Ponzll's 3d Printed Aquarium Goodies Thread! - Page 3

[PonzLL]

I use design software that I use at work where I design things for a living, so that’s kind of a difficult question to answer. It was easy for me to learn, and my hunch is that it’s easy for most people to learn. There are certainly easy design tools out there though, like tinkercad.

 

[Fanatic]

Hey Ponz!
Do you think you can make a filter baffle to fit an aqueon quietflow 10, for betta fish?

 

[PonzLL]

I’m sure I could, but don’t have that filter available to take measurements from so I can’t actually do anything with the idea!

 

[Fanatic]

I’m sure I could, but don’t have that filter available to take measurements from so I can’t actually do anything with the idea!

If you could make that, imagine how many people would appreciate!

 

[PonzLL]

You know I’m not even exactly sure what that is. I assume it’s just something to clip on to the output to quiet the water as it enters the tank again? I should design those for all the filters I have just because!

 

[DarkOne]

I'm totally digging this 3d printing situation. I'm not too computer savvy, how difficult is it to design with the app? Is it an app?

I got a 3d printer a few years ago when I saw one on sale for $450 with everything you need to print. I found Thingverse and that is the main reason I got one because I can't design for poop and I've been in the computer industry for almost 30 yrs. Users share their 3d print files and you just load it into the printer software to print. My printer uses proprietary filament spools but there's a hack to use rfid tags ($2 per 10 on eBay) and an app to reprogram them to use any filament you want as long as it's the correct size.

I got it mostly for my drones but haven't needed to print anything for a couple of years so it was just collecting dust. I printed a moss tree but haven't used it yet.

 

[PonzLL]

Thingiverse is an amazing resource. I’ve mostly quit sharing designs there though because I constantly find other people selling them despite my non commercial licenses.

 

[Agua86]

I got a 3d printer a few years ago when I saw one on sale for $450 with everything you need to print. I found Thingverse and that is the main reason I got one because I can't design for poop and I've been in the computer industry for almost 30 yrs. Users share their 3d print files and you just load it into the printer software to print. My printer uses proprietary filament spools but there's a hack to use rfid tags ($2 per 10 on eBay) and an app to reprogram them to use any filament you want as long as it's the correct size.

I got it mostly for my drones but haven't needed to print anything for a couple of years so it was just collecting dust. I printed a moss tree but haven't used it yet.

Thanks! Will check that out.

 

[Agua86]

Thingiverse is an amazing resource. I’ve mostly quit sharing designs there though because I constantly find other people selling them despite my non commercial licenses.

How come you don't sell some of the things you make?

 

[PonzLL]

I do, I’ve just been asked by moderators here not to share my Etsy store here. I think I can sell them directly on the BST forum though, but I haven’t made a thread there yet.

 

[PonzLL]

I altered the design of my plant clip a bit to add a shelf to better hold it down under sand. The previous design would have been rock solid under gravel I think, but I had a couple pop loose in sand while vacuuming so I wanted to fix it.

 

[Agua86]

Do you remove the clips after the roots take off or you allow the plant's roots to grow around it?

 

[PonzLL]

I bury it and forget it. They're small enough that cost is a non-factor to me so I'm not worried about recovery to use again.

 

[DarkOne]

This is in my QT. It's overgrown with algae but a good tank to experiment with this moss tree. I'm using christmas tree moss for a thicker tree. Not sure where this will end up yet.

 

[PonzLL]

nice one! I didn't think to stick it inside but that's a nice plan

 

[PonzLL]

So the new pieces turned out perfectly right off the printer! I got rid of the brI'm and added a glass bed, so the bottom is perfectly clean and is even smooth enough to have a reflection!

 

[DarkOne]

nice one! I didn't think to stick it inside but that's a nice plan

Thanks. I had some on a cholla wood and stuffed a few pieces in and it grew out nicely. It's also a lot easier than tying or gluing it to the outside.

 

[PonzLL]

I have PTSD from trying to tie it on mine lol

 

[DarkOne]

I have a bunch of baby java fern and decided to tie them to a piece of plastic canvas last night. Moss just grows anywhere. I glued a bunch on the cholla wood and it would've been much easier to stuff them and let them grow out of the holes.

