Speaker magnet scraper

hatcheridiot

hatcheridiot

Call me crazy...Crazy
Apr 19, 2007
370
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Washington State
I just read a thread on algae scapers and I'm a NOOB to aquariums. I too have been wondering what is best for cleaning algae.

Soooo.....being the constant putterer and delusional inventor, I thought of adapting speaker magnets for use as an algae scraper. Has anyone done this? I've got some of them around here somewhere and I think I'll go see if they can even stay together through the glass. LOL, this could be hair-brained so go ahead and laugh with me.
 
Okay so I remember that I have some "super magnets". They're only 1/4" discs but I thought I'd try them on the 1/4" glass. Guess what? They hold pretty darn good! These little buggers are only 3/32" thick!

I went to their website and you can get them in all different sizes. The really thick ones I'm sure would be too hard to move! Howz that for scraping tough algae! I'm thinking of taking one of those shower scrunchy ball thingies and sticking some of that material between the glass and the magnets.

Man, I gotta order some of these things. If you coated them with epoxy/krylon fusion/silicone or whatever, you could use them to mount all kinds of things inside your tank. I guess suction cups work too though. Hey you could even epoxy one inside of a piece of driftwood to anchor it to the bottom of your tank. These things have crazy potention IMO.

Nuff already, here's the link.....

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/categories.asp
 
Guess what, yep, another use for magnets. Everyone else probably already knows this but....magnets are reported to soften your water. So I was thinking that if you got a strongish magnet and attached it to one of your inlet or outlet hoses, it could remove some of the heavy metals. This could be good if you have exceptionally hard water (I think well water can get purdy hard). However, I'm not sure if it would be detrimental if you have plants. Anyway, more food for thought.
 
I just use a Mag Float.
 
rbishop said:
I just use a Mag Float.
Click to expand...

Ah...but the Mag Float doesnt get the stubborn Algae.

HatchetIdiot has the right idea. I ordered 2 of the magnets to replace in my Magna Scraper and I'm hoping I will have the ultimate tool to remove stubborn algae from my tank with little to no mess.

Mag float is a good product for soft algae, but for the real stuff, you need blades!

Keep your fingers crossed.

BTW, Hatcher, how thick is your glass? I have a oceanic tank which is thicher than normal.
 
My tank only has 1/4" glass. However, they sell an N50 magnet that requires 250+ lbs to pull apart. Now I don't believe you'll be wanting those but you get the idea.
 
I use Mag-Float and I've never had algae I couldn't get off with some scrubbing. I also know that with Mag-Float if I'm not careful the magnet can hit the glass with a fair amount of force. I've worked with really, really strong magnets before and I could image using ones that were a little too strong and having them clap together so hard they would break the glass. That's all I would worry about with this. If you've got tough algae, put a razor on the end of a stick, otherwise I would stick with Mag-Float, where at least you have somebody to complain to if something bad happens.
 
Good to know, I've never used the Mag-Floats. I didn't realize they were that strong. I was just trying to find another DIY project for myself. LOL! But i agree, many of these magnets I'm looking at could easily brake the glass.
 
How about using velcro on the magnets...the hooks on the inside to scrape and the felt (loop) on the outside to make it slide better?
 
Mag-Float here also.........:)
 
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