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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 29, 2013 14:52:27 GMT
Is there a way you will cover the plastic wiring to make sure the worker ants don't chew through it, as I know the strong jaws of Atta can chew right into plastic like they do a leaf.
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Post by Joona on Aug 29, 2013 15:51:42 GMT
Unless there's an escape they can only get to the thermostat probe and the temp / humidity sensors. I will cover the red cables with heat shrink tubing. As you can tell I was better at modding xboxes then building atta set ups
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Post by Black Ant on Aug 29, 2013 16:34:51 GMT
It's all looking good so far Mark
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Post by adamjames20 on Aug 29, 2013 16:49:14 GMT
Ha ha think the queen would start to get worried if the workers started humping Looking great mate , That should give you the same results my set up does Yeah I would avoid having the spheres resting on a heat matt , although the temp inside would be ok the base of the sphere would no doubt get hotter. Heating via the air around the nests is by far the bestest way, 9 times out of 10 it avoids most of the condensation. Also its the most natural way of heating for the ants : ) A ps. Just to add mate , I wouldn't bother with temp or humidity probes in the spheres , they will last barely a week or two before the workers chew through them
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Post by Joona on Aug 29, 2013 17:32:28 GMT
Lol now I want to leave them in, I have the dial ones in there too there just as accurate. One thing I have noticed is when the fans kick in the temps drops a few points of degrees before rising. I know this is down to the mats warming up and my mats are 7watt each so I only pull 21watts and that's not enough for a dimmer stat
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Post by Jonzii on Aug 29, 2013 17:32:35 GMT
Looking good Mark. Great to have another Atta journal on the go. Best of luck with them mate.
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Post by Jenny on Aug 29, 2013 19:30:39 GMT
The construction is fascinating, I'm glad it's not in this house or the air would be blue by now and I'd be out with the dogs all day it's looking good!
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Post by adama20 on Aug 31, 2013 15:43:27 GMT
Hey mark noticed in a earlier post you asked about light , my attas have a led strip light across the spheres , they don't mind it and work fine : )
A
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Post by Joona on Aug 31, 2013 16:36:47 GMT
Brilliant cheers matey, I'm going to ikea tomorrow to get the top shelf and get the holes put in there ready for when they need them. I'm sure ikea sell led lights. Do you leave them on all the time? Or off at night?
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Post by adamjames20 on Aug 31, 2013 20:11:28 GMT
To be honest mate , I leave them on for viewing and then switch them off , they deffo off at night as a light would keep me awake ha ha , during the day I have had them on all day some days and they have been fine : )
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Post by Joona on Sept 3, 2013 18:11:51 GMT
Ok one month on and it's complete, today I brought the top shelf and strip light. I went at it like a mad man and threw the shelf up and got the light in place and wired up. I drilled 35mm holes in the shelfs for the larger tube to go through for access to the large foraging tank and the above nest when/if I finally need it, if not my Missus has another shelf, granted its got a hole in but a shelf non the less. Now I'm just fine tuning the heat and humidity so ignore the 72RH on the meter as I haven't been watering the soil but I'm starting to now to get it right. The heat will be between 24'c and 27'c with an alarm set to go off at 28'c. Here she is, one month and around £170 later foraging area lit. Spheres lit. Set up. I'm going to add that from now on there will be no more build updates, I will however answer any questions and reply to any comments you may ask or have. I want to say thanks for all the kind comments so far (please keep them coming lol) and I have 100% enjoyed building this and am even prouder to have made it, I never dreamed I would do anything like this or own a species like this. I just hope now it all goes well and I can post a great journal for us all to read and enjoy. Thanks Mark
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 4, 2013 8:05:55 GMT
Really looking forward to seeing a thriving colony of Atta in your set up Mark, and hope you will do a few videos too.
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Post by Joona on Sept 4, 2013 9:47:27 GMT
Thanks mate I'll be doing videos and pics hopefully. Trying to persuade Lisa we need a new camera at the moment lol!
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 4, 2013 12:24:53 GMT
Thanks mate I'll be doing videos and pics hopefully. Trying to persuade Lisa we need a new camera at the moment lol! Often some of the cheaper digital cameras will do very good video in HD, and are just as good as cameras twice the price, so if you're a bit strapped for cash after buying this set up and the ants maybe your wife will let you have a nice camera if it doesn't cost too much? There are some nice cameras here for really cheap prices. Cheap Digital Cameras
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Post by Joona on Sept 4, 2013 14:27:37 GMT
To be fair it isn't a bad camera on the iPhone 5. I was thinking of getting a lense kit for it and get a new camera with my Xbox one for Christmas.
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