ANTSTORE World of Ants

[heeksy]

hi, what is y tong nest made from. i would like to make a nest like i have seen in pictures but have no idea what to make it from. and also i think it needs to be made from something that can be kept moist, to keep humidity with out growing mould? iv seen in some that some y tong nests have a bit to add water so it soaks through.


cheers

[mpir]

What is Ytong nest made of you ask? Hmmm... let me tell you a secret: it's made out of Ytong!!!!!!

You seem to be puzzled by this material as everywhere on this forum you are asking about it. So let me give you some answers. Ytong is a building material. It is used for making walls and it has great insulating properties.

Ytong nest are usually built from a single block of Ytong. It's quite britle and it soaks up water too. Nevertheless water does not damage this material so it is perfect for antkeeping. And I've never seen mould grow on it although it was constatly wet to suit ants needs for moist. Just go to your local building material store and ask someone there about it. They will show you lots of different sizes of block to choose from. So make up your mind what kind of nest you want to build and buy something that suits your need. It's not that expensive. I'd say avarage price of one block (depending on the size of it) should be around 1 €.

I hope I answered your questions.

good luck

[JimmyVe]

If you look at the Gallery of this site you can see a lot of different Y-tong nest. So you have an idea what you can do with it.

Keep in mind, first diced which ant species you would like to keep and than build a nest for this species.

Good luck building it.

[heeksy]

i was a bit puzzled. i even work on a building site, and never heard of it. it looks like it might be what we call breeze blocks in the UK? just a sort of light concrete block.

cheers for your help

[NuEM]

Ytong is a brand name that might not be well known everywhere. It's gas concrete. Porous concrete is another name for it.

edit: Maybe you know it under the name Autoclaved Aerated concrete (AAC).