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Added my photo's:
http://www.antstore.net/viewtopic.php?f=133&t=10321
Only big thing left to do is making the lid. I've decided not to go for the trench solution, because I think it will be very ugly. I'm hoping my PTFE along with the 'electric fence' solution and a good closing lid will do the trick. Am going to design and hopefully build that lid this weekend. Now that I'm getting somewhere, I can't wait until it's all finished and the ants are in there. :D
You could buy a big plate of acrylic glass that covers the whole basin. It is very easy to cut out one or two smaller openings in the middle. That plate would be glued or taped to the basin, its not destined to be removed each other day.. This way you only have to use oul or ptfe around the small openings. Its impossible to breach for the ants because they have to be climbing overhead to reach the openings in the first place. ;) I have written about my bigger colony of those ants in the german area...
Since I had some spare glass strips, I just bought a MDF-board (might still go for better quality wood however) and glued the strips to that board so that it fits perfectly. On that board I will construct a cap for lighting and fans, etc. It will also have a slide (also using glass strips) so that I can reach into the tank.
Hopefully I'll have it finished somewhere next week so that the ants can move in around friday :)
@donbilbo, will check your topic tonight when I get home from work, need to catch up on my german anyway :P
if your keeping the humidity high i don't think it would be a good idea to use ptfe. fans for ventilation would be a a good idea
Im wondering if my normal humidity in my house, which is around 50-70 %, is good enough for the ants. Gues I'll just have to try and see how they like it. Either way, I have a lid now that is certainly ant-proof, so I'm not that concerned. I only hope they don't attack the air-tube that runs into the tank.
Also I think the electric copper wire would do the trick. I've read in another topic that his ants eventually learned not to climb the glass. I think this can also be because ants don't like copper, or at least, thats the 'urban myth'. Putting wet coins on your doorstep is said to keep ants out of your house, so maybe that will do the trick. Wondering if it is really true though.
The copper won't do the trick, like you said it is just a myth. ;)
You are making a nice farm, i'm sure they will like it when it is finished but i would recommend using it for a few days/weeks to check the humidity and temperature before you put your ants in there.
Hey mate,
sorry to dampen the spirits... i think your setup has some flaws. Its gonna be very hard for your to cover the entire basin, with that corner missing... i know its a bit of a mantra, but Polyrhachis are likely to commit incestuous copulation, and the winged males and females could well fly out and form colonies in your living area or the outside... also they do form sidenests outside the basin when able to cross the PTFE, which is hard to apply and maintain. You always need 2 kinds of escape protection when dealing with possibly invasive species. and even if the ecosystem is not your priority, if they get lose in your home/apartment and spread, you are responsible for the removal, which may well cost a whole lot of money.
So for the best of all, please figure out a way to cover that place up properly :)
No offense,
Necturus
Thanks for your comment Necturus. I built a lid for it, which covers the basin. It has glass strips glued all around it that fit perfectly into the glass basin, so that I can make an airtight seal using vaseline. I'm going to make a sliding section on the lid, so I can open it, also using glass strips that slide over vaseline to seal it. The lighting will be integrated into the lid. Also I have ventilation in the soil and 2 fans.
Other means of protection are PTFE and 2 electrified strips that will be mounted into the basin. Will post some pictures later today, and some photographs.
A picture of the lid. Obviously it is far from finished, but it fits good enough to make it escape proof.
http://www.antstore.net/download/file.php?id=10770&mode=view
Other pictures @ http://www.antstore.net/viewtopic.php?f=133&t=10321&p=92427#p92427
Looks nice. ;)