Robot aquarium cleaner

[Cole presley]

Has anyone used the robosnail robot glass cleaner before? I got one to make a youtube video on and think its pretty cool. Just seeing if other people have used them before!
Here is my video - here's the robot on amazon with all the specs - https://amzn.to/2QpZo8s

 

[reef lover]

Soooo youve had it almost a month...hows it keeping up with the algae??

 

[CuzzA]

I love the idea, but too risky. Ever see what happens when one of those robot vacuums hits dog poo? Imagine a piece of sand or small snail or tube worm trapped when the thing runs. I thing your assessment that "the unit is smart enough to not trap sand" is flawed.

 

[mike550]

This is sold on Amazon, and there are a ton of reviews. Some are pretty old but if you look at the recent reviews it’s fair to say they are mixed. One thing I didn’t appreciate is that it can only clean the front glass. So this might be really good for an in-wall tank. I suppose you could pick it up an move it to the sides.

 

[Cole presley]

Soooo youve had it almost a month...hows it keeping up with the algae??

so far - its been good. I haven't had to clean the inside of the glass so I like it. It does leave a tire tracks so to speak on the outside of the glass so I just have to clean the outside of the glass with a paper towel every week or so

 

[Cole presley]

I love the idea, but too risky. Ever see what happens when one of those robot vacuums hits dog poo. Imagine a piece of sand or small snail or tube worm trapped when the thing runs. I thing your assessment that "the unit is smart enough to not trap sand" is flawed.

LOL - well you program it to stop 2 inches above your sand bed - it hasn't ever got sand stuck in the pad because the pad never even comes close to touching the sand,

 

[Tastee]

I love the idea, but too risky. Ever see what happens when one of those robot vacuums hits dog poo. Imagine a piece of sand or small snail or tube worm trapped when the thing runs. I thing your assessment that "the unit is smart enough to not trap sand" is flawed.

I have indeed seen this personally - not a pleasant way to spend your morning cleaning it up before going to work I can assure you.

 

[CuzzA]

LOL - well you program it to stop 2 inches above your sand bed - it hasn't ever got sand stuck in the pad because the pad never even comes close to touching the sand,

So then you have to manually clean the bottom two inches and the sides anyway. So what's the point?

And what about a tube worm that starts growing? How about a small baby snail?

This is why I ditched the MagFloat for the Flipper years ago. Little organisms would grow or get trapped and then ruin your glass when you go to clean. Another one of the many things we have learned over the years.

To each his own, I wouldn't trust that, not even in a bare bottom tank.

 

[Pickwun]

One of the LFS had a similar unit on one of their big display tanks for about a year - they were selling them. They quit using and selling them, because 1) it didn't clean all that well, 2) it was more trouble than cleaning the glass was, 3) it was just noisy enough to ruin the viewing experience.
On the other hand if you don't have mammalian pets or small children get a Roomba. Totally worth the money.