 

[HORNET1]

I do, I’ve just been asked by moderators here not to share my Etsy store here. I think I can sell them directly on the BST forum though, but I haven’t made a thread there yet.

I may get banned for stating this opinion, but I think it's ridiculous that you can't share your store on this forum.
Some of us (perhaps a LOT of us) are interested in what you have to offer.

 

[Lacey D]

I'm totally digging this 3d printing situation. I'm not too computer savvy, how difficult is it to design with the app? Is it an app?

There are quite a few different programs you can use, most of them are free. TinkerCad has a nice interface and is fairly easy... BUT there is a learning curve as far as what will work, and what won't in a design. Right now I'm printing out a bunch of other people's designs from Thingiverse and other aggregate sites. Printed a "minI planter" last night which I think will work well in the bare-bottom fry setup I want to do.

( I haven't had a chance to clean mine up yet and try it out).

 

[PonzLL]

That's a neat planter. I was just gonna give you suggestions on calibrating your print but then saw that the pic isn't yours lol

How much cleanup do you have though? This looks like it should print fine with no supports or anything.

 

[Lacey D]

That's a neat planter. I was just gonna give you suggestions on calibrating your print but then saw that the pic isn't yours lol

How much cleanup do you have though? This looks like it should print fine with no supports or anything.

Not a lot--just some filament threads and I wanted to make sure the holes were perfectly smooth inside because of fry being fry and investigating everything. It printed really nicely. I'll edit this with a picture when I get home It IS tiny though...which works for me. There's a medium size I want to print for comparison.

Final product:

 

[PonzLL]

Cool, I wanna see that pic and with a plant in there if you can! You can scale it up to whatever size you want if you don't like one of the two sizes given.

 

[DarkOne]

Acetone (nail polish remover) can smooth out 3d prints.

 

[PonzLL]

Correct, but I don't think that works on PLA, just ABS.

 

[Agua86]

I may get banned for stating this opinion, but I think it's ridiculous that you can't share your store on this forum.
Some of us (perhaps a LOT of us) are interested in what you have to offer.

He can offer some things on the buy/sell section.. Imagine if he opens up shop to accept requests from everyone? Poor printer would burn out! lol
This 3D printing may be just what I need to achieve a particular "look" in my aquarium. I've been looking for a white manzanita wood replica for my tank, but haven't seen anything remotely close to what I want.

 

[PonzLL]

That could be real interesting to see! I searched thingiverse to see what kind of tree stuff they had

You could print that with woodfill filament and get some real interesting results. Not sure if that type is aquarium safe though

 

[JadeMau]

Oh man, that's awesome...seems like just another reason my family and I should invest in a 3D printer! OwO

 

[Agua86]

That could be real interesting to see! I searched thingiverse to see what kind of tree stuff they had and found this
You could print that with woodfill filament and get some real interesting results. Not sure if that type is aquarium safe though

That's similar to what I'm thinking, obviously not as pointy.

 

[Lacey D]

Tried printing something for my husband the last 2 days--failed 3 times, once on the original .stl and twice an "updated" one where the main thing they changed was to add threading to one of the parts that had to be tapped before. Each time it wasn't sticking to the bed, despite tape AND glue. ABS. Pulled up at the edges, then after about an hour and a half of printing it kept pulling free and getting flung off the bed >_< So I've ordered some PLA to try that, because bed adhesion has long been an issue in my printer (I think the glass cools down or never gets hot enough, and the ABS has some nasty shrinkage). But I did go ahead a successfully print a hook for my Aqueon python-clone siphon hose, and hopefully tonight I can print a holder set for my aquasquaping tools to hang on the door of my cabinet. Then I can turn my attention to printing out hooks and other things to get my hobby room into order

Can't wait for your Buy-sell thread to start, PonzLL, and thanks for the prompting to get my printer back up and running

 

[TheeLadyG]

O my! this is all relevant to my interests~

 

[PonzLL]

lol I hate to break it to ya, but if your solution to glass bed adhesion issues is switching from ABS to PLA, you're gonna have a bad time. ABS sticks way better.

