Prior to my vacation last weekend to Miami, my sand sifting starfish made the 3rd attempt to walk on the glass. Fortunately or unfortunately, I found him caught in the intake of my MP40's and 3 of his arm; which healed about 2 months prior to his last attempt, were severally damaged. I told myself that this was the last time I wanted to see this and decided to get myself some MP40 guards to prevent snails, my cucumbers or my poor starfish from getting snipped by the blades. I do not like the foam guards for the MP40's because they in my opinion collect way too much detritus and need to be cleaned too frequently for my lazy tendencies. I had previously made anemone guards based on a design I found on one of the forums online with screen netting and acrylic rings.

The problem I had with these guards was that they too were collecting detritus pretty frequently and stuck out way too much and became an eye sore. After reading a post from Reefbuilders on 3d printed guards, I did some digging and found 2 manufacturers. The original creator quoted in the thread was based in the UK and the mailing time would be way too long for my impatient nature.

https://reefbuilders.com/2018/03/28/...n-3d-printing/

Fortunately I found another designer on Ebay and they were local for not that bad of a price and with a pretty sleek design very similar to the one in the article.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3D-Printed-...sid=m570.l1313

Yesterday after coming back into town, I received my guards in the mail and couldn't wait to open them up and install them on my tank to protect my inhabitants. I was a bit dismayed that the original front guard did not fit the slightly rounded front of the new MP40 housing units but the order came with another attachment that was a simple ring that locked into little grooves and allowed the water flow to become less inhibited. Snails and anything that can brave the strong flow could in theory still move in front of the MP 40's but at least the sides where the openings are greater or blocked from my reef pets.

Overall the quality is pretty solid, the notch to hold the front piece is a little weak but then again its 3D printed and fairly cheap. Here is a pic of the guard in use