Making A Firebrick Ant Nest | Ytong Alternative
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.พ. 2019
- Insulated Firebrick is one of the most underrated materials that I have recently found out about.
In this video I make a firebrick ant nest. Also known as a ytong nest alternative!
Regular firebrick is much more difficult to carve through. I deconstruct on the entire process of making a firebrick ant nest, and in a future video, if it’s safe to move in a colony.
Final Notes:
- I didn’t want to paint it because I wanted to see how it looked as its raw material housing a colony, and because I liked it as its original material.
- I completely forgot about adding a hydration port in the nest, but I will probably talk about that in the following update of this nest
- I will most likely connect a test tube to the side entrance instead of using tubing, since I prefer nests without tubing, and it’s easier to do.
Materials:
Insulated Firebrick (K-23) - Ebay/Amazon
Optic Acrylic Pane - Home Depot
Neodymium Magnets - Home Depot
Flat-end Screwdriver
Hacksaw
Ruler
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#ytong #antcolony #antnest #firebrick #ytongnest #queenant #enderants #antkeeping #fellowantkeeper
5:16 - 5:18 R.I.P all headphone users...
And me too.
lol
5:16 i need a one hour loop of that sound
HA HA
TH-cam recommends me this video after I struggled to find Ytong. I walked 45 mins to a hardware store in an industrial site in town then picked up my 6kg block. Realising I couldn't walk this home I had to get a taxi. I attempted to cut it to shape but it blunted two different saws I bought. Finally with a third saw I cut into it and have the shape I want. Now I'm trying to make the nest layout but shit the bed it's so tough. I had a little rotary tool but it's blunted all of the attachments. I find I can accurately chisel maybe 1mm off the surface with each hammer tap.
Now I can get this instead. I'll whittle away at the Ytong but I'll get this block too. I think It took me an hour or two to cut a 10x5x3cm cube out of the huge 1 and a half feet long block. It took you no time at all to cut the fire block. Like a knife through butter!
I’m glad you’ve found this vid :D I think ytong is easier to carve out than this firebrick, but its a good replacement. More diy tutorials on the way!
This was uploaded on my 10th b-day in the Phillipines!
ahh nice! Hope this video was helpful too :D
Ender Ants THX! I meant Pihillippinse aswell
I have been looking for ytong everywhere. Thank you so much for showing me this alternative!
Got you anytime :D
Where can i buy the FireBrick
Thanks
Amazon & eBay!
Nice video! I never mad a ytong nest before maybe I should try!:)
was there a protective coating on that acrylic XD
I have a question, so I have an acorn ant colony in a fire brick nest. It’s vertical like a Tar Heel ants mini hearth. I drilled two holes into the nest and plugged them with cotton so I can hydrate the nest the holes are on opposite ends. I’ve been hydrating every day with one milliliter of water in each hole. But I thought I should decrease it. Any thoughts on what to do?
Looks great!
Nice video man! We also don't have ytong here in PH. Do you still remember me? been here since 15 subs😂
Yes sir, thanks for being here from the very beginning!
Very nice...I'm going to have to try making a firebrick nest.
Really great vid I was looking for good alternatives for ytong
Glad you enjoyed it! :D
Yes! Thank you!
love this channel
I live in new England but my mom found a company that makes ytong in Florida and we got free samples or something so I have ytong nests
How were you able to get free samples? Did you just contact them to see if they can give any spare ones?
I'm interested in this too, what company was it?
what company?
Very helpful
New video!! ❤ | Good video!! ❤😂
Nice!
Tip: Put ants that spin cocoon in it. The texture of the brick helps the ants spin.
Thanks for the tip. Will be using this as an advantage :D
@@EnderAnts :) hello there
Nice video i like the magnet idea it is neat but i think if you keep smaller ants they can go throw the gap instead you can use hot glue silicone or blue tack
Que especies de formigas vc tem?
Thanks
Omg you save my life 😍👍
LIFEGUARD ENDER ON THE SCENE
Will you be making an update soon?
Do you think I can house Black Harvester ants in firebrick? If not what do I use or do to prevent escape? I live in US so no Ytoung
I would use an acrylic container instead since they can't climb acrylic. They'll be able to chew through ytong and this material.
I wonder if you could soak the whole brick in water and carve it wet so it won't cause brick dust?
Great idea, I'll test it out next time
I love his vids
Thank you!!
@@EnderAnts you are the best youtuber
Far from it, but thank you!
where do I get this fire brick from?
