3D printing and reefing

[Fisher15]

I thought others might like to see what a 3d printer can do.

 

I have a fish room and I keep clownfish pairs in 20 gal high tanks.  The tanks are all hooked to a central system, but each tank has a separate feeder.  I feed 3 times a day with dry food and once a day with Fertility Frenzy.  Each feeder has a modified funnel below it to keep the food in place until it gets wet and sinks.  Otherwise, to food goes out the overflow of the tank.  It’s a version of a feeder ring.  The problem with my design is that it uses a funnel and there is a slope to the upper end.  Dry food slides down the slope and a little bit sticks at the water line.  Over a few days this builds up and starts to rot, so my food sinker works but requires a lot of cleaning.  Not good when I am gone for a week.  Here is the picture of one feeder:

And here is the funnel:

 

Along come a 3d printer and I redesigned my sinker ring and printed it in ABS plastic.  This is what it looks like:

 

Here it is ready to drop in:

 

 

It fits:

 

 

And here it is in use:

 

 

So my next project is to replace my Oscar Overflows.  This design is used to skim water from the top of the tank and if it plugs has a screened overflow on top for safety.  I make them from PVC fittings.  They are fragile and hard to make.  My new design may not be round but I will show you what it looks like when I get one printed.  This is an Oscar Overflow:

 

[milesmiles902]

That's pretty cool. I definitely see 3D-printers changing the way we do reefing. I was looking on thingiverse.com the other day and saw that they had a protein skimmer.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:285874

You just need to buy the cast acrylic and pump. It would be great for a pico skimmer because it can be scaled to size and an airstone could be used as an alternative to the pump.

 

Good job on the build. Keep them coming.

[nanoreefer]

Very cool! Which design program do you use? I need to make a little rectangular basket for my majano anemones; the deli container ive been using is a little too ghetto lol

[Fisher15]

I use cadd, 123D and CURA. I taught 3D design for several years using Inventor.

[Emerald525]

Thanks for sharing. The creativity and ingenuity of refers never ceases to amaze me. Looks like you have quite the clown breeding operation going!

[Fisher15]

I have 5 pair of clowns, two of which are currently laying eggs. I don't have time in the summer to raise fry as I am not home enough, but his fall we will see some fry.