ANTSTORE World of Ants

[SteveUK28]

I think its 5mm... looks thick enough to me.

[ratgreen]

people say that you should not have the ytong nest completely open so that it doesnt get messy from the ants waste, so i was thinking if i blocked the entrances of some of the chambers with some sand. then i can just let the ants dig through it once they needed to. i only want to do this because i want to make one big ytong nest and i dont want to do the cotton wool way as i would have to remove it myself.

[mzfckr]

the sand could get very hard if you dont moisten it and the glass can be un-seethru

[miszt]

depending on the species, a sand/loam mix could work, most ants can get thru hardened sand/loam, but i wuld recomend only using a small amount of loam, maybe 10/80 mix

but as mzfckr says, they may decide to use the sand to cover the inside of the glass and block ur view

[ratgreen]

just a small amount like this hold on i will try and upload a picture.

[JimmyVe]

Well you are wright, they probably use the other chambers to stock there trash, not a pretty sight but most of them clean up the rooms if they need them.
The sand maybe block them for a few days but it is possible they dig try it the first day and use it to try blocking the glass from the chamber they are in. If they do that the sand will be of no use. So if you like to close a few chambers it better to use some material ants do not use. (like cotton)

[Purifier]

But when you have a YTong with glass on the top, how can you get that cotton out when the ants need the chambers? Put off the complete glass is pretty shitty cause than you have dozen ants running around

[JimmyVe]

lol in deed that is not an option. I use Plexi-glass on my y-tong. I cut it where i want to block the chambers. The first piece of the plexi i paste on to the y-tong (with silicone) the other one not, when the colony is to big i remove the cotton and place on the new piece of plexi. Still difficult but lot easier than moving the hole plate (plexi).

(Is it Plexi in English to ? Here in Belgium we name it like that but i'm not sure you guys do)

[Purifier]

Yeah i think so and dont really think that someone do it like that
But the way you told looks great. Keep it in my mind for later
I look on a translation page and there stand "our" Plexiglass is in english Lucite, Perspex, acryl glass or plexiglass.

[SteveUK28]

what glass??? is this glass u r talking about or the toughend acrylic stuff?

[Purifier]

No Jimmy say he make it with plexiglass. And because he want to know if the english word really plexiglass is i read the translations on a page and write em down

The glass what we talking about before was normal glass....

[ratgreen]

how does anyone here cut the plexiglass because when i try and cut it, it just cracks and splits?

[JimmyVe]

You can cut it with a very sharp knife, but only if it is not thicker than 4mm. Cut in to it a few times, both sides and than break it. That works for me.

[SteveUK28]

Just wondering have any of you guys ever used more than just the top of a ytong block for a nest.. as in having the top and 3 sides as a nest?? Just wondered as i was thinking about doing it for the next one i make.
If any1 has how did the ants like it and what species where they.
Thanks

[mpir]

I did once. I spent more than 2 hours shaping down the ytong so that it fited perfectly into the aquarium. I then carved out the nest from the 3 sides of the ytong and used the top as arena. It looks cool but it has drawbacks. The bigest one is that the arena is quite small compaing to the size of the nest - at least in my case cos there was quite big piece of ytong in the aquarium. Making good watering sistem is also problematic. Nevertheless with some perfections and adjustments it could be a cool farm. At the moment my Manica rubida is in it.