Ant build idea

[Fango123]

So recently after watching the AntsCanada YouTube channel I have taken an interest in ant keeping. And as a personal assurance that it's not just a few weeks I'm going to take the time to build the ant home myself but not only that I'm waiting to build it over Cristmas break then have it ready by summer when I catch a queen. So anyways I wanted to see what you guys thought about my ant home ideas. Please feel free to give advice freely I will read all of it.


So I want to first buy a fish tank, it's going to be a multi compartment one so I can expand the ant home as they grow. Once I buy it I'll calk all the edges so that it is 100% sealed. (is that enough?) then I will buy a bag of cement mix it and as it is hardening form a completely flat side with a hollow cavern in it with a hole on the top. So the flat side will be against the glass and the cavern will be also facing the glass so I can see straight inside the nest. Then I wanted to create a super easy to maintain water facility. So then I will create a small mound on one corner of the compartment then I will make it kinda like a lake, I will put something water proof under it to hold the water then I will make a way to drain the water(the way I drain it is impossible to understand over text so I'm not going to explain) then feeding the lake I would have a upside down water bottle in the water that way as the water evaporated and was drank by the ants it would auto replenish and if it ever got crappier I could drain it easily. So this covers home and water. That leaves food. For food I was thinking just make a hole in the glass separating the compartments and running a tube through to the compartment I decide I want to make the outhouse.

I know this was long but thank you for taking the time to read it. Do these ideas work? Do you guys have some better ideas? I definitely want to build it myself because that is a large part of the fun. Also are the ideas viable for ants? Or will they leave the ants dead and dieing? Finally do I feed the ants in the outhouse or do I feed them bear their home and they just carry it to the outhouse?? I know they need one but I am not sure it's use.

[AntsLuxembourg]

I think replacing the cement with ytong would be better since that is used a lot by other antkeepers.