Reef Review: Tunze Care Magnet

revhtree · Mar 4, 2016

Come on raise your hand! Who likes to put their hands in the tank to clean the glass? Ok not me or anyone other hobbyist that I know. That's why I was pretty excited about the new Tunze Care Magnet and I just had to get one for myself and give it a shot!

Box took a little beating from the shipping carrier.

Yea for quality control
For a couple of years now I have used a very efficient Magnavore Magnet cleaner which does a great job! The only issue I have is that hard, pink algae known as coralline algae that has been growing in epic porportions in my aquarium. From my experience if you don't clean coralline algae quick then the regular magnet cleaners will not do the trick! This results in having to break out the home improvement store razor blade and that requires getting wet! And for many that includes armpits! Yuck!

I am aware that there are already a few different types of magnet cleaning blades on the market but this was my first experience with one.

The care magnet was packed very well.
The model I purchased and am reviewing now is the Tunze Care Magnet 220.015. Right out of the box I noticed that the Tunze Care Magnet seemed very durable and well put together. Within a couple of minutes of reading and looking at pictures I was able to figure out how things worked and was ready to try out my new partner in algae eradication!

All of the pieces straight out of the box excluding the metal scraper blade that I didn't see attached inside the owners manual. Included is extra plastic scrapers!

And here is the metal scraper hidden in the instruction material.

Here I installed the optional metal scraper blade.

These soft pads made sliding the magnet across the tank glass easy and safe.
From the very start I used the plastic blade that was provided with the magnet. While it had no problem cleaning off that pesky film algae that a lot of our tank get, it was not very effective at scraping off the much harder coralline algae. Remember even my big boy Magnavore couldn't remove that! So it was time to add on option number two, the scraper with blade attachment. Upon installing this metal scraper I knew right away that it would get the job done. And it did! With just a couple swipes here and there and even one swipe in some instances the harder coralline algae was gone.

Cleaner with optional metal blade attachment.

Cleaner with plastic blade only attached.

The easy to grip handle made for ease of use on the glass of the aquarium.
One cool advantage of using the Tunze cleaner is that the blade allows to clean right up to the edges of your pumps and more specifically an Ecotech MP40 that I use in my aquarium. Using a rectangular magnet cleaner makes it a little harder to clean around these pumps for me. Then add in the fact that the metal blade extends out a bit further than the edge of the tool and it allows for close more precise cleaning.

Cleaning right up next to the edge of my pumps!
Another cool thing about the cleaner is that you can clean all the way down to the edge of the substrate line without the fear of picking up a rouge sand grain that reeks havoc on your beautifully polished aquarium glass! You can even go a little further down past the sand line without worry.

Clean to the edge of the substrate and beyond.
Over all I am very pleased with this magnet cleaner and it has now become a nice tool in my arsenal of algae defense. One tool that it has definitely replaced is my small hand blade and extended scraper. And at $40.77 shipped to my door it was a good buy. No more wet arms for me!

revhtree · Mar 4, 2016

I moved this review over here from RE.

Since reviewing this product I still use it and am very happy with it. The only con would be that the felt protecting pads eventually start to slide the direction you use the cleaner the most.

TheEngineer · Mar 4, 2016

You seriously must have been reading my mind. As I had my arm in my tank AGAIN cleaning my glass today I said to myself, "That's it. I'm buying that Tunze scraper" And here you are with a review

bairdimusprime · Mar 4, 2016

amazing! i'm due for a arm in tank cleaning asap... where can i get this amazing little thing

TheEngineer · Mar 4, 2016

SaltwaterAquarium.com $35, free shipping. They sell through Amazon too if you have prime.

reefwiser · Mar 4, 2016

Great review always loved tunze magnetic cleaners. Starting with the old square magnet model 25 years ago.

beastium · Mar 4, 2016

Can anyone with experience with both this and the flipper comment on comparison?

zLaEcEh · Mar 4, 2016

Does it float if the handle becomes unattached.

Feltman · Mar 4, 2016

I have 2 and Ill say I love everything about them. They have rounded edges so u can go around corners without screwing up sealant. Also the only part of tbe scrapper touching thr glass is the blade itself so no worry about picking up sand. Unfortunately the only downside ive found is the internal scrapper does not float.

revhtree · Mar 4, 2016

zLaEcEh said:
Does it float if the handle becomes unattached.

It does not! That would be awesome but it's got a nice grip via the magnets so it doesn't happen much.

SpikeWire · Mar 4, 2016

I have this Tunze and have also had the Flipper. I have to say I'm a huge fan of both. If I had to pick one I would go with the Flipper. Coincidentally I have also tried the Mightymagnet. While the MM does a great job, it is incredibly expensive and rather bulky. Not great for those hard to reach areas. I also feel the MM is much better suited to larger tanks and probably better on acrylic rather than glass. For some reason it just didn't slide well on my glass and seem to "stutter" across the surface. I know lots of folks who love and have had great success with the MM and it is a very high quality product. Just not suited to my needs.

Back to the Flipper and Tunze. I like the Flipper as it is just a bit more versatile. The larger outside felt helps it do a great job inside AND outside.The Tunze really only does a great job inside the glass. The choice of switching between inside pad and razor (flipping) keeps your hands dry at all times. No need to take it out and switch blades.

With all of that I really don't think you can go wrong with either choice or the MM. As always it's a matter of personal preference and what works best for you. Hope this is helpful.

Sabellafella · Mar 4, 2016

Wow what a nice review, thank you!!. I love my tunze magnet and although its hard to scrape coralline with the larger plastic blade, i switched to the smaller plastic blade and did the job for me before i even have had to use the metal. I have the flipper also but it makes no sence to me (about the flipper part of it) as if i wanted to clean the front pane of glass with the blade instead of the pad, i would have to take it out to "flip" it anyway. I cant even tell you the amounts of scratches i put on my glass in all aquariums using all types of magnet pad scrubbers and im glad i bought the tunze. Only downside is it doesnt float

SpikeWire · Mar 4, 2016

Yeah I never thought about cleaning the front panel with a blade. The nice part of the Flipper is you can "flip" the blade or pad on the inside. I like the larger felt pad that is on the outside (dry) side. Again I really do like both.

keithp · Mar 4, 2016

I have had a similar good experience cleaning a 92 corner with the Tunze. It works great on the curved glass, especially with the flexibke metal blade attached. The plastic blade alone is too stiff and doesn't clean curves well unless it is aligned exactly along the curve.

It took about 2 weeks for the felt pad stickers to start moving. I also get stony spots growing all over the tool. Since I have to take it out to clean anyway, I take it out most of the time now. When the magnets separate, the blades will sometimes fall off the magnet base and into the tank so there are 3 pieces to pull out when you get your arm wet. With practice and care, this happens less often but it is annoying to have to move rocks to find the blade in the substrate. While there is room for improvement, I love this magnet and it was worth the money.

My tank came with little glass bits stuck to the inside of the front pane which would have ruined any scraper. Glad I noticed.