#formicariums

[adragonsoulants]

I recently made a mini formicarium... Well... More like 2 weeks ago now. I was waiting for the grout to cure and off-gas (took longer than usual for it to harden), and also for some stuff I ordered to arrive.

It definitely has it's rough edges but it'll work quite well! Definitely easier than trying to just mold one this small.

Now I was originally planning on moving my struggling C. Subbarbatus colony into this one, but now I'm not sure as their mold issue is actually clearing up and I have no clue how to get them out of the chambered tube they're in without breaking it.

So maybe I'll just leave them be and instead put the Formica colony from this year into it at some point.

Many thoughts to be had.

[adragonsoulants]

Colony 4 moved into one of the DIY Grout nests I made... I uh... Over estimated how big of a space they'd need...

Still waiting on 6 to move in to their new nest, they've almost completely chewed through their water cotton 🙃

[adragonsoulants]

When you get inspired to make some grout formicariums....

I've got some Camponotus in a wooden nest that I want to move out before hibernating due to mold concerns as well as 2 Camponotus that are over a year old that are still in test tubes... I'd like to move them out and maybe make a couple small ones for some colonies I'm founding this year!

If our 3D printer still works I may utilize that for the exterior/frame, I just need some plastic candle holders for the water towers for humidity. 👀

[adragonsoulants]

how did you make the grout nests :0

I followed this tutorial!

I used some different materials such as PolyBlend Sanded Grout in place of the quartz stuff they use. I also used playbox sand since I have a bunch already but it has a lot of variation in color texture and size which makes it a bit hard to use at smaller sizes but I think it looks really nice as an end result!!

Idk how important it is but instead of glass I used mirrors for the walls and floor of my mould, probably for the sake of easy release it best to use something glass like, I have a hard time getting the sillacone off completely though.

Oh yeah and I didn't use aquarium silicone caulk, just regular silicone caulk for like bathrooms. Stuff is good to go in like 30mins.

The Poly blend grout I mix with water till it's like a melted ice cream consistency.

I also found that the main hole for the tube is best drilled 24 hours after you poured the mold while it's still soft but drilling into the water tower should be done 48hour or later when it's mostly - completely dried so it's less likely to break under the tower trying to flex.

[adragonsoulants]

Today I made some grout outworlds for the ants! The current little AC testtube portals are getting way too small for me to sanely feed the ants with and I got some ByFormica liquid feeding towers for their water.

I really liked the simple look and feel of the Tarheel outworlds so I've been doing alot of reading and video watching on how people made simaler.

I ended up going with grout over plaster for the base sense it's stronger in the long run and you can easily make some different levels to the outworld too without having to make a mould or let it dry and pour again.

I used powder sanded grout (Polyblend brand is highly recommend on any forums) sense it was cheaper than non-sanded. I also got some sandbox sand for added texture and such, while it's way more than I'll probably ever need it was only $3 vs buying something from a pet store for atleast twice the price and a 3rd the amount. Maybe I'll try selling some pre-built outworlds 🤷

So it started with some 4x4x4in acrylic display containers. Used a step drill bit to drill the openings.

I planned to use my 3/8in tube to connect them sense that appears to be the standard amongst premade formicariums. The outer diameter is 1/2in so that's how big the tube holes had to be.

Didn't get many pictures of the grout part but here's one while I was adding the sand. (Censored bits of news paper too)

Finished thing ^

I really like the idea of modular set ups so they all have 2 tube access points.

And that means I'm going to have to block one of them, I don't want to use cotton sense they're for carpenter ants and they'll use the cotton they pull off around their nest possibly giving a good surface for mold to take hold.

So! I had and idea based on a video I saw about making home made water towers where they melted the plastic into the metal mesh instead of gluing it.

These were my 1/2in tubes that fit snug over the 3/8in

And I think it worked pretty well! No messy hot glue and burning myself and it holds firm, better than hot glue.

Also made a couple 1/4in tubes too that will fit into the Tarheel mini's if I need them to.

Incase you want to do something like this you'll need either a pan you don't cook food on or! Aluminum foil to put on a food pan. Place down a square bit of metal mesh (not window screen mesh) and just firmly press the tube into it for a few seconds.

You'll beable to see the tube melt a little bit, gently peel it off by tilting it and let it cool for a few seconds to minute before trimming the excess mesh off. It cools really fast

And that's all.

I have to wait 24 hours for the grout to dry before I can go attaching the tubes in, most of them fit snug but a few are loose enough for me to want to put either some glue or other sealant around before letting the ants in.

I'll likely give the grout about a week to fully set before introducing the ants as I've heard the grout can off-gass some non-ant-friendly gasses while it sets. It should be fine for something as little and well ventilated as an outworld but I'd rather be safe ^^ Most of the concerts were for building ant nests rather than outworlds.

I'll get some more pictures over the next few days 👀