3D Printing thread

[morpheas]

Have you tested the grease (or whatever it is) that that plastic heater is using? Is it toxic? Yet we use it. Are neodymium magnets toxic? Yet we use them. Why? Because those are MANAGEABLE risks. That's the same thing I'm suggesting here. Fear mongering and blanket statements are stupid in my opinion.

Conversely, just because the filament i use has not caused a problem does not mean another one won't. Same, just because a lot of people have used that heater doesn't mean that some haven't had a problem (tank crashes left and right for a bit there while their QC improved). Making a blanket statement "pigmented PLA is toxic" or "the X heater will bust in smoke, leak grease and kill everything" is completely unacceptable in my opinion.

Anyway, i didn't mean this to become an argument, I'm just depositing my experience and thoughts in the matter just like everyone else and name-calling is completely uncalled for in my opinion.

 

[shiftline]

Just made some controller holders
https://instagram.com/p/BY97HkCF08M/

 

[GrizFyrFyter]

Have you tested the grease (or whatever it is) that that plastic heater is using? Is it toxic? Yet we use it. Are neodymium magnets toxic? Yet we use them. Why? Because those are MANAGEABLE risks. That's the same thing I'm suggesting here. Fear mongering and blanket statements are stupid in my opinion.

Conversely, just because the filament i use has not caused a problem does not mean another one won't. Same, just because a lot of people have used that heater doesn't mean that some haven't had a problem (tank crashes left and right for a bit there while their QC improved). Making a blanket statement "pigmented PLA is toxic" or "the X heater will bust in smoke, leak grease and kill everything" is completely unacceptable in my opinion.

Anyway, i didn't mean this to become an argument, I'm just depositing my experience and thoughts in the matter just like everyone else and name-calling is completely uncalled for in my opinion.

I'm not making blanket claims that all pigments are toxic. I'm very simply passing on the information that I have taken the time to test the materials I use prior to making prints available to other people and I have found several materials were toxic. I have also tested a dozens of materials that haven't had any problems.

So if someone tells you that unsealed neodymium Magnets or a specific model of heater will introduce toxins to your tank, do you intentionally ignore this information because you haven't had any problems yet?

Don't be arrogant. I take the time and effort to make sure I am not introducing toxins to another reefers tank and pass along the information I have and am accused of fear mongering?

 

[morpheas]

Stupid and now arrogant huh? Cool. I'll refrain from throwing words around because as i said i don't want to make this a fight. It's not really worth it honestly, I'm sure we would've been friends in real life, we think alike.

My final response so we can close this here is this. My initial post was to the tone of "let's not fall into a hype" (if i failed to communicate like that i apologize). I have been following the thread (and many others) and i have seen them have a scent of hyping on the side of "PLA will degrade rapidly" and "the toxic PLA". That was the reason i even posted to reinforce the other couple of responses that said that they have had no problems with printed parts out of PLA.

I am glad you do your testing and so do i. Everything i do goes into my tank first for an extended period of time.

I hope we can close this here, this thread has been great to follow.

Yes, PLA can biodegrade (although extremely slowly in the conditions of our reefs) and yes some dyes in PLA could be toxic (but not all), please do your testing before using it. Be safe as with anything else you do for/with your tank. Fair enough?

Have a good night, back to the subject i hope

 

[shiftline]

I would recommend petg or abs for anything in tank

 

[OnlyTono]

I would recommend petg or abs for anything in tank

I would agree. Everything Ive been printing for in-tank use has been PETG. I like it because it seems easier to print than ABS and doesn't have the issue with the smell/fumes that ABS tends to give off while it's printing.
With that said and as others here have stated, I have both white , natural and black PLA parts that Ive had in my own tank for a relatively long time - say 7-8 months, and they are as good as the day i put them in - except with some coraline algae.

 

[lmm1967]

How are you testing PLA for toxicity?

 

[Engloid]

Any other good sources for 3d printed aquarium stuff? I'm still new, so I'm especially interested in places I can find the stl files. I'm still really slow creating my own stuff.

 

[litenyaup]

Great thread!

 

[GrizFyrFyter]

How are you testing PLA for toxicity?

With snails in an isolated tank.

 

[OnlyTono]

How are you testing PLA for toxicity?

basically the same as @GrizFyrFyter. Except Ive used snails and hermits. Although I have done any testing ins some time, since I pretty much stick to just a few colors and the same brand of filament. I have lots of parts, both PLA+ and PETG in my display tank and no issues.

Any other good sources for 3d printed aquarium stuff? I'm still new, so I'm especially interested in places I can find the stl files. I'm still really slow creating my own stuff.

You can find some good stuff on many of the community sites, such as thingiverse.com. You just have to search for it. You'll find things as simple as probe holders and items as complex as this protein skimmer
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:285874

 

[Zephrant]

I've been using Hatchbox black PLA. Only several weeks now, no visible degradation in two tanks. Got a spool of Alchement Star PETG (dark yellow) handed to me today, so will try out a few things in it.

Here is a simple mounting bracket to put an LED strip in a 20g Eclipse hood:

This is a new diverter to replace the one that broke, on the outlet of the over-the-tank biowheel chamber. It cuts down on the splashing, and is silent.

I had a hole drilled for a bulkhead in an internal baffle that I didn't want anymore, so made a plug for it. The tabs were pretty stiff, broke some of them getting it in, but it still works. Not sure how to make flexible tabs yet in PLA.

