Interesting. Thanks for the information. Can you confirm?

-Prof

2 years and no rust.
Click to view attachment

Nickel would make much more sense to me...

I just opened mine, and they look almost identical to this, even down to the red dot on the left magnet. Lots of little squiggly lines and black blobs that appear to be part of the production process. Lots of rust color, but I am not certain whether there is any actual rust. My nanos have been out of the tank since last Tuesday, when my Aquapod sprang a leak. Both the magnets were wet.

Zinc would be very bad. Nickle would be fine, but based on the pictures, it almost looks like there is a lacquer coating over the magnet that ruptured.

I looked at both of my nanos, and while neither were rusty, both were different. The unit that I bought over a year ago has the same silver look to it with the lacquer coating. The newer one purchased less than 6 months ago looks like it has a black epoxy coating on it. Hydor has definitely changed the design, it's now a matter of when, and if it was consistent from that point on. It could be something as simple as a change in supplier to meet demand that got the different coating on the magnet. Who knows.

It sounds like a change has been made by Hydor which is good news. My coating is the silver looking lacquer you describe.

I agree that zinc would be very bad. I hope it is something else.

-Prof

Both of mine have some rust on them. They are at least a yr old, I also have problems with them not wanting to restart after be cut off for feeding. I have to give them a thump, they have been like that since they were new though. Both say 19501 729

Sorry for the bad pics. I only have my iphone with me. Yes there is rust on mine also. I think they were purchased around August last year. Each was in a different tank and I took both tanks down about three weeks ago and they were both still wet on the inside. Of those who have read this thread and checked most have found rust. I don't know much about statistics but seems high for a random lot of pumps. I agree with OP, Stevie, Evil there is no need to jump to conclusions.

What's with the red spots?

+1

Must be some kind of quality verification. I have two on my BC14

I was going to ask that too. I have noticed that on several peoples pics.....

-Prof

hmmmmmm, interesting, seems that maybe a certain batch has a defective coating. Im glad hydro is posting and looking into this. I did not have a chance to look at mine yet, but I will.

Hydro rep, I do not think the intent of this thread was to bash Hydro or your products in anyway. I do however see any issue with THESE certain Koralia Nano's.

I have some additional information to share:

The Rep for Hydor contacted me via PM and has asked that I send the rusted magnet to him. Apparently he has already contacted the techs in Italy and they would like to have the rusted magnet for analysis. He also offered to swap my Nano for a K-1 if I felt uncomfortable with the Nano. I declined as I don't feel it is necessary but I thought it was a generous gesture (particulary as my Nano is probably way out of warranty) and I believe it shows excellent customer service. I truly believe they are taking this issue seriously.

I have agreed to send back the rusted magnet in a effort to help them troubleshoot the problem but plan to keep the other one so I can work out a fix for any that wish to try it. I have an idea that should be both simple and easy I am going to try this weekend.

I have also asked if he could provide additional info on the make, model and manufacturer of the magnet so I can look into what components it might contain. I have not heard back from him on that yet.


-Prof

In some of these pictures the brown color looks very even. Profs magnified picture is more clear and shows blistering. But I am wondering if this "brown" in the other pics is really rust. Hard to tell from here especially iphone pics

I would think that the oxidation would cover up the red dot and the blue fibers or whatever they are.

Its hard to tell from the pics but the "rust" is under the clear coat while the red dot is on top of it on mine. The "blue" fibers are actually where the corrosion has bubbled up the clear coat.

Red dots on magnets are usually for polarity identification.

Yes red dot is on top of the coating on mine. The coating gives it a smooth look but it is rusted underneath. If you look at the magnets from the outside units they are clear without any change in surface color. Mine are only 9 months old and you can see the rusting but isn't as bad as OP's at 18 months. I imagine that is where it would go with enough time with the coating eventually cracking completely off. I would be leary of "fixing" the issue as the rust is already started and would continue with any additional coating. Perhaps if you sanded to a good clean surface then recoated you would be ok. I think the easiest would be for Hydor to issue a recall if they suspect a certain lot at fault and just replace the magnets. I've had very good luck with Hydor in the past. I agree with everyone that no blame needs to be past. They will fix it if there is a problem. Shows tremendous customer service that they are engaging us here in on this site. Great work Hydor!

Steve

Fully agreed. A company that speaks directly to it's customers through a public forum regarding a potential issue is a company that I want to do business with. Kudos to Hydor for stepping up and commenting.

Correct Evil. The red dot marks the polarity. On the black coated ones its a white dot.

[quote name='SPerry' date='Jul 29 2009, 05:58 PM' post='2352664']
Both of mine have some rust on them. They are at least a yr old, I also have problems with them not wanting to restart after be cut off for feeding. I have to give them a thump, they have been like that since they were new though. Both say 19501 729

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I suggest you take the nano apart. Remove the impeller from the shaft and clean the shaft and impeller in freshwater. Them reassemble it and run it in freshwater for about five minutes. If you want, you can add some vinegar to the water.

Typically, when impellers do not restart its because there is build up on the shaft or on the inner impeller surface.

