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3D printing your aquarium parts


SantaMonica

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SantaMonica
3D printing your aquarium parts


For those of you serious DIY folks, you may be interested in how you can make your own plastic aquarium parts by printing them on a 3D printer. Just this year, costs for the 3D printers have dropped to under $500 USD for a pre-built one, and under $200 USD for a kit. 3D printing of your plastic parts works well when:


1. You are good with computers.

2. You like trying new designs or colors.

3. The part is small, or can be put together with small parts.

4. The part does not require great strength.

3. There is no easier/cheaper way to get the parts.


Some aquarium parts, such as simple boxes or tubes, are not suited to 3D printing because they can be more easily made with simple plastic or acrylic shapes. But some parts are so complex that there is no other way to make them except to print them on a 3D printer. I'll be using 3D printers to make the next version of algae scrubbers because of the built-in air tubing, magnet compartments, holes, and bubble pathways that make it impossible for the part to be made (in one piece) any other way.


Some things I've learned that pertain especially to 3D-printed aquarium parts:


1. Only use ABS plastic, not PLA or PVA. The ABS plastic is the same type of plastic used in kid's LEGO toys and is very strong. PLA or PVA plastic, however, will slowly dissolve when underwater or when subjected to high temps.


2. Only use FDM (also called FF) printers. These are the types of printers which use coils of plastic filament. These are also the cheapest printers. Other types of printers such as SLA (liquid) use a photo-cured plastic that will get brittle under aquarium lights, and "powder-printers" make parts which are not water tight.


3. The 3D printed parts will not be "glossy smooth". They will instead be more like carbon fiber, with a texture (or lines) running in one direction through the whole part.


I'm too new at 3D printing to be able to recommend a particular printer, but I'm sure each reef or aquarium club has someone who has a 3D printer, and this is usually a great place to start.


Happy printing!

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Good summary, I've been pretty interested in applying 3d printing to aquariums as well. What kind of printer do you use and what kinds of things have you printed? I have a mendel 90 built from a kit.

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Was just playing with the 3D printer today. There are some potentially awesome applications for the nano reef.

 

I've read in several places that the resins are not considered food safe, either ABS or PVA. Makerbot recommends not printing any kind of eating utensils or cups for this reason. I'm skeptical that it would have any adverse effect on an aquarium, though.

 

Have you successfully printed anything for your tank yet?

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SantaMonica

I don't have one yet. I'm looking to get several Makerbot Replicator 2x machines, however. And so far I've only modelled and had printed the attached part.

 

Many powerheads and other parts are ABS.

 

The fumes, I understand, are similar to cooking on a stove. Basic ventilation should get rid of them; also, they make carbon-filters you can add on. The Buccaneer printer (for $370 assembled) is supposed to come with a carbon filter. The fumes are not "toxic" as in breathing acetone vapors, however.

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This is so cool. What is a cheap 3D printer anybody would recommend? My friends have been scouting for some for a while, but don't have a lot of cash (think $500).

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The buccaneer's build volume is a little on the small side (max dimension is 5-6"), but yea I think it's a good option if you're only printing small parts. It's main selling point is that it's extremely user friendly versus most reprap machines where you have to learn how to use skeinforge or another slicing software. There's also a lot of tuning required depending on which machine you buy. The mendel 90 that I have is a pretty solid machine, but kits go for around $800 and until there's a kickstarter for it, the price probably won't go down too much. But if you're budget is $500, the kossel clear and rigidbot might be good options:

 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blueeaglelabs/kossel-clear-lets-build-a-full-sized-delta-3d-prin

 

http://www.inventapart.com/rigidbot.php

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I don't have one yet. I'm looking to get several Makerbot Replicator 2x machines, however. And so far I've only modelled and had printed the attached part.

 

Many powerheads and other parts are ABS.

 

The fumes, I understand, are similar to cooking on a stove. Basic ventilation should get rid of them; also, they make carbon-filters you can add on. The Buccaneer printer (for $370 assembled) is supposed to come with a carbon filter. The fumes are not "toxic" as in breathing acetone vapors, however.

 

looks good. By the way have you thought about making silicone rubber molds and using isophthalic polyester resin to make your algae scrubber? Instead of 3d printing all of them, you could print one, sand/finish it, and then start casting. Based on the pictures, the mold doesn't need to be very complicated either, except for maybe the air inlet/outlet (I'm guessing that's what the tubes are), which you could just as easily leave as holes in the casted part and then add regular acrylic tubing.

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SantaMonica

Yes I have thought about casting, but it would involve post-work as you mention, especially adding the tube, which we already do now. So in the spirit of truly making everything one piece and "manufactured" looking, I opted to keep it 3D.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Summary of 3D printing links:


Endless things to print:



General forum for all printers:



Massive forum for lots of printer kits and DIY:



Current lowest-cost assembled printer to print aquarium-safe ABS plastic:



Current most popular U.S. based assembled printer:



Low cost Chinese clone of Makerbot:



Another low cost Chinese clone of Makerbot:


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I think that's a cool design and idea; that is by far the worst kickstarter video I have seen though.

There is no video, right? I couldn't find one.

And that looks great! I would buy one for myself if I wasn't so broke. :)

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There's no video because you took it down? What would prompt me to say such a thing if there wasn't a video up. I'd say look at some Apple product videos. They know how to sell stuff.

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There's no video because you took it down? What would prompt me to say such a thing if there wasn't a video up. I'd say look at some Apple product videos. They know how to sell stuff.

That's somewhat rude. What reason would a company have for making a bad video? If they were pressed for time, that's not to comment on. The product is good, and that is what matters.

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There is no video because I don't have the time or energy to set up a nice tank in a nice home with nice furnishings. The tanks are side-by-side on metal warehouse shelves in our office.

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