Black Argonite Is magnetic??????

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bigtankbigfish

Guest
SO im using my brand new magfloat cleaner to hit the glass on my fowlr and As I near the bottom all the black argonite jumps up and covers the the magnet. It looks like tiny metal shavings all over it. My magfloat is ruined it wont come off. WTF???????????? Isnt metal bad for tanks????
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by BigTankBigFish
http:///forum/post/3091880
SO im using my brand new magfloat cleaner to hit the glass on my fowlr and As I near the bottom all the black argonite jumps up and covers the the magnet. It looks like tiny metal shavings all over it. My magfloat is ruined it wont come off. WTF???????????? Isnt metal bad for tanks????

Yes metal is very bad for your tank...whatever you are using it was meant for freshwater tanks...get it out of there ASAP.
 
jp30338

jp30338

Member
I use tahitian black moon sand and have noticed that at times certain particles do become magnatized fo watever reason.
NO, it is NOT metal though, what excatly it is I am not sure, but it is not metal....It will be ok in your SW tank as many people use it. If your worried about it replace with regular sand or contact the maufacturer.
 
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bigtankbigfish

Guest
im not worried about it. It is saltwater argonite and its been in for a few months with no problems. I was just more surprised than anything. I may have exaggerated a little it wasnt like all the black agonite jumped up just a few magnetized pieces like JP said. It was enough however to ruin my new magfloat I cant get it off and im afraid its gonna scratch my glass cuz i can hear it.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by BigTankBigFish
http:///forum/post/3091921
im not worried about it. It is saltwater argonite and its been in for a few months with no problems. I was just more surprised than anything. I may have exaggerated a little it wasnt like all the black agonite jumped up just a few magnetized pieces like JP said. It was enough however to ruin my new magfloat I cant get it off and im afraid its gonna scratch my glass cuz i can hear it.

Okay I am no expert...but, the only thing that is attracted to a magnet is metal. If something sticks to my magnet I would not have it in my tank...If you want to keep it...get a good magnet and run it throught the argonite until nothing sticks to it. That way if it is metal it would be removed. Just a thought.
Black slate has trace metals in it, and we can't use it in saltwate tanks safely. With that line of thought is why I stand by my original opinion.
 
jp30338

jp30338

Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3091955

Okay I am no expert...but, the only thing that is attracted to a magnet is metal. If something sticks to my magnet I would not have it in my tank...If you want to keep it...get a good magnet and run it throught the argonite until nothing sticks to it. That way if it is metal it would be removed. Just a thought.
Black slate has trace metals in it, and we can't use it in saltwate tanks safely. With that line of thought is why I stand by my original opinion.


Obviously you know nothing about black sand... Perhaps you should have some first hand experience on the subject before commenting as if you know what you are talking about...
To the OP, it was a pain in butt to get the little slivers out of my mag float, but use an old toothbrush under tap water, that worked for me.
 
jp30338

jp30338

Member
How long have you had your sand in the tank? I have noticed in my DT, that once the sand has been in the tank for a period of time, it no longer becomes "magnetized"to my mag float. I added 40lbs. when I upgraded to the 180g and noticed this, never had the issue with the established sand.
 
anjiro

anjiro

Member
Could it have something to do with a stray voltage reducer? I saw one at an lfs one time, however, I figured it had something to do with excess voltage escaping, say, a bad heater electrical conduit or something of that nature. Certain mentals only become magnetic when an electric current is run through them. If it is imported bagged sand from a specific place, then it is entirely possible that some trace metals could be in the sand, ie residing in your tank...
 
noah's nemo

noah's nemo

Member

Originally Posted by jp30338
http:///forum/post/3091904
I use tahitian black moon sand and have noticed that at times certain particles do become magnatized fo watever reason.
NO, it is NOT metal though, what excatly it is I am not sure, but it is not metal....It will be ok in your SW tank as many people use it. If your worried about it replace with regular sand or contact the maufacturer.
I just did my new set-up with this.Have yet to notice a problem(3 months or so..)Looks very nice too
Glad i did it..Unless of course its full of metal shavings
Which i doubt..
 
aquaguy24

aquaguy24

Active Member
im using caridsea live black sand and havn't had this problem but im gonna try and use the magfloat near the sand to see if it happens...
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by jp30338
http:///forum/post/3092019

Obviously you know nothing about black sand... Perhaps you should have some first hand experience on the subject before commenting as if you know what you are talking about...
To the OP, it was a pain in butt to get the little slivers out of my mag float, but use an old toothbrush under tap water, that worked for me.

I said I was no expert...again what is attracted by a magnet is metal..that’s physics 101, a static charge does not attract a magnet, it releases electricity.
Any regular sand no matter the color will get caught in a magfloat. The OP said it was magnetized not just caught in the floats ridges...so retract the claws and teeth...You obviously didn't pay attention in school, nor to the comments of the OP saying it was MAGNATIZED. If it is magnetized and attracted by the magfloat it has metal.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Anjiro
http:///forum/post/3092130
Could it have something to do with a stray voltage reducer? I saw one at an lfs one time, however, I figured it had something to do with excess voltage escaping, say, a bad heater electrical conduit or something of that nature. Certain mentals only become magnetic when an electric current is run through them. If it is imported bagged sand from a specific place, then it is entirely possible that some trace metals could be in the sand, ie residing in your tank...

Any metal in a saltwater aquarium is not supposed to be there. Electrically charged or otherwise.
 
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bigtankbigfish

Guest
i believe the brand i used was caribsea as well. I was able to get it off by using an old toothbrush and scrubbing it.
Upon further research maybe it isnt magnetized because i took some out and drie on my kitchen table an held the magnetic right above it and nothing happened. But when I use it in the tank and the magetic comes off the glass and then reattaches, if some sand gets in between the glass and magnet it sticks in the there and has to be scrubbed off it doesnt just fall right off.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Caribsea is the one I read it happens too. It's usually an "ARGH! My stupid Mag Float is covered!" thread. It could happen to the rest of the black sands, but I never read it of the others.
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3091955
Okay I am no expert...but, the only thing that is attracted to a magnet is metal. I
True, but there are others forces of attraction besides magnetic.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Why doesn't it do it when out of the tank verses in the tank? Water does not cause magnetism. It could be a coating on the Mag Float that is attracting something which would be a surface tension issue.
I'm not saying I know the answer, I'm just saying there's other things to consider.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
I should add this, my initial thought was "metal". My husband is a failure analysis and did a legal case for a donut shop that was found to have metal shavings in it's flour. There was a problem with the machine and it was grinding it's metal blades.
It's also common to have to run a magnet through limestone before using it because of it's affiliation with metal flecks....
So sometimes the grinding process does cause stray metal.
But if it isn't attracted to the magnet out of the water........
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Well I will throw this out there, sand can become electrically charged. Do some research and you will see how. Can this happen in saltwater, I am not sure, could it have happened outside the water and keep some of its charge in the water, again I don't know. However electrically charged particles, electromagnetism, could be attracted to the magnet. Renee, if you and the hubby have some time, just because I would like to know the answer, could you run this scenario by him and get his take.
 
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