Building an ant farm...

[Chaotic42]

It's cheap and it seems like a cool thing to do. We can't have pets, and ants are just neat.

I'm thinking about getting plexiglass cut thusly:

2 sheets of plexiglass 20"x12"x0.25" (for the front and back)
2 sheets of plexiglass 12"x1.5"x0.25" (for the sides)
1 sheet of plexiglass 20"x1.5"x0.25" with a 1"x3" hole machined out of it. (for the top)
1 piece wood 22"x5"x1" (for the base)

I would glue these with silicone glue.

Does this sound good? What could I use as a removable lid for the hole in the top? Cork?

 

[Heisenberg]

I try hard to keep ants out of my house. No way in hell I'm building them their own room.

 

[InverseOfNeo]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
I try hard to keep ants out of my house. No way in hell I'm building them their own room.

 

[K1052]

I would recomend a small fish tank instead. With fish not ants.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
I try hard to keep ants out of my house. No way in hell I'm building them their own room.

I've never had a problem with ants. Wood roaches, now that's a different story.

 

[Kenazo]

I'd recommend a plexiglass bottom to the thing too, so that the ants don't try and burrow out. Also, cover the sides in dark paper or cloth so that they actually build up against the sides... otherwise they will stay in the centre of your farm.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
I try hard to keep ants out of my house. No way in hell I'm building them their own room.

I've never had a problem with ants. Wood roaches, now that's a different story.

Why create one?

Think about waking up one morning covered in ants if there is a flaw in the construction.

 

[DrumminBoy]

although I'm not a big fan of ants...ant farms are pretty cool. I had one when I was little, it was awesome watching them dig their tunnels and everything.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: K1052
Why create one?

Think about waking up one morning covered in ants if there is a flaw in the construction.

I'd rather be covered in ants than fish.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: K1052
Why create one?

Think about waking up one morning covered in ants if there is a flaw in the construction.

I'd rather be covered in ants than fish.

A sound argument if ever I heard one.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

<----------------------------------------------

You will die a slow, horrible death.

 

[azncoffeeboi]

speaking of ants, i just found red ants in my kitchen! yikes. Should i just kill em all or do i have to call the california red ant hotline too?

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Terro liquid, awsome stuff

 

[IGBT]

Why not...mabe even get sum fire ants!!

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Sweet! Now I want an ant farm. Where do I get ants though? We just have those little bitty black ones in SoCal and that's no fun. Half the mail order ants I got with my farms as a kid arrived dead. I need more reliable ants.

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

There is a pic somewhere of a casemod where someone had build an antfarm in his PC.

Oh, and ants suck.

 

[ApacheXMD]

They have special glue for acrylic sheets (plexiglass). It's a solvent type glue that actually kinda dissolves the two pieces, until they are one. Check a local plastic supply place in the phone book or if you have a tap plastics near you, get it there.

-patchy

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Originally posted by: ApacheXMD
They have special glue for acrylic sheets (plexiglass). It's a solvent type glue that actually kinda dissolves the two pieces, until they are one. Check a local plastic supply place in the phone book or if you have a tap plastics near you, get it there.

-patchy

I wonder if the presence of the glue stuff would be toxic to the ants? Probably depends on what you use. I have a night guard that is basically some sort of acryllic, so I'm sure that would be safe.

 

[IGBT]

I've seen those giant black ants in the woods and at night they fight like krack heads for some reason..in the morning everybodys friends again..with dead ant's around and about from the nights battle.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: IGBT
I've seen those giant black ants in the woods and at night they fight like krack heads for some reason..in the morning everybodys friends again..with dead ant's around and about from the nights battle.

Yay drugs!

 

[ApacheXMD]

Originally posted by: GoodRevrnd

I wonder if the presence of the glue stuff would be toxic to the ants? Probably depends on what you use. I have a night guard that is basically some sort of acryllic, so I'm sure that would be safe.

The solvent type acrylic glue evaporates very quickly so I'm sure that will be fine for the ants. Silicone glue that Chaotic42 wants to use, however, releases acetic acid (vinegar) as it cures. And from my experience, I can smell it for several days after using silicone. So I dunno what that'll do to the ants.

-patchy

 

[whaleskinrug]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
I try hard to keep ants out of my house. No way in hell I'm building them their own room.

I've never had a problem with ants. Wood roaches, now that's a different story.

We have ants that don't move in groups or any obvious pattern, other than to BITE ME (and only me)!!!!

 

[marqucha]

Originally posted by: Skyclad1uhm1
There is a pic somewhere of a casemod where someone had build an antfarm in his PC.

Oh, and ants suck.

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that guys pc is full of bugs

 

[Apathetic]

I suppose you could go through all that hassle. I'd recommend a much simpler approach.

Take a bunch of sugar water and pour it over your neighbor's porch. Soon you'll have all the ants you want at a nice safe distance.

Dave

 

[OIKOS]

Originally posted by: K1052
I would recomend a small fish tank instead. With fish not ants.