Try a scent free hairspray. That's what I use and it works well. Give it a light spray over the glass and then I heat my bed to 65C

If you're having prints lift at the corner, you could try printing with a brI'm if you aren't, or using a wider or thicker brI'm if you are. You could also build on a raft. I use one or the other for the very tricky parts.

 

[Lacey D]

lol I hate to break it to ya, but if your solution to glass bed adhesion issues is switching from ABS to PLA, you're gonna have a bad time. ABS sticks way better.

Try a scent free hairspray. That's what I use and it works well. Give it a light spray over the glass and then I heat my bed to 65C

If you're having prints lift at the corner, you could try printing with a brI'm if you aren't, or using a wider or thicker brI'm if you are. You could also build on a raft. I use one or the other for the very tricky parts.

Might give the brI'm a try tonight--hadn't thought of that. This is a part that is about 4 inches long and an inch wide, has a flat, rectangular base--what is happening is that it lays down flat to begin with. After about an hour, the two ends begin to shrink and lift up off the bed, which is exacerbated every time the printer moves from one end to the other because it starts to rock, like the leg of a rocking chair.Between an hour and a half and 2 hours, the entire thing lifts off and gets snagged on the print head, dragging it around the bed until it's flung off entirely. I was wondering if aiming a small heater at it to keep the entire cabinet (it's enclosed) over 70 would help :/ Might not make the rest of the printer very happy though.

So I'm currently having success with most things which can print under an hour, no matter what their dimensions. Anything which exceeds that is going to warp and pull off.

 

[PonzLL]

No, I don't think that would be a problem actually. A lot of industrial printers (like the ones I use at work) are fully enclosed with heated cabinets. That might help a lot too.

What I believe is happening here is that the bottom layers of your part is not shrinking as much because that heated bed is preventing it from cooling. As your print gets taller, the new surfaces get further and further from the heated bed, which means they're going to cool more, and then shrink more. Picture like a big foam block (maybe like the white ones you put in your filter) If you squeeze the ends together, but only at the top, the bottom edges will lift off the table. That's the same exact thing happening with your print.

Heating the entire enclosure to near your bed temperature will prevent the upper layers from shrinking more than the bottom layers.

Personally, this is what I'd do if I were you: It reads like your bed temp is 70C. I'd probably print it at 110C or so and not try to heat the enclosure more. 70C is closer to PLA temps. You could also lower your extruder temp a bit (but still in a good range for ABS), that can make the difference from print to cooling slightly less extreme and help with warp.

You can also look up "ABS Slurry" which is a mix of ABS and acetone that is smeared on your glass and left to dry. It makes an incredibly good bond to the glass that can really help with those tricky parts.

 

[Lacey D]

No, I don't think that would be a problem actually. A lot of industrial printers (like the ones I use at work) are fully enclosed with heated cabinets. That might help a lot too.

What I believe is happening here is that the bottom layers of your part is not shrinking as much because that heated bed is preventing it from cooling. As your print gets taller, the new surfaces get further and further from the heated bed, which means they're going to cool more, and then shrink more. Picture like a big foam block (maybe like the white ones you put in your filter) If you squeeze the ends together, but only at the top, the bottom edges will lift off the table. That's the same exact thing happening with your print.

Heating the entire enclosure to near your bed temperature will prevent the upper layers from shrinking more than the bottom layers.

Personally, this is what I'd do if I were you: It reads like your bed temp is 70C. I'd probably print it at 110C or so and not try to heat the enclosure more. 70C is closer to PLA temps. You could also lower your extruder temp a bit (but still in a good range for ABS), that can make the difference from print to cooling slightly less extreme and help with warp.

You can also look up "ABS Slurry" which is a mix of ABS and acetone that is smeared on your glass and left to dry. It makes an incredibly good bond to the glass that can really help with those tricky parts.

Thank you so much for that very astute analysis! I don't know why I was getting it completely backwards--that the upper part is too cold makes so much more sense! I said 70 because I wasn't sure if setting it any higher would work, but I might try 80, just to see. I have tried ABS slurry in the past, with the same results--small parts work, larger/vertical ones fail.

