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After months of waiting, it's finished. The colony is submerged, the ants are digging, and the air is circulating.
I present to you...
Ant-ture.
The seal around the lid is air/watertight, the air is flowing better than it was BEFORE I sealed the lid, and the Ants are busy little... Um... Ants. About 85% of them survived the trip here, and they're currently in the process of eating and transferring gel to bury the dead ants with. According to what I've read, this coupled with the air circulation will prevent any sort of disease or issues.
So, I plan to update once a week until all the ants are dead. I will attempt to setup a 24/7 webcam, but I have no idea how well that will work. So we'll see in time.
Thanks for reading the blog, thanks for sticking with the project, and thanks for the donations that made the finished product possible!
Ant-ture will not fall, my friends!
Ants STILL aren't here. If they aren't here in the next 2-3 days, I'm hitting up a local pet shop. Hopefully pet shops still carry ants.
The entire fucking colony is FINISHED. I just need to drop the fucking ants in. Jesus christ, I hate ordering things online sometime.
I'm HOPING the ants will be here tomorrow, but I'm sure I'll be proven wrong, because FUCKING USPS.
So to appease you, here is a picture of the air pump running through the "filtration system".
The seals for the tubing are pretty much fail-proof. You can't see the inner side of the lid, but it's done up roughly the same. The chances of any water getting in from THERE is miniscule. The bigges problem is the rim of the lid itself, due to the "friction band" not actually fitting the corners, so any time there is any water pressure, the water will leak in at the corners. I'm going to solve this by gluing the entire lid on, after I've inserted the ants. This should fix the problem.
Also, due to the air inside the colony, I'm going to have to anchor it to the bottom of the aquarium. Gluing it to the bottom before filling it would probably be the best bet.
I am so convinced this will work fine, but I can't help but worry about not gluing the lid well enough. I would really hate for this project to fail because of something as silly as a tiny little crack.
Oh well... Time will tell.
Yeah. I so damn long-winded, but I felt the need to give a REAL, substantial update.
All the pieces are here. All that's left are the ants. =D
The AntWorks colony has left Nevada, and is currently in-transit.
The Tubing has no tracking, so it's anyone's guess where it is.
The Air Pump had tracking last night, and had arrived in Nevada, so I can only assume it's with the Colony.
I'm gonna estimate it'll make it here by about Tuesday or Wednesday next week. =D
I really hope the tubing gets here first, in all honesty. I want to measure it, cut it, and find a drill-bit that's going to be a slight bit smaller in comparison. (I figure the more friction between the lid and the tubing, the better. It'll make the need for a water-tight seal with glue a little less important.)
The other $14 posted in my bank account, so as soon as I have it all assembled, I'll order the ants.
I think I'll take a few pictures of the colony once it's finished, and then make a video once a week to show off their progress.
I have two ideas for the "air filtration system". Ants only need a small amount of air to survive, so I purchased a 1.0psi Air Pump and tubing, to route air through the lid.
I plan to drill two holes, equal to or slightly smaller than the tubing itself, and route the tubing in.
Now, I have two ways of doing this.
1). Run two separate lengths of tubing. One on each side. Hot glue cloth over the ends, to prevent any escape attempts. One side is hooked to the air pump, to pump air in. The other end is glued to the outside of the aquarium, to allow air to flow out/pressure equalization.
2). Run a single length of tube down, and perforate it along the inside of the lid with small holes, to allow airflow in. One end connected to the pump, another end connected to the outside of the aquarium.
In my mind, #1 sounds like the safest route, as I don't know if air will be able to travel back IN the tube, in-case of a pressure spike. I'd rather not crush the ants with air, when they're managing to survive underwater.
Input? Other possible design ideas?
Keep in mind, this is the prototype/experimental stage of the project. If successful, I plan to create a much large version. The vision is a 20-gallon version, with a Plexiglass crafted colony filled with the purchasable gel mix. Ultimately, I'd like to add various sealife, such as crabs, snails, and a few fish. (Maybe an eel?)
The farm, air pump, and tubing are on their way. =D
All that's left are the ants. As soon as the other $15 posts in my account, I'll order those too. The only downside is that the shipment will be here between the 7th or 13th. I'd have paid the extra for expedited shipping, but the Farm would have still shipped on the 7th.
So by this time next week, there is a very good chance I will have at least ONE of the items for the project in my hands. From there on, it's a matter of taking the time to do this project the right way, and not cut corners to make things work.
OUR VISION MUST BE PRESERVED.
