Strong Algae Magnets

[Iceturf]

I heard about custom made Nimble Nano's a while back, some guy got a normal Nimble Nano supersized for his wall tank.

[Ron]

3/4" glass on my tank. Thanks for your offer but the Mag-Floats are junk, in my opinion. I have the next size down (rated p to 5/8" i think) and it came detached all the time on 1/2" glass. I was hoping someone had experience with one of the other brands out there, like Magnavore, or Algaefree. Those two seem to get mentioned the most. I'm leaning towards a Magnavore 6ER but they're quite pricey.

(I'm also finally making progress treating those Rainbowfish, Ron. Yay!)

I also have an Algae Free Great White. Yes, they are pricey.

Do you find that there's a considerable difference between the MagFloat and the Great White? I would assume so since you're selling the MagFloat? haha

I would say they are about equal, I placed a 2 x 4 between the 2 halves and they both picked it off the ground about and 1" away.

[Psylant]

I would say they are about equal, I placed a 2 x 4 between the 2 halves and they both picked it off the ground about and 1" away.

I'm surprised! Thanks for checking for me. I appreciate it. I think I'm going to pony up and get the Magnavore. It's expensive but they're supposed to be extremely, extremely conservatively suggested in terms of glass thickness. I should write them a letter saying to do some sort of test like you did, with their competition, to show how much better they are (if they are, at all? lol).

[Psylant]

I got the Magnavore last night in the mail. I have nothing to compare it to but some of the smaller Mag Floats, but this thing is amazing. I was able to clean my whole tank (8' x 3.5' x 2.5') in less than 5 minutes. This was taking me well over 40 minutes previously. I hadn't cleaned the glass in over a month, and had thick brown algae everywhere. ONE pass and it was spotless. Couldn't be happier.

[ckmullin]

Glad things worked out for you on this. I would say though look at the conditions why there is 'thick brown algae' on the glass in the first place. Seems like something is largely out of balance.

[Psylant]

The lights are decently bright, but there's a lot of excess nutrients because it's unplanted, and tons of silicates from my pool filter sand substrate. There are also many quite large fish, notably a 15" Mbu puffer fed mostly mussels. The water tests perfectly fine, it's just unsightly on the glass. Normally the chocolate pleco keeps the decor pretty clean, but I have to divide the tank until I can sell my last large cichlid, which prevents him from getting on the side with the puffer right now. I don't think I could do anything to help the situation other than removing the PFS or placing a ton of silicate absorbing resin in my sump. Either way I'm not overly concerned about it

[beverly]

I've used Mag Floats for decades in reefs where there's not only regular algae to scrape off but coralline algae which is largely calcium. Currently I'm using the largest size for my 75g low-tech. It's powerful. Maybe you were using the wrong size for you glass thickness. Good luck with your new one, though : )

[blink]

As for razor blades, go to Canadian tire and look for the big 4" wide ones with a dark blue holder. As far as I can tell they don't have any metal bits in the holder and with the 4" blade you can blade a lit of glass in a hurry. Maybe not the best solution for huge tanks with big braces but worth a try for $5.

[Psylant]

I've used Mag Floats for decades in reefs where there's not only regular algae to scrape off but coralline algae which is largely calcium. Currently I'm using the largest size for my 75g low-tech. It's powerful. Maybe you were using the wrong size for you glass thickness. Good luck with your new one, though : )

I was using their smaller models on the rated glass and found they came detached too easily for my liking. They couldn't "squeeze" the glass well enough to really grind the algae off in my experience.

As for razor blades, go to Canadian tire and look for the big 4" wide ones with a dark blue holder. As far as I can tell they don't have any metal bits in the holder and with the 4" blade you can blade a lit of glass in a hurry. Maybe not the best solution for huge tanks with big braces but worth a try for $5.

I may do this, for the small amount of green dust algae I have. That stuff is amazingly resilient! Thanks for the tip.

[Ron]

Should've gone with the Flipper Max, the smaller version shaves off the hard algae in my marine tank and they're videos of it taking coraline algae off pretty easily. No scrubbing it off like Velcro pads.