how to do this?
Yeah... still working on that. :? One Idea is have is to have the tube connect to an outworld the same way that it connects to my nest. In which case, it wouldn't have to be tubing at all. It could be wire or something like that. The only downside to this idea is that the queen wont be moved in, which would have been cool to have seen.

Idea # 2 would mean that I couldn't mount it on a wall. The back panel is acrylic, which would be easy to drill a hole for tubing into. Like I said, this would eliminate the possibility of hanging it on a wall though which would be a bummer. I will be posting step by step photos soon.
Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile

User avatar
antnest8
Posts: 1438
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2018 2:11 pm
Location: Detroit, MI

Re: My Frameicarium Project

Post: # 33485Post antnest8
Tue Jan 09, 2018 7:17 am

what if you put a acrylic box that has drilled holes in the bottom that extends up above the top with a tube connected to it at the top. it would make a walk way for the ants up and you can also apply a barrier on the outside of the box.
Some of My Informative Sheets
https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=19099
Includes :
  • Ant Care Sheets
    Queen Hunting
    How To Identify Ants
Goal is to become #2 poster on the forum

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