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3D printing 5 gallon ATO reservoir. Experimental.

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MikiCab

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Hello Everyone
I priced out a 5 gallon Reservoir to fit in a specific place and they are like $120 -$150 for an acrylic one which is insanely expensive.
For the price of 2 rolls of PETG $12.99, stainless steal screws (maybe overkill but for peace of mind), epoxy, electricity and time I am printing printing one.
4 sections. Top ones will have access doors with cut out ports for cables and mesh for pouring water in. I will also put a clear tube on the front with a small colored ball for water level.
I should have this mostly complete in a week or two.
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MichaelB said:
Wow, I've looked at them my self and was shocked by the price of them. I'm definitely looking foward seeing to your finished product .
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Thank You
I got the last big piece printing this weekend and them I am printing the water level tube.
I got about 29 revisions so far as I printed demos and made changes. I think I could probably refine it a bit more but I got to a point of "It is good enough". I could spend another month doing revisions but you have to cut it off somewhere.
 
Especially cool because you can make it the just the size and shape you want. Not clear though, could be a plus or a minus. I’d be a little worried about the chance of a leak or overall strength maybe?
 
JVU said:
Especially cool because you can make it the just the size and shape you want. Not clear though, could be a plus or a minus. I’d be a little worried about the chance of a leak or overall strength maybe?
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I prefer black to clear. I am putting a clear tube on the front with a colored bead for water level. I am printing feet so it has an air gap so I can check for leaks. I am using screw and epoxy for strength and could add an inner spar to keep it from bowing out but I can do that after the fact if it does bow out. I am spraying a clear acrylic inside and outside to water proof it. I was actually looking into paper thin Acrylic or Polycarbonate self adhesive sheets to put inside but don't think they are needed.
Once built I will wash it out and let it sit with DI to leach anything out. I have printed a lot f planters that don't leak after spraying and I have had them for years.
 
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Fun little project! Nice to have the ability to make your own shape and size, but I too would worry about leaks without epoxying the whole inside.

If you're looking to DIY another ATO, you could always check TAP Plastics' scrap bin. They have some fantastic deals on leftover cut pieces that would probably be large enough for what you're trying to create. Probably could build an ATO for your size for under $30-40 from the scrap bin.
 
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very cool. I like the idea to have the custom size container to fit the space. I ended up using a 4G square bucket (cause 5G will not fit) for kalk
 
RandyC said:
Fun little project! Nice to have the ability to make your own shape and size, but I too would worry about leaks without epoxying the whole inside.

If you're looking to DIY another ATO, you could always check TAP Plastics' scrape bin. They have some fantastic deals on leftover cut pieces that would probably be large enough for what you're trying to create. Probably could build an ATO for your size for under $30-40 from the scrape bin.
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Just googled it, one is about 8 miles from me. Is this a place you can just walk into check out scrape bin you mentioned?
I will soon need a ato container for my 65 gallon tank that a bucket won't fit in stand next to sump ( I already bought the ato device).

Never considered a diy one but I definitely would try if price is right.
 
i had a shot at making this, and you need to make a small box to test to see if it will hold water with your setting. i had to print up to 6 walls before it actually holds any water without using epoxy.
 
MichaelB said:
Just googled it, one is about 8 miles from me. Is this a place you can just walk into check out scrape bin you mentioned?
I will soon need a ato container for my 65 gallon tank that a bucket won't fit in stand next to sump ( I already bought the ato device).

Never considered a diy one but I definitely would try if price is right.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can just walk in an look at the scrap. Most Tap Plastics have scrap bins. Obviously, availability of materials is what's leftover from whatever jobs/orders they had, so color and size will vary by location.
 
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I HIGHLY recommend coating your container to make it water proof long term. While there are materials that are good for water tight containers, I don't trust petg long term. It's hydroscopic and layer adhesion will eventually fail.

If you continue with petg, over extrude and increase overlaps to close holes.

Fingers crossed.
 