One of the major drawbacks to the Da VincI 2.0 (beside being restricted to ONLY their filament, and only ABS, PLA and now a water soluble filament) is that the bed and filament temperatures are preset and not adjustable :/ It's controlled by a chip on the filament cartridge. I might give in and flash the system and install a 3rd party software to give me that flexibility in the future. But we got this mostly to see how much we could/would use it, and it's doing well at the small parts. We probably will save up for something which can print in a wider variety of filament the next time around

I will give heating the enclosure a try to reduce shrinkage a go tonight. Wish me luck, and thanks again for all your help!

 

[PonzLL]

I’m all out of ideas lol. I’ve been doing some big upgrades to my printer this week, and I’m on the verge of purchasing an MK3 kit. I was thinking of making some sort of Halloween related fish thing to send to school with the kiddo to hand out to his classmates on Halloween.

 

[Jellibeen]

Oh!

How about a plant basket like the one you made to fit in your tank lid, but instead it hangs over the side of the tank so anyone can easily use it? I have way too many plants suction cupped to the side of my tank. Plus I just got some gorgeous philodendron cuttings that are too thick for the suction cups I use for pothos.

 

[PonzLL]

That's not a bad idea, but with all the different variations on rims it might be tough to get a decent fit on across the board. I'm interested enough to play around with the idea though!

 

[NanaW]

Alright here we go. I like the tree. The java moss looks pretty bad so far, but I'm hoping it'll eventually get used to my water and take off.




Tired of using an air stone for a diffuser

Too cheap to buy a real one

gonna try to 3d print one by forcing tiny CO2 bubbles between the microscopic gaps in printed layers.




I made the infill full of gaps so that only the outer walls restrict flow.

Will the bonsaI tree fit a 10 gallon I want one if it will please in red lol

 

[PonzLL]

I have mine in a 10g. Believe me, I’d LOVE to be able to sell that, but I believe that’s the one thing in this thread I posted but didn’t design, and the author does not allow me to sell it. That said, it’s a fantastic design and the author may sell it. I’m not sure.

 

[NanaW]

I have mine in a 10g. Believe me, I’d LOVE to be able to sell that, but I believe that’s the one thing in this thread I posted but didn’t design, and the author does not allow me to sell it. That said, it’s a fantastic design and the author may sell it. I’m not sure.

Bummer does he have a inclusive on it ?

 

[PonzLL]

I don’t know much about licensing and I’m not sure what you mean. The license the author uploaded with allows people to print it for personal use, or to give them away, but not to make any money on.

 

[NanaW]

I don’t know much about licensing and I’m not sure what you mean. The license the author uploaded with allows people to print it for personal use, or to give them away, but not to make any money on.

Oh gotcha it is definitely an awesome tree looks good in your tank

 

[Jellibeen]

You could also make the plant baskets with a suction cup attached. I would definitely buy one. The suction cups I have are about the right size for a pothos stem, but way too small for the philodendron. I think pothos and other plants would do better in a basket, too.

 

[DarkOne]

Here's a bonsaI tree in a 10g. I might've scaled it up a bit when I printed it.

 

[PonzLL]

Nah that looks about the same as mine actually.

 

[Fishcat]

If you get the plant basket idea worked out I would be interested. I was thinking in particular of a skinny rectangular shape to fit in the back in the space otherwise occupied by the heater and air line.
I might be wrong, but I’m thinking that with the rectangular shape, it would be easier to fit on different rI'm types. A long flat side against the side of the tank would be basically more stable, and then you would have multiple hook things to go over the side of the tank. I’m thinking sort of like an aquatic window box?

 

[PonzLL]

Hey I'm glad you posted that because I actually completely forgot I said I was gonna do that lol

I'll work on something Monday and see what I can come up with!

 

[NanaW]

Hey I'm glad you posted that because I actually completely forgot I said I was gonna do that lol

I'll work on something Monday and see what I can come up with!

I'm waiting for new stuff lol