Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2011 23:03:59 GMT 1
Hello, I have just bought a large basin from Antstore (40x30x20cm) along with a Formica fusca Queen and some other niff naff bits.
I would like advice on my idea so far as I have not attempted this before, thanks in advance.
My plan is to have a large nest and foraging area with good viewing and as little 'desk space' as possible hence why I want to put the ytong nest into the basin.
My plan is as follows: Full length, 3/4 height ytong nest (39cm) which I have bought already from B&Q. Polystyrene insert that will NOT touch the sides or be seen but is very light and will use up a lot of space to save me having to put a lot of sand in! Then sand covering the polystyrene around the edges and on top so it is basically level with the top of the ytong nest (so they feel like the nest is underground). Also some aquarium safe small white stones/gravel covering the sand so that the black fusca's stand out nicely
The nest design is this:
Not shown from that angle but included in the design are three separate 10cm long water 'tanks' at the top, back side of the ytong, which I will cover with three separate pieces of perspex with a hole drilled in the centre and a small piece of tube siliconed in (aquarium safe silicone) with a cotton wool bung that I can remove to add water.
The orange dots shown are my solution to nest expansion, the general aim is to stop the ants using an empty chamber for trash. The dots represent cotton wool, the bottom four pieces will have a piece of string attached so I can pull them one by one, the top two open one new chamber each and the bottom two reveal the whole nest but this is the best design I can come up with that doesn't involve making the nest a maze with half a dozen entrances/exits.
The nest is designed to have as much 'floor space' as possible hence why there aren't many downward 'tunnels', also the very bottom chambers are far from the entrances/exits so the Queen will feel safe, once she eventually gets down there!
One other point, I don't want to scratch the glass when putting the ytong in so I was going to smear a thin layer of silicone down the sides and let it dry BEFORE putting the ytong in so it forms a sort of rubber barrier, then silicone the face and insert the block and clamp until dry worth doing or silly?
I think I have covered everything, feel free to ask questions if I haven't explained anything very well!
Sorry it's long hehe
I would like advice on my idea so far as I have not attempted this before, thanks in advance.
My plan is to have a large nest and foraging area with good viewing and as little 'desk space' as possible hence why I want to put the ytong nest into the basin.
My plan is as follows: Full length, 3/4 height ytong nest (39cm) which I have bought already from B&Q. Polystyrene insert that will NOT touch the sides or be seen but is very light and will use up a lot of space to save me having to put a lot of sand in! Then sand covering the polystyrene around the edges and on top so it is basically level with the top of the ytong nest (so they feel like the nest is underground). Also some aquarium safe small white stones/gravel covering the sand so that the black fusca's stand out nicely
The nest design is this:
Not shown from that angle but included in the design are three separate 10cm long water 'tanks' at the top, back side of the ytong, which I will cover with three separate pieces of perspex with a hole drilled in the centre and a small piece of tube siliconed in (aquarium safe silicone) with a cotton wool bung that I can remove to add water.
The orange dots shown are my solution to nest expansion, the general aim is to stop the ants using an empty chamber for trash. The dots represent cotton wool, the bottom four pieces will have a piece of string attached so I can pull them one by one, the top two open one new chamber each and the bottom two reveal the whole nest but this is the best design I can come up with that doesn't involve making the nest a maze with half a dozen entrances/exits.
The nest is designed to have as much 'floor space' as possible hence why there aren't many downward 'tunnels', also the very bottom chambers are far from the entrances/exits so the Queen will feel safe, once she eventually gets down there!
One other point, I don't want to scratch the glass when putting the ytong in so I was going to smear a thin layer of silicone down the sides and let it dry BEFORE putting the ytong in so it forms a sort of rubber barrier, then silicone the face and insert the block and clamp until dry worth doing or silly?
I think I have covered everything, feel free to ask questions if I haven't explained anything very well!
Sorry it's long hehe