So how is the firebrick compared to the Ytong ?? does it do a good job? and does it hold moisture like ytong?
I can’t get ytong in the US so I’m going off of what other people have said. Ytong should contain water longer, and is less brittle than firebrick. I think it’s still decent to use though. Going to make another tutorial w/ firebrick soon!
do you know if this type of firebrick can house carpenter ants? just wondering
i don’t know, but i would think no.
Any update on this nest? alot of fire brick contains certain chemicals, I'm interested to know if this worked out.
Unfortunately I haven’t been able to move in any colony since I didn’t have any to move into. The Brachymyrmex colony I was supposed to move in died, but now that I have more colonies I’ll for sure be able to move one in and see how that goes.
Great video btw Bro I’m catching up to you in subs and Quality Still a long ways I’m not even 25% there And another thing it’s hard To catch up to you if you just keep growing in quality and subs That’s not bad it just makes me Reach higher tho Got any tips?
Effort, and the idea of wanting to improve with each video are my two cents!
ll Ender Ants ll thx
Very nice video. I actually made made aircrete XD. anyways, keep up the great work.
TemperateAnts I know it was a great video👍🏼
could i house camponotus ants in this material?
You can, but I wouldn’t recommend it because they might be able to chew through it
I've looked into K23 for over a year. Nice to finally see exactly how brittle it really is. I have many colonies and love the look of ytong but as you mentioned, it's pretty much NOT accessible here in the states. Looks easy to carve into as well. Just like to know what size brick was it you purchased? Would be nice to be able to make a few nests with one block. Not a bad first nest by the way. I would glue in the magnets though or use silicone. Would be a bit more stable that way.
The entire block was around 9 inches long, 4 1/2 inches tall, and 3 1/2 inches wide. Pretty good size for about $10. For small colonies, the entire block can probably make 3-5 nests if you equal it out well.
I recently made a very large formicarium for my Iridomyrmex Purpureus colony, and I used acrylic glass for my double sided formicarium as this is a population of about 1500 ants, I also used super magnets.
Ran into a huge problem after a week of them moving into it. The acrylic started to warp due to the heat the colony was generating, had lots of escapes, ended up gluing the acrylic down haha.
At the moment I have 8 well established colonies and I think 6 more that founded last year. As I said before, I have looked into K23 for some time now. Nice to actually see how it is with carving. Would be great for my Formica colonies and maybe even my Tetramorium colonies. I would probably either go with my Camponotus subbarbatus colony, one of my Formica subserica colonies or my Dorymyrmex bureni colony. I also have a few Formica pallidefulva colonies but only one being more than just last yrs catch. Definitely be looking into purchasing some now for sure! Need to get back into dping videos again on all my new inverts, especially my ants.
On amazon all they have is “GREENTHERM 23 LI Medium Duty Insulating Kiln Smelting Precious Metals Soldering Welding Work Surface Jewelry Casting Firebrick”. Is that the same thing?
It should be, but if you’re unsure, try the other options on the page. Or try searching AMACO insulated firebrick.
Thanks
I am housing a tetramorium caespitum colony. Is it possible that they could chew through this material?
I’m not exactly sure, but have heard they can chew through ytong.
Thanks!
I’m the same person sorry
I just made one with the magnets but it doesn't feel 100% secure. If it fell from shelf or desk I'm confident that the cover would stay in place. Any alternatives other than epoxy?
I haven’t tried any other alternatives but thats the same problem I’ve faced, which is another reason why I haven’t moved a colony in. I plan to cut it in half add put it inside a tubs and tubes setup one day, as it will probably do be best places in there than by itself
@@EnderAnts i just purchased some quick set epoxy. I'm finding that it's not a pull off issue but side to side slide. Definitely going to tinker around! I'll let you know what I find. I reaaally don't want to glue it in case I need to open it for whatever reason but I may have to
@@EnderAnts SO I found that if I sand the mating face perfectly it'll almost suction itself on. I laid a piece of sandpaper on the floor and ran the face over it until it was level. It really helped but now I need to lower the magnets. I put one screw in as well. It got a little messed up when picking the magnets out so I'll be making a new one. Perfect test piece because now I have the technique! It's a shame because it was pretty damn cool
I should try to make one myself.
Lights, Camera, Ants yea
Best of luck :D
Watching this again and again. Then i realised there is no hydration port. How do you plan on hydrating the nest?
Originally was going to put it inside one of my containers, but it was too big and the magnets werent secured enough. Hoping to use the rest of the brick later on in the season!