And this is a grate I put on top of a baffle. I am thinking of putting new fish in that area of the sump for acclimation, and didn't want them to escape in to the refugium.

Could not get ABS to print well on my printer, so gave up for now. Ordered it by mistake, turns out that "OnlyPLA" that sells on Amazon, also sells ABS, so searching for purple PLA will turn up ABS as well.

I'll post pictures of the actual parts tomorrow, don't have them handy right now.

 

[Zephrant]

Here are the in-place pictures:

 

[Zephrant]

Got Octoprint setup on a Raspberry Pi last week, I'm pretty impressed with it. I use Linux a lot, but this was a dead simple setup. Follow the instructions and it took care of everything, even resizing the image to fit the CF automatically.
A little flaky on my gen 1 ipad, but I can start/stop prints at least. On a gen 3 ipad, it works fine, as well as on my desktop. I can even get to it remotely if I open an SSH tunnel and port forward. I didn't want to put it on the net directly of course.

Put one of these on my printer too: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074N3VCV9

I can now turn it on/off from my phone, either from upstairs or even away from the house.

Highly recommend both of those products.

 

[Rick Cavanaugh]

I have made many parts in PLA in used these in Seahorse Fry raising tanks, my adult SH tank and my reef tanks. Zero issue with the fry, corals and inverts.

However, PLA will absorb liquid and it will become brittle and weak before it biodegrades Parts will fail. Not the best choice for something that will be in the water for a long time. Take a piece of plain PLA filament in put it into water for a month, Most brands will break up into 1-4 inch pieces pretty fast from the water making the PLA brittle and the curvature of the filament creating enough stress to crack the filament.

I have used PETG with much better success. PTEG is great stuff. I am not a fan of ABS. Works great on flat parts or anything close to the heated bed..... I have had to many failed ABS parts to mess with this. PETG works much better. If you have a heated chamber, then by all means use ABS.

Most of the dyes are locked into the plastic and will not leave the plastic. I would be more concerned about what you are putting on your heated bed and the effect of those chemicals. Hairspray, ABS slurry etc.

 

[Zephrant]

Can't seem to get PETG to print well on my Prusa i3 clone. Hot end can't go over 230, and it ends up printing a mess. Skips, drags, etc. I think I need to upgrade to a new hot end.
Spool says print from 220-240, but 230 is not quite hot enough, even with a bed at 80c.

 

[WesleyC]

Inspired by PaulB's Mandarin Feeder design, I just made a 3D print version of it. It started almost 2 weeks ago from the drawing board, literally:

Sep 18th: I like to have the tube removable and leave the feeder on the sand bed and let the fish keep picking on it.

A small connector that always connected to the long plastic tube for pouring the shrimps in. It can then twist onto the base feeder that is sitting on the sand bed. The feeder could have an optional even bigger sand bed base that go under the sand so the feeder won't get blown around by the water current. There will be a cap for the feeder. Either just direct 3D print with tiny holes, or an open cap to allow using a normal mesh.

Sep 25th: After many days and many re-design for real world issues, here is the latest design:

The feeder is anchored down by the base to avoid floating away or getting blown around by the reef tank water current. Just a push and a twist on the feeding tube, and the feeder can be removed from the under-sand-anchor:

After pouring in the BBS, you can unscrew the feeding tube from the feeder. The rigid air tube is compression fitted to the screw-like connector. You can put in a blind-plug to close the hole without getting your hand wet. The screw-like connector is loosely fitted until the last turn.

Here is the under-sand-base and the feeder:

Everything is modular design. If you have a thinner/thicker air-tube, just need to re-print the screw-like compression connector. If you have a different size funnel, just re-print the funnel-airtube connector.

The screens are changeable as well.

The next revision is work-in-progress to have interchangable under-sand mounting legs, so that it could be buried in various places and situations.

 

[Rick Cavanaugh]

Can't seem to get PETG to print well on my Prusa i3 clone. Hot end can't go over 230, and it ends up printing a mess. Skips, drags, etc. I think I need to upgrade to a new hot end.
Spool says print from 220-240, but 230 is not quite hot enough, even with a bed at 80c.

Check your voltage and also the connections going to the heat to your hot end. I have had a poor connection on the board once.

I have a prusa I3 by Geeetech (about as cheap as you can get) and I can get my head up to 250 easily. I print PETG at 245 and 100 on the bed. There is also a small chance you have a weak heater. Those are about $4 each.

 

[Rick Cavanaugh]

Have you tried TPU at all in the tanks? I have some ideas where flexible materials would be useful.

I have not tried TPU or Ninja flex underwater yet. I just started printing with Ninjaflex. It is HARD to print. It is so flexible that it has to be printed real slow and you can not alter speeds. Print everything at around 20mm/s or slower and do not alter. It will build up pressure in the nozzle and ooze like mad during travels and then take a while to start extruding again. Both are labeled as non toxic and the colors are locked up in the plastic.

 

[GrizFyrFyter]

I have not tried TPU or Ninja flex underwater yet. I just started printing with Ninjaflex. It is HARD to print. It is so flexible that it has to be printed real slow and you can not alter speeds. Print everything at around 20mm/s or slower and do not alter. It will build up pressure in the nozzle and ooze like mad during travels and then take a while to start extruding again. Both are labeled as non toxic and the colors are locked up in the plastic.

I print with it a lot. Currently on my 5th roll of it. It's easy once you get the hang of it and your extruder is set up for it.