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LukeyG21: Trying to make Antstore setup in the U.S. (24. Mär 2008 06:43)

Hi, I'm relatively new at keeping ants. I was wondering if this is a good idea. I was wanting to take a 10 gallon aquarium, drill a hole in the side, and connect an Uncle Milton ant farm like they sell here in the United States. We can't get the Antstore sets here, but this is a similar setup. Just wanting some input. Thanks.

ford-ute: (24. Mär 2008 07:14)

i have just seen the uncle milton setup for the first time resently

coming from australia myself i have the same problems as yourself with getting ant supplies but i think it would be better search the forum here for a better setup than that. you can also look in the album they have some very nice pictures of setups you can use for ideas my favorate it one guy cut some tunnels in some old logs and glued them to the glass of the fish tank looks very natural from one side and you can see the whole nest. but if you look at the album and read this forum for setup ideas im sure you can build a much better setup than the uncle milton.

SteveUK28: (24. Mär 2008 11:22)

yes i agree with ford here... You can get some much better setups than that.. Even one large tank would do the job as long as you escape proof it.. Or get 2 and drill both.. if you visist a local glass maker perhaps he could even make tanks for you.. and do the drillings :) its always good to look around local first.

LukeyG21: (24. Mär 2008 20:28)

Thanks for the replies. There is actually a local glass shop in the town where I live so what I think I'll do is have a pane of glass cut to size and use some aquarium glue to make a viewable farm in the tank. Does that sound better?

ford-ute: (24. Mär 2008 22:17)

that sounds much better i have just made one like this at home i used a piece of plastic and put cork inside instead of sand because my other set up is quite wide and when my queen dug in i have not seen here since

i would suggest that you do not mke the farm wider than 1cm or 5/16" if you want to see in the nest mine is 2" or 5cm wide and i dont think i will ever see my queen again

sorry i mean 1cm or 7/16"

LukeyG21: (25. Mär 2008 05:00)

Thanks, that's what I've decided to do. But I think I'll make it 1cm the entire way around the tank so I can have a panoramic farm with the foraging area on top.

JimmyVe: (25. Mär 2008 08:37)

Hello Luke and welcome, nice to see you have interests in ants. :)

For a good farm you need a nest area and a out world. The panoramic display you are talking about should work out just fine. Only the 1cm you need to consider. Depending on the species you are going to keep, some species are bigger than 1cm so if you only make it 1cm wide they will have problems with making there nest there.

Why antstore don't send out of Europe, well the mean reason i think is the shipping costs. Also it is not easy to ship glass.