I 3D printed a false bottom for the front half of my tank I'm setting up for some Kuhli loaches and wanted to know what y'all think? Any advice / criticism is welcome!
Posted by Anna12641
7 Comments
workswithpipe on
What’s your plan for maintenance?
BioConversantFan on
If you used PLA it will start disintegrating in 2-3 years in my experience.
Edit to fix self inflicted stupidity.
Resident-Standard578 on
I’ve never done anything like this before but my concern is that the Kuhli loaches would get into the false bottom there very crafty, very hard getting them out of something like that I’ve struggled to remove that from a matten filter and I feel like that would be so much easier than a false bottom but cool idea tho!
Dynamitella on
I would instead opt for the half cave type print that you shove into the sand. This may trap panicked loaches since the holes aren’t placed in the corners.
Sad_Cardiologist_651 on
Why would you use a printed bottom?
PotOPrawns on
Ahhh this looks like a UGF baseplate may achieve a similar tjing for anyone without a printer.
My friend used old terracotta tubing and plant pots to make a cave system in his but hes a masonry man so had loads of experience cutting and playing around with stuff like that
Straight_Neat_7018 on
This seems pretty cool. I think from what I’ve seen in other tanks with secluded features like this, the main issue you might have is oxygenation/circulation.
Despite the numerous holes you have the circulation may not be enough to keep that water oxygenated.
Make sure that you’ve either got a filter output that pushes water down one of the holes, or an airstone down one of the holes.
I’ve seen a couple other posts of people having some deaths in pits and caves. And that’s almost always the culprit from the sounds of things.
I have any undergravel filter in one of my tanks that has only a short tower to just above the substrate. With a bubbler in it. Im getting shrimp for the tank tomorrow and I’m very much expecting the shrimp to battle through the bubbles to get down underneath. But being an undergravel im not worried about circulation. Good luck with your cave!
7 Comments
What’s your plan for maintenance?
If you used PLA it will start disintegrating in 2-3 years in my experience.
Edit to fix self inflicted stupidity.
I’ve never done anything like this before but my concern is that the Kuhli loaches would get into the false bottom there very crafty, very hard getting them out of something like that I’ve struggled to remove that from a matten filter and I feel like that would be so much easier than a false bottom but cool idea tho!
I would instead opt for the half cave type print that you shove into the sand. This may trap panicked loaches since the holes aren’t placed in the corners.
Why would you use a printed bottom?
Ahhh this looks like a UGF baseplate may achieve a similar tjing for anyone without a printer.
My friend used old terracotta tubing and plant pots to make a cave system in his but hes a masonry man so had loads of experience cutting and playing around with stuff like that
This seems pretty cool. I think from what I’ve seen in other tanks with secluded features like this, the main issue you might have is oxygenation/circulation.
Despite the numerous holes you have the circulation may not be enough to keep that water oxygenated.
Make sure that you’ve either got a filter output that pushes water down one of the holes, or an airstone down one of the holes.
I’ve seen a couple other posts of people having some deaths in pits and caves. And that’s almost always the culprit from the sounds of things.
I have any undergravel filter in one of my tanks that has only a short tower to just above the substrate. With a bubbler in it. Im getting shrimp for the tank tomorrow and I’m very much expecting the shrimp to battle through the bubbles to get down underneath. But being an undergravel im not worried about circulation. Good luck with your cave!