Reef Rock - using 3d printer for moulding

[Fangz]

I am working towards building my first reef tank and am taking my time to get there. Lots of great ideas and videos. I am leaning towards a peninsula tank which seems a bit more challenging when designing the layout.

Has anyone designed their own reef rock in Blender or CAD, reversed the mesh, printed it then used it as a mould for making your own reef rock from concrete?

I have seen several pieces of info on how to make your own reef rock with sand, course gravel, fine salt, course salt, and concrete mix. I was thinking that if you coupled that with a pervious concrete mix method you could get some fairly porous rock. My intention is not to go with a heavy solid chunk of rock, but a much more intricate style.

Also, has anyone ever tried making a reef looking like a sunken ship or a sunken city? I have done this and seen this kind of thing done with freshwater - but I wonder what it would look like with reef rock and corals? I have seen some wrecks while scuba diving but I wonder if that will scale to a reef tank?

 

[theatrus]

No reason a rock shape couldn't be printed. If you make it a porous mesh (low infill, or random in-fill patterns, no surface layers) it should take layers of aggregate pretty well.

 

[Oscar47f]

You need to finds suitable medium I think concrete leeches stuff I forget what they use but I’m sure a quick google search would help... I mean as far as printing it’s feasible depending on how large you want the rocks and making the internal structure would be a challenge but if you can figure it out I would love to see the finished product!