Floating Island DIY

[ReeferWarrant]

Anyone have experience building these? Planning on making a floating island for the fast growing soft corals (GSP and Xenia). I've seen a couple threads but they dont go too far into the setup. From what I have seen you need rare earth magnets. Curious how to make them so they don't scratch my glass, was thinking felt. Also, debating just getting small mag floats and converting them from glass cleaners to hold the rubble up.

 

[BlennyTime]

Neat idea! They make plastic coated magnets you could use. Then you can glue those to your rock.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

@BlennyTime where did you see those?

 

[BlennyTime]

@BlennyTime where did you see those?

Here is one option:

N52 1/2"x5/8" Neodymium Rare Earth Disc Magnet Plastic Coated

N52 Disc Neodymium magnets ND0401-52P

www.magnet4sale.com

 

[samnaz]

Here’s how someone else made them, can’t remember who...

 

[ReeferWarrant]

@samnaz Awesome!!! Thank You!! I just got a really cheap "dremel" for fragging my LPS's so this works out perfectly

 

[samnaz]

@samnaz Awesome!!! Thank You!! I just got a really cheap "dremel" for fragging my LPS's so this works out perfectly

Fantastic. Report back if it goes well for ya. I’ve been meaning to try making this for a while now. Crazy tunze sells just one of these for something nuts like $60!

 

[DaneGer21]

I know these aren’t exactly a rock, but I have used these frag plugs in the past to get things growing on the glass and/or overflow...

MAG Disks (6 Pack) Magnetic Coral Frag Plugs - Oceans Wonders

Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

 

[ReeferWarrant]

@samnaz, Exactly! I have some rubble and a couple of rocks sitting doing nothing so I figured I could do something like that with them for probably half the price.

@DaneGer21, Nice! I'll have to take a look at those.

 

[Karen00]

This is interesting. Following.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

I think I'm just going to order a couple of these to put in as the magnets. They are already meant for aquarium use and have everything already attached to them. $10 with everything done vs $5 per magnet seems like a good deal to me. I already have one for my freshwater shrimp tank and it seems pretty strong.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Following as well. Fascinating idea

 

[samnaz]

That might work. I guess it depends on how small you plan on the rock being. I assume those magnets can’t hold much. KJ magnets makes some specifically for aquariums. I don’t believe they are particularly strong either, but they are cheap.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Magnets ordered, found an online coupon for KJ magnetics so I ordered 10 for $40 with shipping. Decided on the slim rectangular magnets (BX084PC-BLK) so I can make it as flush as possible to the glass for a natural look. My assumption is larger surface area will create a better hold. I'll leave some space so as not to scratch the glass as well. I was planning on making a couple, I might sell them locally if it works out well to get some return on what I spent.

[ $5 off: TENSEGRITY ]

Plan is to have 2 free floating on the glass with GSP and Pulsing Xenia each so they can grow and be controlled. The 3rd one I'm planning on putting in the corner to have a shelf for my Candy Canes.


Debating what I'll use to secure them to the rubble/rocks. I have some left over epoxy and gel super glue for fragging, or might go with the JBWeld in the image above. Also was thinking of taking some sandpaper to the glue side of the magnet to give surface area to adhere to, probably not necessary and creates a risk of unwanted minerals in the tank. Any input is welcome.

Thanks!

 

[Thunderrap]

I put two in my tank, I used magnets from the back of some powerheads I had sitting around and I just superglued and epoxied the magnets to the rock

 

[Brew12]

Magnets ordered, found an online coupon for KJ magnetics so I ordered 10 for $40 with shipping. Decided on the slim rectangular magnets (BX084PC-BLK) so I can make it as flush as possible to the glass for a natural look. My assumption is larger surface area will create a better hold. I'll leave some space so as not to scratch the glass as well. I was planning on making a couple, I might sell them locally if it works out well to get some return on what I spent.

[ $5 off: TENSEGRITY ]

Plan is to have 2 free floating on the glass with GSP and Pulsing Xenia each so they can grow and be controlled. The 3rd one I'm planning on putting in the corner to have a shelf for my Candy Canes.


Debating what I'll use to secure them to the rubble/rocks. I have some left over epoxy and gel super glue for fragging, or might go with the JBWeld in the image above. Also was thinking of taking some sandpaper to the glue side of the magnet to give surface area to adhere to, probably not necessary and creates a risk of unwanted minerals in the tank. Any input is welcome.

Thanks!

I would use something reef safe to seal the magnet if it isn't already coated. You don't want these things corroding in your tank.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

@Brew12, they are plastic coated and the website specifies them as aquarium magnets. We'll see though.

Aquarium Magnets

K&J Magnetics - Incredibly strong neodymium magnets at affordable prices. Large variety of stock rare earth magnets available.

www.kjmagnetics.com