Is magnetic cleaner really safe?

[pyekhine]

I went thru about 8 tanks in past couple of years and used magnetic cleaner to clean algae and I got scratched all over the glass. I cleaned the magnet before I clean the tank all the time but i keep getting scratches.

I just got a 120g couple of months ago and it is already scratched up from inside. My question is should I stop using magnetic cleaners?( apparently, i should) or is it because of the quality of the fish tank. I noticed that one of the tanks i had did not get scratches easily.

i'm thinking about getting more expensive tank like oceanic tank but i'm afraid that i'm gonna get scratches.

 

[batt600]

What kind of magnetic cleaner are you using

 

[beerfish]

The only time I've ever scratched my tank with a Mag Float is when I caught sand in it.

 

[pyekhine]

I'm using mag float. Medium size for glass tanks. I tried not to get sand in between but i keep noticing new scratches on the glass.

 

[ming]

Is it an acrylic tank?

 

[pyekhine]

My tanks are all glass tanks.

 

[johnny roastbeef]

Just recently my magfloat made a mess of the OUTSIDE of my acrylic tank. There was no sand in it that I could see, I really dont know how it happened. Totally Stinks!!

Anybody that knows how to buff out lots of light scratches in acrylic interested in helping me?:sgrin:

 

[pyekhine]

I use microfiber cloth between the outside piece and the glass...i don't trust that material.

 

[dacaptain78]

I scratched the hell out of one of my tanks using a mag float. I assumed I had caught sand or something else between the mag float and glass. Yet even after cleaning the mag float off it continued to scratch the glass. I tossed both mag floats I owned and bought a Magnavore. So far so good. I make sure to replace the pads regularly (something I never did, nor knew I needed to, on the mag float). The only bad thing about the Magnavore is that the pads for the outer portion of the float are junk. They wear away in no time, so I also use a microfiber cloth as well. The cloth is better in the long run anayway, but still you are paying for these crappy pads in the tune up kits.

That said, no matter what magnetic cleaner you use, be very careful not to trap anything between the float and the glass.