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Crocodile Floater Decor

Bring a thrilling touch of the wild to your aquatic environment with the Crocodile Floater Decor! This file features a distinctive crocodile model designed to rest menacingly on the water’s surface, creating a unique and eye-catching feature for your tank. We recommend Resin (SLA) printing for crisp scale and skin texture, though the models are robust enough to be scaled and printed on Filament (FDM) machines.

These files are specifically designed to be printed flat on their bottoms, ensuring maximum detail retention on the visible surface and simplified slicing for both printing methods.

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Recommended Settings

⚙️ Recommended Print Settings

This set is designed for flat printing. Achieving a perfect seal is mandatory for both methods to ensure the models float correctly.

SLA/Resin Settings (Recommended for Detail & Quality)

  • Material: Standard UV Resin (Grey, Green, or Brown).

  • Layer Height: 0.05 mm or finer for optimal texture capture.

  • Orientation (CRITICAL): Print flat on the model’s bottom. This requires careful heavy support placement on the base/underside to manage peel forces and prevent suction, but ensures the top, visible surface is flawless.

  • Preparation (MANDATORY): These files require the user to perform hollowing, custom support placement, and drainage hole addition before slicing.

FDM/Filament Settings (Alternative for Larger Scales)

  • Material: PETG or PLA. PETG offers better long-term water resistance.

  • Layer Height: 0.2 mm.

  • Infill Density: 0% or 5% (Gaps only). The model must be hollow to float.

  • Wall/Perimeter Count: 2 or 3. Note: This low count requires fine-tuning to ensure a fully watertight seal.

  • Orientation (CRITICAL): Print flat on the model’s bottom to guarantee a perfectly sealed bottom layer for buoyancy.


Important: Always thoroughly clean your final print before placing it in an aquarium. Avoid using metal-filled or abrasive filaments. For long-term use, ensure your chosen material is chemically stable in water.

Assembly & Installation

🛠️ Preparation & Post-Processing Steps

Successful printing and safe use require specific preparation steps tailored to the printing method, especially when printing flat with resin.

Slicer Preparation (Resin Only)

To ensure buoyancy and print success, you must use your slicer software (e.g., Lychee, Chitubox) to:

  • Hollow the model.

  • Apply custom supports mainly to the flat bottom/underside.

  • Add a drainage hole to allow uncured resin to escape.

Sealing Drainage Holes (Resin Only)

After washing and initial curing, the drainage hole MUST be sealed to prevent water ingress. Use a small dab of liquid UV resin and cure it instantly with a UV light/pen to plug the hole.

Cleaning (CRITICAL)

Before placing the floaters in your tank, wash them thoroughly to remove all residues (including paint residue). A final thorough water rinse is highly recommended.

📦 Required External Tools (Resin Prints)

    • Liquid UV Resin: Required to seal the drainage holes after cleaning.

    • Small UV Light/Pen: Required to cure the resin used to seal the holes quickly.

🎨 Optional Detailing Guide (Black Dry Rub)

Enhance the realism of the scale texture with a simple dry rub technique:

  1. Preparation: Ensure your primary base coat (if applicable) is dry, or the raw resin print is fully cured.

  2. Dry Rub: Take a small amount of black acrylic paint on a dry brush. Lightly brush across the top of the crocodile’s back, shell plates, and head. The black will catch the raised scale details, instantly enhancing depth and realism.

  3. Safety Seal (MANDATORY): Once the detail paint is dry, seal the entire model with a coat of gloss clear acrylic spray paint. This step is required for waterproofing the paint.

  4. Curing: Let the sealed model sit for a minimum of 24 hours before introducing it to the aquarium.

Changelog

📝 Changelog

Keeping our designs current and addressing user feedback is a priority. This tab will track all official updates to the STL files found in this download.

Version V1.0

  • Date: 11/26/2025

  • Notes: Initial Release. Clean STL files provided. Optimized for Resin (best quality) or FDM (larger scale). Requires user hollowing and support setup.

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