blueumbreon wrote:and the squid farm idea is bad. i already tried it and the spawn rates don't work well with it. a spawner would be far more effective
Yes, it would be much faster; but squid-spawner blocks cannot be legitimately obtained in survival. I think it is very unlikely that Zedwick or the community would support cheating one in. I still believe a squid farm is the best choice.
An alternative solution is to put your main base in an ocean biome and kill squids every time you see them near the surface; this provides enough ink sacs for my needs, but it sounds like it might not be enough for you :\