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RandyC said:
Yes, you can just walk in an look at the scrap. Most Tap Plastics have scrap bins. Obviously, availability of materials is what's leftover from whatever jobs/orders they had, so color and size will vary by location.
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grizfyrfyter said:
I HIGHLY recommend coating your container to make it water proof long term. While there are materials that are good for water tight containers, I don't trust petg long term. It's hydroscopic and layer adhesion will eventually fail.

If you continue with petg, over extrude and increase overlaps to close holes.

Fingers crossed.
Click to expand...
I have been in Taps scrap pile several times. Hit or miss. Wish I still worked at my old company. They once threw away $30K work of Polycarbonate panels for cosmetic issues but other than a few scratches they were fine.

I have made PETG water tight before. I have some two part epoxy that works well. Also clear coat acrylic spray works. This is going to sit in the garage for a bit doing prep work and QA testing before I put it in the house. I used to be a final test engineer in one of my many jobs so I know Quality Assurance and New Product Development.
 
MichaelB said:
Just googled it, one is about 8 miles from me. Is this a place you can just walk into check out scrape bin you mentioned?
I will soon need a ato container for my 65 gallon tank that a bucket won't fit in stand next to sump ( I already bought the ato device).

Never considered a diy one but I definitely would try if price is right.
Click to expand...
Tenecor Aquariums does DIY kits on their site but then run Reef2Reef promos when they drop them. I picked up one of these DIY ATO kits from them that I haven’t built yet. They’re releasing more stuff coming. I built a DIY Pico tank that they released which was pretty cool. If you want a shot at some DIY you could have my kit, I haven’t opened it yet. I don’t really have a need for it I just bought it because it was cheap and I wanted to play around with the acrylic and Weldon lol
 

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MarcosDelgado0 said:
Tenecor Aquariums does DIY kits on their site but then run Reef2Reef promos when they drop them. I picked up one of these DIY ATO kits from them that I haven’t built yet. They’re releasing more stuff coming. I built a DIY Pico tank that they released which was pretty cool. If you want a shot at some DIY you could have my kit, I haven’t opened it yet. I don’t really have a need for it I just bought it because it was cheap and I wanted to play around with the acrylic and Weldon lol
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Wow I would definitely be intrested, a legit kit is probably more to my skill level than randomly trying to fit different scrap peices together. Where are you located?
 
MarcosDelgado0 said:
Tenecor Aquariums does DIY kits on their site but then run Reef2Reef promos when they drop them. I picked up one of these DIY ATO kits from them that I haven’t built yet. They’re releasing more stuff coming. I built a DIY Pico tank that they released which was pretty cool. If you want a shot at some DIY you could have my kit, I haven’t opened it yet. I don’t really have a need for it I just bought it because it was cheap and I wanted to play around with the acrylic and Weldon lol
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Thank you for the offer. I am a couple of hours away from finishing the last major piece. Those do look like though.
If someone else is interest maybe you can sell it to them.
Richard.
 
MikiCab said:
I have been in Taps scrap pile several times. Hit or miss. Wish I still worked at my old company. They once threw away $30K work of Polycarbonate panels for cosmetic issues but other than a few scratches they were fine.

I have made PETG water tight before. I have some two part epoxy that works well. Also clear coat acrylic spray works. This is going to sit in the garage for a bit doing prep work and QA testing before I put it in the house. I used to be a final test engineer in one of my many jobs so I know Quality Assurance and New Product Development.
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What's an example reef safe acrylic spray that will adhere to pet-g?
 
richiev said:
What's an example reef safe acrylic spray that will adhere to pet-g?
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Any water based acrylic paint will do. I have an airbrush that I use for my 3D prints. I have not had any issues with peeling so far. Most times I will ruff it us with some sand paper but a few times I just painted without any prep right off the printer and it worked also.
Aerosol paints can be a bit trickery. You want to check the label that it can be used on Plastics. If you use the wrong paint it will stay wet and dissolve the print.
 
Last major piece. Now need to print the doors and feet. I think I will give it a paint job and clear coat on the outside. Used 2 part epoxy inside for waterproofing.
ato r.jpg
 
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