# Safe Magnets?



## ianizaguirre (Jan 25, 2011)

is it safe to use neodymium magnets or magnets with an epoxy coating? 

example- http://www.magnet4sale.com/Neodymium-Magnet-N45-Disk-1.25-X1-16-NdFeB-Rare-Earth-Magnet.html 

example- http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D82E 


?


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## wastewater (Apr 5, 2010)

Second choice looks like a winner. I've been using something similar for different applications within freshwater tanks.


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## Gunplameister (Jan 6, 2011)

go with second choice, i have purchasing from them for a long time for all kinds of projects and very high quality and great selection of size.


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## Powchekny (Jan 25, 2010)

Safe to use them in what fashion? The only thing I'd worry about is the fact that they're so strong they might snap together hard enough to fracture aquarium glass.

Also, those little neodymium magnets are very hazardous to small children. If a pair of them is swallowed, they can cause severe intestinal damage, peritonitis, and so forth. Yuck.

tom


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## ianizaguirre (Jan 25, 2011)

I have no children lol (im 18) , And as for the 2nd choice the epoxy coating magnets. what pull force is safe enough to not crack or god forbid break the glass? and this means that magnets will not leak anything? 

I was thinking of taking one and attaching it to a piece of drift wood through aquerium safe sealent and having it hang mid air (semi in water) to give the back of my tank a more attractive natural look.


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## bigboij (Jul 24, 2009)

once there on you dont have to worry about them braking/craking the glass but putting them on and taking them off when they could snap against the glass is the problem. if your careful they'll work great


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## Powchekny (Jan 25, 2010)

I don't think you're going to have a problem either, if you're careful. Just don't let them snap together. If you stick to small ones , it shouldn't be much of a problem.


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## ianizaguirre (Jan 25, 2011)

How much force of a magnet should i get? i think the strength is measure by the amount of lbs it can pull as i look through the magnets website.

I want to get a fairly strong one that can hold a piece of drift would underwater maybe or semi.


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## ianizaguirre (Jan 25, 2011)

Bump


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## bigboij (Jul 24, 2009)

dont think you need any massively strong magnet, as once the wood is in the water they tend not weigh much


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I tried some of the plated magnets to hold a riparium planter in place. It worked fine, except after a year the one in the tank corroded considerably. I think they have to be epoxy coated to be usable in an aquarium. The ones I have are about 1/8" thick and about the size of a nickel coin. When two of them are stuck together it is very difficult to separate them. Any stronger and I doubt that they could be separated without shattering them. To use them to hold something requires sliding one magnet into to place, while holding the other one where you want it. As you slide it closer, the magnet grabs and jerks into place. If you didn't use that technique it would break the glass for sure.


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## Powchekny (Jan 25, 2010)

bigboij said:


> dont think you need any massively strong magnet, as once the wood is in the water they tend not weigh much


That's a good point. If the wood is submerged, then the magnet actually only has to hold up the weight of the waterlogged wood, minus the weight of the water displaced by the wood. That is to say, not very much at all.


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## ianizaguirre (Jan 25, 2011)

if i have a decor that came with a weak magnet built in it and i order only one stronger magnet would that increase the strength or will the weaker built in magnet still be weak ?


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## Kibblemania1414 (Feb 1, 2011)

i would just go to the magnets at your LFS. you can get magnets specifically for your tank there or online.


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