A unique Island Formicarium

We spoke to Daniel Bauchinger about his unique island formicarium earlier in the week and he gave us some information regarding his setup. One important thing to remember if you're considering a similar setup, ants drowning in the moat is always a potential risk.

DB: First I bought a glass bowl with the dimensions 250mmx300mmx30mm at the aquarium store in our area. It's a made-to-measure tank from a glazier. In the aquarium store I looked for a stone with some little holes in it that the ants could crawl through, and I could easily mount the tube. The Staff had the idea with the wood root for aquariums, and it fitted perfectly for my needs.

It's essential that the tube goes from the island through the water in the bowl to keep the ants from escaping on the side of the tube. On the Island you have a super view on the little girls, because there is no glass in the way.

The only down side at the moment is that in our area the water is really hard and lime settles really fast.

I had some thoughts on adding something green to the root, but couldn't find something fitting my needs.

PS: I keep a colony of 100+ Lasius niger in the formicarium connected to the island. At the moment it's not the bustle I expected.

Thanks Daniel. This is a great concept that a few of us will be keen to explore.

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