Magnetic frag mounts

[panmanmatt]

Well this was my first attempt at making these so figured I'd chronicle it here.

The magnets I purchased already epoxy coated as it was cheaper than buying the materials and doing it myself.

These are the magnets I ordered:
K&J Magnetics - Products

Here they are when they arrived.

For my first attempt at using them I just glued some frags I had already mounted on frag disks to the magnets.

And here they are in the frag tank. Please excuse the HA.

I am going to try gluing some to egg crate to see how the are for holding a frag rack. I am also looking into some 3/4" magnets but they were out of stock right now.

 

[zy112]

Looks cool; are you using magnets just so you can put them on the glass?

 

[panmanmatt]

Yup. It takes up less real estate that a frag rack and you don't need a separate frag tank to use them.

 

[zy112]

Ah thats a real good idea then. Have you fragged acro then? I would think they would grow sideways?

 

[panmanmatt]

I haven't myself but yes acros can grow sideways. I may get a few friends to try them with a couple acro frags just to se how they do with the heavier weight.

 

[zy112]

Cool, thanks for the info I might have to try that myself with some zoas and softies

 

[panmanmatt]

So far I have done a kenya tree (one in the pics) and a xenia frag I mounted to the back glass of my reef tank.

 

[Cassette87]

this is also a great idea if you're trying to get a certian coral, like xenia to grow on the back glass and you don't want to use superglue nice work!

 

[Dentoid]

Now that's the way to get the most out of your frag tank! Build coral condos! Cool idea Matt!

 

[panmanmatt]

this is also a great idea if you're trying to get a certian coral, like xenia to grow on the back glass and you don't want to use superglue nice work!

Already trying that in the reef tank. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[boozeman]

very cool Matt
...I wonder how well they hold up over time as the coral grows and becomes heavier? please keep us updated

 

[panmanmatt]

Thanks Scott. It was actually Al's post on magnets that inspired me to get off my butt and move with this.

Now to find some stick heads to give it a go with SPS frags. I bet with the stronger 3/4" ones you could grow a nice monti cap on the back glass.

 

[panmanmatt]

Good point Rob. I will definitely keep this updated.

The 3/4" ones I am waiting on have a 33+lbs pull force to them. That should hold just about any size coral.

 

[Adam Black]

Where would I pick up some of those magnets at?

 

[JFK_Jr]

I bet with the stronger 3/4" ones you could grow a nice monti cap on the back glass.

LOL... on a Koralia magnet... check out the growth so far...

 

[panmanmatt]

Should've known you'd have tried it already. Nice growth so far.

 

[panmanmatt]

OK I got the large magnets in finally. I went ahead and made up 1 frag magnet and one frag rack so far. The rack utilizes 2 sets of magnets and is capable of holding 24 frag plugs or about 12 frag disks. All my testing for weight so far has been done on a 29 gallon tank. I don't have actually numbers for the weight but you can get an idea by the size of the pieces that I used.

Frag rack:

 

[panmanmatt]

And the frag disk:

 

[slakker]

I found some locally that are nickel plated instead of the black epoxy... it there any concerns of nickel being used in the tank? Couldn't find anything definitive re: toxicity of nickel...

 

[panmanmatt]

I'm not sure about the nickel. I would imagine that it will eventually rust in saltwater.

You get 2 part epoxy from a craft/hobby store and coat the magnets in that just to be safe.