@@EnderAnts cool
Magnets are ingenious
Where did u buy ur firebrick?
eBay and Amazon
Where did you get it
Amazon!
So how are you going to hydrate that for your colonies humidity control?
I'm going to see if I can make a tiny hole with a syringe, and add water there so that it spreads from the inside of the nest. Or just place water on the outside of the nest and see how that does.
@@EnderAnts nice idea make sure you wash the brick well or the fine dust will kill your ants.
Where did you buy this
I bought it on eBay
Similar to Tar Heel Ants
what are the dimensions of the brick?
Like when you bought it?
Can you use bricks??? (Normal bricks)
You can, but it isn’t ideal. I dont think I’ve ever seen a brick nest, since it takes more time to carve than firebrick. I also don’t think it holds in water as much as ytong or firebrick.
Can carpenter ants live in these nests? Or is it too soft?
I don't think they can live in these nests, since its much softer than wood.
ll Ender Ants ll I saw a video where a woman covered the nesting area in a thin coat of grout, what do you think of that method?
It could probably help keep them in, but I don’t know for sure if it’ll work
Where did u get the firebrick? Since I’ve started ant keeping I could NEVER find it and bought like 5 other blocks😂
The Astonishing Ants lol
The Astonishing Ants You can just buy it off Amazon👍🏼
Check description. I was able to find a lot off of Ebay
Ok thanks
Nice bro I am still hear
Thats wierd in europe usualy is ytong but no fire brick
Cool what ants are you planning to house in the magnificent fire brick nest?
Probably a Brachymyrmex patagonicus colony to see how well they do, and if its safe for them.
Just an FYI, it's called a Respirator, not a gas mask.
What state u from?
Lucas Hasty probably somewhere Midwest. Base on his ants
@Lights, Camera, Ants thanks
Np
Legend has it, he will heart your comment if you type something like this...
Visiting this a year later idk how I found this again
Thank you for checking back 🙏🙏 Must’ve been a sign about something :D
Hey Ender ants. I just convinced my mom to let me keep ants, and the type of ant i want is a Black Garden Ant or Lausis Niger (i know i spelled that wrong), but can u get another Colony and do a Ant care about them plz
I don't think I'll ever get another colony of that species, but I'm hoping to find some Lasius this year. Here's a brief summary:
Food:
From my experience I have fed them: Honey, Sunburst Ant Nectar, Cockroaches, Silverfish, Spiders, Beetles, Fruit flies, Crickets, Egg, and Jam. I found that mine really enjoyed the fruit flies, spiders, and silverfish. If you do get a colony, I would recommend to feed them any soft bodied insect. They're also pretty aggressive with food, but are unable to bite you.
Growth/Housing:
Once they have at least 10 workers, the colony will only start growing faster from there. (You can move them into a small formicarium/tubs and tubes setup at 10 workers. The larvae spin cocoons, having them in a Tubs and Tubes setup with substrate would be ideal for the larvae. I found that they also take about a month for the eggs to develop into workers.
Heat:
I've also heard that they grow pretty quickly with heat, so try to keep them in a warmer room, or a room tempered room.
Checkups:
They're a really hardy species, but I wouldn't recommend checking up on them daily, especially if theyre a founding colony. Try to limit your checkups on them to every week or so by keeping them in a drawer.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask, and best of luck with your colony :D
@@EnderAnts ok i understand about why u won't get anymore, but thank u so much but can u tell me when they fly and where should i look for them thank u
The majority of them are supposed to fly in September, or Labor Day for us in the US. Be on the look out in March, since I think thats the earliest when they fly. Try checking at your local park, or sidewalks in the afternoon, and evening.
@@EnderAnts ok thank u so much for helping me Ender ants u are amazing and i hope i can get this type of ant, wish me luck
I have a ren year old fore ant colony
I mean ten
Woah nice! What species are they?
@@EnderAnts fire ants solonopsis jammanata also is the particles from the firebrick dangores
@@EnderAnts I love your vids
I don’t think they are because other people have kept their ants in these kind of nests. But they can be dangerous to us if we inhale them. Only when cutting it, and if you didn’t sand it though.
be Carefull with these i am a former Insulator and know most of these bricks contains Fire resistant Chemicals i dont know if they are poisonous for Ants
Thanks for the info, I'll be testing it out and will share the results in the follow up part of this video!
Brother it's SORT OF AAC THAT U HAVE
In the US, there isn’t any ytong we can buy in stores. Online its harder to find also, and the prices usually aren’t cheap