My 1st 3D printed Frag Rack...

[LiveWire]

I decided to break out the 3D printer today and see how she would do on a 5.5 hour print on a frag rack. I have to say that I am impressed. I am now printing a dark purple one so we will see how that goes. So far so good but will need a little tweaking for sure.

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[Tuffyyyyy]

Looks pretty cool!

 

[._Z_.]

What material is it? Any worries about it not being reef safe?

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Looks pretty slick.

 

[LiveWire]

It’s PLA and research that I have looked at for 6 months shows no issues in a Reef Aquarium. I am planning on this rack being part of my own test on a 10 Gallon to see exactly what happens. I will post pics of the 2nd one printed tomorrow. I turned up the heat a bit in the printer and it seems to be a smoother print. Looks much better and same material PLA.

 

[._Z_.]

Thanks, Good to know! I’ve considered doing some printing for my tank but worried plastic would leach or something. Your rack looks really nice btw ;)

 

[FlyinBryan]

Looking forward to in tank pics! Looks good!

 

[cilyjr]

PLA is the biodegradable stuff that is similar to biopellets. It may act as a nutrient source

 

[LiveWire]

That's the 2nd one. There was one guy that said he has had it in his system for over 2 years and he has had no issues. I am going to place it in the frag tank and we will all see how it goes. I may even go as far as getting the Triton test out so we know whats in the water from the start and then see what changes 6 months down the road. I have also seen other people use PET+ So I may order some of that and try it out also. I plan on attending the frag swap coming up this weekend at That Fish Place so I should have it in the tank with a few corals on it by then so you all can see it in the tank.

 

[cilyjr]

I'll be curious to see. Who knows maybe it's a new low maintenance carbon dosing method!

 

[kireek]

Nicely done! I love the purple one.

 

[Reefcreators]

Thanks for letting me know there is a swap this weekend I didn’t get a notice this time.

Btw nice rack it does look good. What are the measurements? How long did the second one take after you turned up the printer speed?

 

[Reefcreators]

Looks like your going to let it sit on the bottom?

 

[TheLadyCrash]

The racks look really nice! I’ll be another one to caution against using PLA though....I’d look at using PETG.

 

[Rick Cavanaugh]

I have had PLA in a tank for over 2 years. No issues. PLA does biodegrade, but VERY SLOWLY. I made blocks with not surface, so you only have the internal mesh / fill with the concept it would be a carbon source and a good bio filter. They show no signs of degrading. Not sure if they really did anything as a biofilter...... The tank that had the PLA pieces is used as a seahorse fry tank in the winter and a coral frag tank in the summer. No issues with Fry or corals including very high end sticks.

PLA will absorb water and this can cause cracking in thin areas.

PETG is by far a better filament for most uses. Stronger, not brittle and does not have issues with absorbing water in a tank.