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Ive almost finished putting together my first formicarium. I still have to fill the nesting area with some soft of substrate for the ants to nest in. Its pretty unique looking and probably more closely resembles the typical vivarium than a formicarium :).
The bottom layer consists of a 2cm layer of freshwater aquarium gravel covered by a coco-fiber mat. This will allow the water to drain into the bottom of the tank and be siphoned out if the level gets too high. I put a thin layer of fir bark over the top of the mat, primarily for aesthetics, but also for maintaining humidity. The piece of wood is locally collected grapevine, and the air plants are from my old vivarium. The nesting area is going to be located in between the flat rock and the wall of the tank (right side). I put a small piece of vinyl tubing into the corner that leads to the bottom. I stuffed a paper towel into the bottom of the tube with the rest of the paper towel extending across the base of the nesting area for moisture. I covered the glass next to the nest with a piece of aquarium backing that can be lifted up for viewing.
I haven't settled on the ant species I'm going to keep, so I haven't decided on the nesting material yet. I suppose I will have to keep a carnivorous species since I don't want them to tear up the plants ;)
Any recommendations on good DIY nesting materials? I might collect some sandy soil locally and try to sterilize it the best I can; any advice on this process would be great :D. Well, heres the progress so far:
Full tank shot:
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/capitalo/IMG_5099.jpg
Side view (opposite side of nesting area):
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/capitalo/IMG_5095.jpg
These two shots show the nesting area without any nesting substrate, notice the watering tube on the right side:
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/capitalo/IMG_5091.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/capitalo/IMG_5093.jpg
sand can be sterlized in the oven at 200C for 30-60mins :)
u may want to consider installing some kind of fan if ur going for a humid and hot setup, otherwise you'll get allot of condensation and probly allot of mold
Looks nice anyway :)
I've got a similar setup but using a ytong in the base for the nest
http://www.antstore.net/viewtopic.php?t=6717
apart from Leaf cutters, no ants eat plants, so no worry there :)
miszt- Very nice setup, those ants are very cool looking as well :D. As for the ventilation issue, Ive had good luck with using partial screen tops on smaller tanks like this (vivariums). Hopefully I can repeat the success for this setup without having to install a fan; I'd like to keep this one as simple and inexpensive as possible :)
Very nice farm CapitalO. Good job.
looks like a great setup :) well done
Sithmaster676
yes well done CapitalO on the set-up, pics and farm looks quite good =D>
Keep up good work, this looks GREAT :)
Whic ants are you going to keep there? I can give you a tip,- Pachycondyla impressa :D:D
Thanks for the compliments everybody :D
Messorus- Unfortunately I'm at the mercy of the US goverment ;) so I can't order any exotic species. I will have to settle for a local species I can find.
You dont really Capital.. You could always get one of us brits to mail you some.
You dont really Capital.. You could always get one of us brits to mail you some.
Its particuly dangerous to send exotic ants to America, as many parts of it are warm enough to support colonies in the wild, which means any escape could be a disaster........the Fire Ant is a perfect example of an ecological disastor in the making
Apart from the very hard penalties involved if u get caught!