Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10x1 Nest Review

Hi guys! I hope you’re doing well!

Today I’m going to make a little review of this cool ant nest made by the company Anthouse. You can find the nest here!

Let’s see if it’s any good!


General Info

This nest is called Acrylic NaturColor 20x10x1, and it’s an acrylic nest. Like many Anthouse products, this nest is made of a series of acrylic layers mounted on top of one another to create the nest’s structure.

The Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

The acrylic sheets are cut using laser technology, and are kept together using six standard bolts. The precision of the cuts has really amazed me. There are no signs of errors on the pieces, and the sheets fit together perfectly!

One cool thing about this nest, is that it can be considered totally escape-proof! The acrylic sheets are stacked in a way that completely removes any space between the pieces, making it impossible for the ants to escape!

The acrylic layers of the Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

For this reason, this nest is perfect for every ant species, even the smaller ones! Just like this other one made by WaKooshi! This is an amazing nest if you’re planning on keeping extremely small species!


The Chambers

The chambers of the nest are fairly sized, and are made in a way that resembles the shape of the ones that the ants make in the wild.

Messor barbarus colony inside a Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

As you may already know, having a too-large nest with lots of chambers can be quite stressful for a small ant colony. For this reason, Anthouse has decided to divide the nest into 3 main zones, in order to give the colony just the right amount of space they need.

Each zone is separated from the other using these very cool sliding little doors.

Messor barbarus colony inside a Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

With this clever solution, you can decide to expand the nest once the colony has reached a certain size, without the need to attach another nest!


The Outworld

As you can see, this nest also includes a little outworld. The outworld measures 7×7 centimeters, and has plenty of space for the feeding dishes and the liquid feeders. On top of it, we find a small opening and a small lid.

The outworld of the Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

To be completely honest, I think that the top opening is a little too small. It makes it very difficult to clean the outworld and feed the ants, even if you are using a pair of long tweezers. Luckily, this nest gives you the possibility of expanding the built-in outworld by connecting an external one!

If you, just like me, need a properly sized outworld to better feed your ants and manage all the trash that the ants produce, I would suggest you check out this other product! This is an amazing outworld made by another great company in this space: Esthetic Ants!

In order to be properly ventilated, the outworld features these extremely narrow ventilation holes.

The ventilation holes of the Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

They create an almost imperceptible airflow, just enough to prevent the formation of mold outbreaks.


The Humidity System

This nest uses a very clever system for maintaining a constant level of humidity inside the chambers. At the center of the nest, we find this very peculiar object.

Messor barbarus colony inside a Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

Anthouse calls this component “mushroom”. As you can imagine, the name comes from the fact that this component, with its unusual and characteristic shape, clearly resembles the appearance of a common mushroom.

The mushroom of the Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

As you can see, this component is immersed in the water contained inside this little plastic tank, positioned under the main structure of the nest.

The water tank of the Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

This particular type of material is capable of absorbing the water extremely easily, transporting it from the little tank to the center of the nest.

To do that, it uses a very common physical phenomenon called capillary action, which enables the water molecules to travel inside the component and reach the inside of the nest.

With this clever solution, the nest remains hydrated for a very long time! Thanks to the water tank, you don’t have to constantly check the humidity level inside the nest, nor do you have to water the nest every couple of days!

I’ve used this nest and this humidity system for some time now, and I can confidently say that it works like a charm!

But how do I refill the water tank under the nest? Fortunately, Anthouse thought about it! If you look closely, there’s a tiny hole in the nest, right on top of the tank.

The watering hole of the Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

With this hole, you can refill the water tank from above the nest using a normal syringe, just like I am doing!

Filling the water tank of the Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

Thanks to this little hole, you don’t have to lift up the nest and cause immense stress to the colony!


Expandability

If the colony has grown to the point that the nest has become too small for them, you can easily expand it by using these particular types of connectors! With this standard 10mm tube connector you can easily connect another nest, giving the ants a lot more living space!

The connectors of the Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

If the colony you’re currently housing inside the nest has filled all the available space and the new workers are starting to live in the outworld, I think it’s finally time for an upgrade! To add some nesting space to your current setup, I would suggest you opt for this amazing Ytong nest made by Esthetic Ants!

This nest is perfect for housing almost every species of ant, and the fact that the main living area is made of Ytong gives this nest an automatic thumbs up!


The Top Lid

If you want, as an additional accessory, you can get this top lid made of red transparent acrylic.

The red lid of the Anthouse Acrylic NaturColor 20x10

This is perfect for creating a dark and safe space for your colony, as most ant species do not see the red light spectrum! It also covers the sides of the nest, reducing the light that enters the nest to almost 0!


Rating

BRUMA Ants Rating
Overall
4.6
  • Pricing
  • Build quality
  • Features
  • Aesthetic

Summary

A very good rectangle-shaped escape-proof ant nest made of various layers of acrylic, perfect for a medium-sized ant colony. The outworld included in the nest does its job fairly well, providing a good-sized feeding area.

With the nest you can also get an extremely useful red lid cover, perfect for creating a comfortable and dark space for your colony! The humidity system is awesome, and provides the nest with a constant amount of moisture!


I hope you have found this guide helpful!

The Anthouse sand nest

If you’re interested in the company and wanna check out some other products, you will definitely like this review of another Anthouse nest! This one is perfect if you have a larger ant colony and like watching the ants dig tunnels in the dirt!


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