Silicon problem and Condensation in formicarium

[berrydelosreyes]

I just made my fomicarium out of grout but the smell of silicon is still present and there are lot of water droplets trap inside (condensation). Im afraid to transfer my ants in my new formicarium because it might poison them(?).
My question is:
1. Will the silicon scent kill my ants?
2. How do i remove the condensation inside the glass?

[JoeHostile1]

If you can smell any chemicals do not put your ants in there. Many aquarium grade silicon is only safe until it completely cures. If you can smell chemicals then that means the silicon is leeching chemicals into the nest. Also if the silicon wasn’t aquarium grade than it will never be safe to put ants in there.

I just wrote about condensation in another post that I saw you posted in so I won’t repeat myself about that. But I guess your case is different because you haven’t been heating the nest and you want the droplets to go away. You need to evaporate the water droplets so you could try using a hairdryer on the glass until the water droplets evaporate. Or you could put the whole thing in the oven at a very low temperature for a bit depending on the materials you used... but then you risk melting the silicon ect or having other adverse problems occur.

[antnest8]

the condensation is not a problem to you ants if they are a larger colony.

[berrydelosreyes]

If you can smell any chemicals do not put your ants in there. Many aquarium grade silicon is only safe until it completely cures. If you can smell chemicals then that means the silicon is leeching chemicals into the nest. Also if the silicon wasn’t aquarium grade than it will never be safe to put ants in there.

I just wrote about condensation in another post that I saw you posted in so I won’t repeat myself about that. But I guess your case is different because you haven’t been heating the nest and you want the droplets to go away. You need to evaporate the water droplets so you could try using a hairdryer on the glass until the water droplets evaporate. Or you could put the whole thing in the oven at a very low temperature for a bit depending on the materials you used... but then you risk melting the silicon ect or having other adverse problems occur.

Thank you very much for the help man! Ill update you with this. Its been 2 days already and i can still smell the silicon. I placed a couple of charcoal, baking soda powder and vinigar on top to absorb the toxic smell. I hope it will work.

With regards the condensation ill try the hair dryer. Thanks alot!