# 3D Printing Tank Conversion- CLEVER



## viper69 (Jan 20, 2016)

Those of us involved in more than the T hobby are well aware the Dart Frog community is significantly more advanced in providing realistic vivaria for Dart Frogs compared to the average T hobbyist, there are a lot of reasons for this.

In any event, I'm also aware we have some excellent DIY'er T owners out there as well.

While this setup is for a glass tank it does show you, esp at his site, how to convert a glass tank into a ExoTerra (minus the screen top).

I think 3D printing is excellent, and I'd love to see someone create a 3D T container, though how much that would cost I don't know, ie cost effective?

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pa...tml?utm_medium=email&utm_source=1#post2132417


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## bryverine (Jan 21, 2016)

viper69 said:


> Those of us involved in more than the T hobby are well aware the Dart Frog community is significantly more advanced in providing realistic vivaria for Dart Frogs compared to the average T hobbyist, there are a lot of reasons for this.
> 
> In any event, I'm also aware we have some excellent DIY'er T owners out there as well.
> 
> ...


Are you looking to see if someone could print the WHOLE enclosure or just the frame? Maybe they've made huge improvements since I last used one, but I think it's still extremely hard to get optically clear 3D prints (correct me if I'm wrong). From what I've seen, most are translucent at best and usually look more like frosted glass.

'Clear' ABS plastic comes in different prices, but here's a quick analysis of a whole tank made of abs plastic.

$26.00 for 1kg
Density ~1 g/cm^3
8"x8"x15" (3/16" thick) = 1,868 cm^3
Weight ~ 1.9kg so you gotta buy two spools worth.

That's $52.00 in material alone! Unless you own your own 3D printer (they have come down in price, but I still can't afford one) that's a lot of money. Most places charge double the material costs to print something for you, so now it's $100 before shipping!

I'm not sure if you have ever used a 3D printer before, but you usually have a 'junk' material too to build a bed, to build holes, temporary support during the print, etc. Again technology advances quickly, so I could be thinking of dinosaur technology...

Now if you are talking making a frame kinda like the dude in the first couple pages, then it might actually be OK, but... Acrylic and Acrylic solvent isn't really THAT expensive, just really time consuming...

Reactions: Like 1


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## Introvertebrate (Jan 21, 2016)

Is there any reason why those dart frog conversions wouldn't work just fine for a T enclosure?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Sam_Peanuts (Jan 21, 2016)

3D printing is good if you only need a small quantity of something you can't get otherwise since it's much more expensive than any other form of manufacturing. It's pretty cool, but not very cost effective for something you'll want to make multiple times. Buying the exoterra directly will likely be cheaper(depending on how much money they make on them).



Introvertebrate said:


> Is there any reason why those dart frog conversions wouldn't work just fine for a T enclosure?


Ventilation on only one side isn't appropriate for most tarantulas, they don't live in as humid an environment as frogs.


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## Introvertebrate (Jan 21, 2016)

Sam_Peanuts said:


> ..............Ventilation on only one side isn't appropriate for most tarantulas, they don't live in as humid an environment as frogs.


That depends on the tarantula.  Microclimates should include a nearby CPU fan anyway.  That would generate more than enough ventilation.

I agree that 3D printing is more suitable for prototypes than mass production.  Its just one of those trendy topics at the moment.


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## Sam_Peanuts (Jan 21, 2016)

That's why I said most, but that might be biased by my collection.

Having a pc fan near every vent is not an option for most of us, it would be pretty complicated to do when you have many dozens of them. It could be made to work, but it's not ideal.


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## viper69 (Jan 22, 2016)

bryverine said:


> Are you looking to see if someone could print the WHOLE enclosure or just the frame? Maybe they've made huge improvements since I last used one, but I think it's still extremely hard to get optically clear 3D prints (correct me if I'm wrong). From what I've seen, most are translucent at best and usually look more like frosted glass.
> 
> 'Clear' ABS plastic comes in different prices, but here's a quick analysis of a whole tank made of abs plastic.
> 
> ...



Just the frames, never suggested clear plastic for 3D printing. Primarily because I like 2 the ExoTerra design ( 2 doors ) as opposed to what I see usually which is one hinged door that opens downward. That's more of an escape recipe in my opinion.


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## bryverine (Jan 24, 2016)

viper69 said:


> Just the frames, never suggested clear plastic for 3D printing. Primarily because I like 2 the ExoTerra design ( 2 doors ) as opposed to what I see usually which is one hinged door that opens downward. That's more of an escape recipe in my opinion.


I think this would be a cool idea, I just worry about the cost of doing something at such a large scale. I'll try to make an stl file of something that resembles an Exo Terra frame (probably in ~9 pieces) to see what a common place like shapeways would charge.

My guess though is that it will be far cheaper to buy an Exo Terra than to buy the frame and acrylic/glass.


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## viper69 (Jan 24, 2016)

The frog hobbyists are always on the lookout for 1$ gallon sales at pet stores. So they end up buying Aqueon tanks on the CHEAP. Then making their own "ExoTerra". This guy came up with a 3D printing model. I don't know what the cost is, I'm not sure he's in production YET, but Id be surprised it would be more than a ExoTerra.


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## Sam_Peanuts (Jan 25, 2016)

The cost for the beta prototype was 35$ if you read the thread and that's without including the 3 pieces of glass necessary(1 was included but broke during shipping for most people). The final product would likely be more(and it is a bit if you read below) since he'd have to make enough profit to try and get back the money he spent making the prototypes and failed prints which is close to 8000$ from what he said and you need to add the cost of the aquarium to that.

The beta test was shipped at the beginning of last year and there should be pre-order up in february of this year for a final version from what he said in the thread. price should be 40$ for a 10gal and 60$ for a 20 gal(all without the glass required and without the actual aquarium which needs to be a specific brand to make sure it fits).

Reactions: Informative 1


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