"Peace among worlds Rick ...."
this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2026
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Wait That's Interesting
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I wish I had an aquarium now
Its my understanding PLA (most common 3D printing material) is no good for applications that get wet on the regular.
What would be the material used for an application like this?
For something like this, PLA would be fine. If you wanted to be careful, you might get a food grade filament to make sure nothing nasty leaches into the water, but it would probably be fine in that aspect as well.
If PLA gets brittle with humidity, how would submerging it in water not make it brittle (faster)? Is there something about the hearing and cooling that changes the structure of PLA?
PETG or ASA are typically recommended. PETG is chemically similar to what they make pop bottles out of.
I wouldn't want to use anything 3D printed (without cleanup) in a fish tank tbh. The main issue with any 3D printed item (aside from materials that dissolve/lose integrity in water like PLA) and water is the layers each introduce holds for mold to cling to and hide in. PETG, sand it, then seal it with a food safe epoxy resin. Then I'd be even extra and out it in some water for a few days and make sure nothing untoward happens in there.
I don't think I've seen many fish tank decorations that aren't mild friendly tbh. Agree the resin is a good idea, but also maybe just a reprint every 6 months or so might be sufficient.
Nylon most famously gets more resilient when wet. Like when you get nylon trimmer string, they encourage you to submerge it in water for a minute or two.
If the base was black and buried up to the sides, I think it would make the dancing skeleton look even better