ANTSTORE World of Ants

[4mykids]

Ok, I took this 10 gallon plastic reptile tank with the perfect lid that allows air in & out but not the Carpenter ants. I took a 50/50% of plaster of paris and perlite, poured it into the tank and waited for it to dry(took 30 minutes).

I then turned the tank over and dumped out the plaster peice. At this point it took more then 48hrs for the plaster to totally dry out. (I left it in the over on 170) I then drilled the tunnels and deep cavities all around the tank(front, back and sides), some cavities not show here are about 6 inches deep. All of the cavities are connected. I also drilled 4 holes small under the plastic tank as well to drain any water that I add to keep the plaster moist.

After I was satisfied with the tunnels & cavities, I hosed it down to get rid of the dust and this also smoothed out the tunnels a bit. I then simply put the plaster back into the tank which of cource was a perfect tight fit.

This was my first go at this type of farmicarium so it is an experiment that went really well. I will fill the tank up almost to the top with my next tank and add many more cavities and tunnels. You can see how the front tunnels go into the middle and out to the side into more tunnels & deep cavities.

The benefits of this type of farmicarium are that 1) you can pure water in the tank and it will soak it up fast and drain out the bottom 2) you can see all around the tank and give the ants a feeling of freedom 3) you can re-use the same tank if anything happens to the colony - just take the plaster out and hose it down to clean 4) I can just open the lid and take out any debri the ants take up to the top (which they do) 5) You can transport the farmicarium and not have to worry about the tunnels calapsing.

I can honestly tell you that when I put this colony in it, they took only 1 day to leave the tube & went directly down the tunnel. They must have felt a feeling of freedom because after only 2 weeks they now have a ton of new eggs!

In the winter I will simply put a heat pad under the tank or a light on top for warmth. Enjoy the pictures, sorry, my camera is poor.

[JimmyVe]

Very nice 4mykids !

[4mykids]

Thank you.

I will do this same type of farmicarium however on a much bigger scale when I find the time - I will post pics here. I am sending pics of two other really nice ideas i did for my other Farmicariums. One of them was for my daughter which is really nice!

[4mykids]

This one was done for my daughter who has followed my into the garage to watch and asked for one. I drilled the tunnels to form a leaf/heart.

She really liked it - I will put a side walk Queen in it with a family of over 20 so far.

[4mykids]

This is the conatiner I got from IKEA.

I will drill more connecting tunnels & cavities around the plaster before I put it into the plastic container.

I will also add more connecting housing for this one.

The picture below this one is where i house my crickets - they collect themselves in my pool by climbing up on anything that floats to keep from drownding. i just pick them out - put them in here and fatten them up for later.

[miszt]

nice work 4mykids

i'm expecting ur carpenter ants to make swiss cheese out of ur plaster hehe

[4mykids]

thanks. yup........ we'll see.

I was concerned about that and this is another benefit with this type of farmicarium, they will still be contained if they eat through the plaster. It may also give them a further sense of freedom by drilling their own tunnels.

[Skippy]

Nice formicariums 4mykids ,looks great. I have one idea. Try to get on the top of your perlite/plaster mixture some soil - aquarist soil for aquarium (3-8mm) ,it would be better ,because ants´will dirt it very quickly and your nice white mixture will become grey/yellow .And I think it ´will be look more nature type and easier to clean

Skippy

[4mykids]

Thank you Skippy, just looked that up...... great idea, may have to adopt

[JimmyVe]

Very nice Farms 4mykids, i like the one that looks like a leaf/heart.
Looks like you pool is a nice thing, you capture you queens in it and crickets.

[Pugberto]

Inspiring set ups. I would like to make some soon.

[Varban]

Hehe your fourmicarium looks like a space colony nice job

[insanebe]

i wish i could find them plastic boxes

[Jazz]

Hi, could you explain better how do you keep the plaster moist and without mold?