Opinions on 3d frag plugs

[hortonr1982]

What are you guys opinion a on 3d printed frag plugs and tiles. Does soft coral like mushrooms and zoas actually stick to the plastic?

 

[Barrett T]

What are you guys opinion a on 3d printed frag plugs and tiles. Does soft coral like mushrooms and zoas actually stick to the plastic?

Soft coral basically weighs nothing, so I would be worried that these frag plugs will float if not glued down. (Most plastics will float even when printed at 100% infill)

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Soft coral basically weighs nothing, so I would be worried that these frag plugs will float if not glued down. (Most plastics will float even when printed at 100% infill)

i use only plastic frag plugs now. they will not float if printed properly, i just print them with 99 walls and its all wall and they look nice that way too. they are much lighter than ceramic so you will find them in the sand bed more often than ceramic if not glued in place, a huge draw back. for the pros, they are much easier to place in your rocks, and the hexagon shape i use makes the process of growing a coral off of a frag onto a rock much quicker and easier. the frags are also much easier to cut if you frag that way, you can put a pair of wire cutter through these if you have a firm hand shake. last pro is that they line up so nice on frag table , zoas and encrusters will move from A to B much quicker. they stick to the plastic just like any other surface. i use green lid gorilla glue gel, and will let it set for 1-2 minutes and never have had a polyp or SPS cut go missing. i will circle back here and post the .stl file ! i just have to find it..........

 

[ZoWhat]

Definite upgrade from 2D plugs

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

ok i can not attach .stl file here is link https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/frag-plug

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Definite upgrade from 2D plugs

you won the internet for the next few hours , well done

 

[mastersushi]

3d printed plugs are too light weighted (plugs can be push around on egg crate racks easily). It takes a while to print 1 plug (not a 3-5min print. More like 10-20min per plug print). If you cut plastic with a 3d plier cutter. Plastic will shoot or fly (not good for fragging).

 

[corihill92]

3d printed plugs are too light weighted (plugs can be push around on egg crate racks easily). It takes a while to print 1 plug (not a 3-5min print. More like 10-20min per plug print). If you cut plastic with a 3d plier cutter. Plastic will shoot or fly (not good for fragging).

What crap printer are you using that would take 10 minutes to make a frag plug? Id imagine 5 minutes tops with a halfway decent printer.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

3d printed plugs are too light weighted (plugs can be push around on egg crate racks easily). It takes a while to print 1 plug (not a 3-5min print. More like 10-20min per plug print). If you cut plastic with a 3d plier cutter. Plastic will shoot or fly (not good for fragging).

i have frag plugs that are threaded and able to be screwed into place, obviously dont work with egg crate but the threaded tables are cheaper than egg crate and look way better , staying in place is fail proof even with the worst of the urchin thieves . i print my frag plugs in a hexagon shape with an angled underside, much easier to lay flat onto the rockwork , and they can lay across each other for propogation much easier. the stems are have a nice chamfer so they actually wedge into the rockwork instead of trying to find a perfectly circular hole for each frag plug.

 

[Kehy]

Lol I've used Instamorph plastic to hand make custom size plugs- they worked just fine.

Sure, it's not a fancy printer but in a pinch it works as well

 

[theatrus]

i have frag plugs that are threaded and able to be screwed into place, obviously dont work with egg crate but the threaded tables are cheaper than egg crate and look way better , staying in place is fail proof even with the worst of the urchin thieves . i print my frag plugs in a hexagon shape with an angled underside, much easier to lay flat onto the rockwork , and they can lay across each other for propogation much easier. the stems are have a nice chamfer so they actually wedge into the rockwork instead of trying to find a perfectly circular hole for each frag plug.

I've printed all sorts of frag plug attachment wedges before, but hadn't gone to locking in place plugs yet (screw or bayonet mount). Very nice idea

 

[sharkbait-uhaha]

if printed correctly they will not float, ive customized and 3d printed plugs with great success. Also anything and everything sticks to them just as a regular plug

 

[mastersushi]

What crap printer are you using that would take 10 minutes to make a frag plug? Id imagine 5 minutes tops with a halfway decent printer.

Keep in mind that you have to print 100% infill or it will float and bad bacteria can grow inside. I have Prusa mk3s printer. I am guessing you are printing a thin (1-2mm) top plug then it would be faster but you would not be able to pick up the plug with any tools. Also printing round tall objects (plug stem) takes more time to print.

 

[mastersushi]

i have frag plugs that are threaded and able to be screwed into place, obviously dont work with egg crate but the threaded tables are cheaper than egg crate and look way better , staying in place is fail proof even with the worst of the urchin thieves . i print my frag plugs in a hexagon shape with an angled underside, much easier to lay flat onto the rockwork , and they can lay across each other for propogation much easier. the stems are have a nice chamfer so they actually wedge into the rockwork instead of trying to find a perfectly circular hole for each frag plug.

So far I am not able to print PETG threads on small rods prints (plugs stems size) or print the threaded female nut part. I was able to print threads with PLA filament only. I only use PETG for saltwater 3d prints so I design the prints to lock when press together and not have to deal with threads (this cube was press locked together). Keep in mind that coraline or other things will grow on the rod tread or nut tread part and it will no longer twist well. Have you test it to see if it will untwist when you have the twist plug in water for over 3 month?

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

So far I am not able to print PETG threads on small rods prints (plugs stems size) or print the threaded female nut part. I was able to print threads with PLA filament only. I only use PETG for saltwater 3d prints so I design the prints to lock when press together and not have to deal with threads (this cube was press locked together). Keep in mind that coraline or other things will grow on the rod tread or nut tread part and it will no longer twist well. Have you test it to see if it will untwist when you have the twist plug in water for over 3 month?

If you use the thread function. I will thread a 1-2mm cylinder, and then scale it along z axis by x3-5 . This gives huge grooves , and allow the curve to be spread out through multiple layers and keeping the twist smooth. If you have a large enough screw , you can fillet the straight edges and then it will twist like butter. These have worked well for me down to 3 mm .

For your specific designs , I would scale the nuts out to 1.06 on just the x/y axis. It loosens the twist up and will allow any sand or algae to pass over and still screw on. If you redesign just the threaded part of your frag plug, thread a 1 mm cylinder, scale it along z axis, and move it flush against the bottom of the plug and join them. Will be much easier to twist on/off , and make maintenance a bit easier

The frag plug example:

 

[nfuego]

i have frag plugs that are threaded and able to be screwed into place, obviously dont work with egg crate but the threaded tables are cheaper than egg crate and look way better , staying in place is fail proof even with the worst of the urchin thieves . i print my frag plugs in a hexagon shape with an angled underside, much easier to lay flat onto the rockwork , and they can lay across each other for propogation much easier. the stems are have a nice chamfer so they actually wedge into the rockwork instead of trying to find a perfectly circular hole for each frag plug.

I'm always looking for a better way to secure frag plugs. Threaded and screwed into place sounds very interesting. Even if you want to use ceramic plugs, you could still use a threaded adapter of sorts or just glue them onto the threaded plug. The racks with the silicone liners work great to keep frag plugs in place with crazy flow but is not going to stop the snails/urchins/crabs from plowing them over. You mention 'threaded tables are cheaper than egg crate'; what is a threaded table? Just a threaded acrylic sheet? Thanks..