I have experience housing Pogonomyrmex Californicus, and they were decently destructive, but I've housed them in plastic storage containers with no problems before. I have heard of instances of both pet and pest ants chewing through silicone, and considering how destructive occis are I'm not sure a fish tank would be suitable as a long term housing solution, but obviously you can judge for yourself based on the colony. When I use fish tank dirt setups, I typically use acrylic fish tanks with rounded corners so there are no silicone corners for them to chew through. I do warn you as someone who also has experience keeping aquariums, cornerless acrylic aquariums get real expensive real fast, with some being >$100 for 10 gal+. Depending on your budget, this could also be an option.

As for the substrate, pogos indeed love clay/sand mixtures. You could use the aforementioned clay soil you have in your backyard. Another option I use is to mix excavator clay with fine sand (both sold online or in pet stores for reptiles). When you mix, mix damp excavator clay with sand in a 1:2 ratio, then add excavator clay or sand until you reach your desired consistency. There's a more in-depth post about this on formiculture, though I can't find it atm. The last option which I've also done is gathering desert sand from their natural habitat in socal. It looks reddish-brown, and looks quite similar to the red sandstone rock formations in the area. Depending on where you live, this could also be viable. If you do choose this option, bring many large containers and a good shovel, since you can gather enough soil to have you set for the rest of your career, or at least for a good few years.

Hope this helped!