Tunze Care magnet on acrylic

[HippieSmell]

Does the tunze care magnet work well without scratching acrylic? I know for sure the larger plastic blade can't be used, but is the design better for acrylic than a regular magnet with a Mr Clean pad?

[Portsie]

I use the small blades on my 3/4" acrylic. No scratches and super easy to use. I just wish the wet side floated.

[ReefCowboy]

I use the "long" version in my glass tank (1/2") and it is very strong. If you plan on using it with the metal blade, I would be very careful. I know they make a "strong" version as well, that can be dangerous on acrylic IMO.

By far the best magnet out there.

[sfdan]

Well you posted in the other thread so you know my experience --- I made a small scratch on my acrylic with the care magnet in a short period of time and then ditched it.

I then bought a mighty magnet and use a magic eraser cut in half and couldn't be happier. Have used the MM for many months without a scratch.

[HippieSmell]

Originally Posted by sfdan

Well you posted in the other thread so you know my experience --- I made a small scratch on my acrylic with the care magnet in a short period of time and then ditched it.

I then bought a mighty magnet and use a magic eraser cut in half and couldn't be happier. Have used the MM for many months without a scratch.

Sorry you scratched your tank. Do you have any problems getting sand stuck in the magic eraser? Which MM did you get and how thick is your acrylic?

[sleepydoc]

I have a glass tank, but had a mag float acrylic (purchased by mistake instead of the glass version) that I used for a couple years. I ended up getting some scratches in the glass from that when the kids started playing with it and sand got caught in the pad on the wet side.

I have a Tunze Care Magnet now and concur that the long version is pretty strong, but it is much less likely to trap sand IME. The glass on my 120 is about ⅜" thick. Your acrylic tank probably has thicker walls, so it may fine.

I can't say what happened with sfdan's tank, but in most cases scratches are from sand or debris getting caught; I would think the magic eraser would be more likely to do that, but can't say for sure.

[sfdan]

Originally Posted by sleepydoc

I have a glass tank, but had a mag float acrylic (purchased by mistake instead of the glass version) that I used for a couple years. I ended up getting some scratches in the glass from that when the kids started playing with it and sand got caught in the pad on the wet side.

I have a Tunze Care Magnet now and concur that the long version is pretty strong, but it is much less likely to trap sand IME. The glass on my 120 is about ⅜" thick. Your acrylic tank probably has thicker walls, so it may fine.

I can't say what happened with sfdan's tank, but in most cases scratches are from sand or debris getting caught; I would think the magic eraser would be more likely to do that, but can't say for sure.

It is possible it was debris, certainly wasn't sand. I was very carefully testing the magnet on the side pane and there was no sand nearby, and as far as I could tell there wasn't any hard debris either. There are no hard feelings, the instructions made it very clear that using the magnet on acrylic required care and was not without risk. I'm still not exactly sure what happened other than when I started there was no scratch and afterwards there was. Very possible it was all user error, though again I'm not sure how I used it wrong.

Anyways the details about the MM:

Tank is 120 with 1/2" acrylic. I use an F2 mighty magnet. Slice a magic eraser in half with a knife and put that on the water side. I use 2 of the felt pads that come with the magnet on the dry side. I don't go within 2" of the sand bed to avoid any sand issues and I've never had one. Never had a scratch and never had anything that a few passes didn't get off. I leave it in the water at all times and every month or so the magic eraser will be pretty caked with crap and I'll just throw it out and put a new one in there. I'm not saying the mighty magnet is foolproof, I am pretty careful to ensure nothing is lodged in the magic eraser and check for scratches as I go, but I've had good luck with it thus far. I also like that it floats.

[sleepydoc]

Acrylic tanks are pretty, but the softness of acrylic is a major downside.

I have an extra blade for my care magnet - I'll try using it to scratch a piece of acrylic and see what happens.

Based on my experience with the Mag Float for acrylic tanks, I'm sure that would have done an admirable job of scratching your tank!


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[HippieSmell]

Originally Posted by sleepydoc

Acrylic tanks are pretty, but the softness of acrylic is a major downside.

I have an extra blade for my care magnet - I'll try using it to scratch a piece of acrylic and see what happens.

Based on my experience with the Mag Float for acrylic tanks, I'm sure that would have done an admirable job of scratching your tank!


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Thanks!

[HippieSmell]

Anyone else? Tunze Care vs Magic Eraser.

[sleepydoc]

So I took the extra edge of a care magnet and tried scratching a piece of scrap acrylic. I used the corner/edge of the blade that normally would not be touching the glass, and If I pressed quite hard I was able to leave some marks in the acrylic. They were not deep at all; more abrasions than scratches, but they were visible. When I flipped the bade over and used it like you would expect to use it I could not see any visible marks. That doesn't preclude the possibility of it making small scratches that will show up with time, but I'd say it would be unlikely.

Subjectively feeling the material, the material used to make the care magnet feels softer than the acrylic, so it should be at least less easy for it to scratch acrylic, but it's obviously possible. My guess is that SF Dan had some thing caught under the blade that caused the scratch, but there's not way to tell for sure.

[Portsie]

Originally Posted by sleepydoc

So I took the extra edge of a care magnet and tried scratching a piece of scrap acrylic. I used the corner/edge of the blade that normally would not be touching the glass, and If I pressed quite hard I was able to leave some marks in the acrylic. They were not deep at all; more abrasions than scratches, but they were visible. When I flipped the bade over and used it like you would expect to use it I could not see any visible marks. That doesn't preclude the possibility of it making small scratches that will show up with time, but I'd say it would be unlikely.

Subjectively feeling the material, the material used to make the care magnet feels softer than the acrylic, so it should be at least less easy for it to scratch acrylic, but it's obviously possible. My guess is that SF Dan had some thing caught under the blade that caused the scratch, but there's not way to tell for sure.

+1 If you leave the wetside in the tank, it is easy to get small snails or grits of sand stuck under the blade. If you take it out and give it a quick wipe down, there is very little chance of scratching unless you really drive it down into the sand and pull it up quick.

[HippieSmell]

Originally Posted by sleepydoc

So I took the extra edge of a care magnet and tried scratching a piece of scrap acrylic. I used the corner/edge of the blade that normally would not be touching the glass, and If I pressed quite hard I was able to leave some marks in the acrylic. They were not deep at all; more abrasions than scratches, but they were visible. When I flipped the bade over and used it like you would expect to use it I could not see any visible marks. That doesn't preclude the possibility of it making small scratches that will show up with time, but I'd say it would be unlikely.

Subjectively feeling the material, the material used to make the care magnet feels softer than the acrylic, so it should be at least less easy for it to scratch acrylic, but it's obviously possible. My guess is that SF Dan had some thing caught under the blade that caused the scratch, but there's not way to tell for sure.

Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it!

[HippieSmell]

Would a magic eraser work on a tunze magnet?

[sleepydoc]

Probably, but I'm not sure how well it would go around corners. With the standard blades (1 wide and 1 narrow) it's already easy to drop the internal half if you don't do it right. You could take the blades off, but then you'd just have the narrow body holding the eraser. Not sure if that would provide broad enough pressure to clean efficiently or not.


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