If you still can't get it to run smooth get ahold of Hydor Customer Service.

hydor customer service rocks!! theyre sending me all new magnets they really do aim to please the customer, unlike some unnamed companies customer service depts....

Like Bonsai said, Hydor deserves great kudos for stepping up to the plate here. This shows the true quality of a company.

There are actually 4 versions of the Nano magnet. There is a "gun-metal gray" version, a silver version, and 2 black versions. The "gun-metal gray" version is the oldest version from back in 2007. It was used in the original release of the nano. It has a protective coating which prevents corrosion. The few pictures of rusty magnets that I have seen, have all been this version original version. The "squigly lines" some people have noticed actually appear to be animal damage, caused by what look like small worm-like critters.

I still dont feel that the "rust" people are seeing negatively impacts livestock, but if you would like, I can provide you with the newest version of the magnet. It is nickle plated and sealed in plastic. These magnets are already on their way from Italy. Please send your request via email to customer service via our website if you wish to exercise this option.

If you have any more questions please ask.

Sincerely

Hydor Customer Service

Outstanding customer service in this thread!

True dat ^

You know they are good when they offer to replace the magnets on a device that is over 2 years old...

Great job and kudos to Hydor for keeping in touch with your consumers and being so proactive in a resolution for those affected. Bravo-Zulu!!!

-Prof

Thanks Hydorman I'll take you up on those just to be sure. You guys are the best!! AAAAAAA++++++ customer service.

I have already taken them apart,cleaned them with vinegar water and buffed the shaft smooth. They still do it. When I first got them new and they were doing this I contacted Hydor, the originals were replaced but the replacements did the same thing.

So... After all these posts, has anyone been able to repeat the "remove K-nano -> corals look better" sequence?

Lots of huffing and puffing (and some good customer service by Hydor) but I wonder if this was isolated to Prof's situation or if there is a wider application.

i just bought a koralia, and love it....so far.....so set your clocks gentlemen..........ill post if i get some sort of crazy outbreak or deaths...

scapegoat

pretty much

it was either the koralia or the fact that i havent changed my water and i feed every 12 hrs b/c "my fish tell me" they are hungry...

i still blame the man with the most money

Ok... i will join in this too.

I have a nano and i also have an extra set of magnets that have never been in water. The ones that were used on the koralia have those brown squiggly lines on them. The new ones are plain silver color with the red id dot. Ill post some pictures later. I took the nano out because i dont really need it, but the "rust" is not convincing me to keep it in there especially because both of my magnets are in the water because i mount it on the false wall of my bc14.

you cant do that on television

wow, interesting thread, I have a nano in my fuge to help with water circulation, I am going to have to take it out to have a look at the magnet.

I have two koralia nano in my BC14, both been in there over a year.

Is this bad? For now I swapped the dry magnet with wet ones.

According to the contents of this thread: no one knows.

What....???

Xenia2, mine looks exactly like that.

Wow. This really blew up. I don't buy any of this, People on here are going yeeeeahhhh now that i think of it my coral doesn't grow in my BC8. It probably doesn't grow as fast because the BC8 has a measly 18w of PC Coralife bulbs which are notorious for losing spectrum in months. The problem is (and i assume prof will get this) theres no control in this experiment. Someone needs to set up two tanks and put two sps frags in them and put a nano in one and another type of powerhead (all plastic) with the same rating in the same place and wait a month.

Even then i looked up what these magnets are made of and first off (like someone else said) There not even neodynium rare-earths. I mean where did you even come up with that? Even if they were all the information about it being a skin corrosive and all that malarke is when it corrodes in air, and thats in a pure state. Those magnets are cured and crystalized. Now i'm not dicounting the fact that it might have an adverse effect on saltwater, but the concentration is so low in those magnets ot begin with that i could confidently rule that element out.

Iron - Like I and others after have said, Iron is fine for our tank in the concentration thats being exposed. I have a phsoban bag in my tank larger than the 2 of the magnets you're talking about, and thats assuming that these magnets were made of entirely iron. I had a cheap knockoff mag float from a chinatown LFS and it start rusting weeks into placement. This was in a BC8. Nothing adverse happened, i noticed no change in water quality or coral health.

Prof, it's good that you introduced this idea to people and i love a good discussion, but i don't buy into what this has become and i certainly don't buy into this mob mentality, grab-the-pitch-forks-and-demand-mp10's, ridiculousness.

I don't think anyone on here is actually demanding pumps, it was a joke. Requesting replacement magnets isn't a big deal.

I requested replacement magnets. 2 minute conversation and in 2 days i got them. np

Fosi,
Nothing that can be proven. While my gut tells me this was the culprit in my case, I still have no proof, nor will I ever. Perhaps Bonsai will notice a difference now that he has removed his. Time will tell.



You may want to re-read my posts more carefully young man. First this was not an experiment as you referenced. Second, I have not condoned a mob mentality. To the contrary I have been very supportive of Hydor and I have been fair and honest in my analysis of my issue. I even re-posted on an occasion urging people to look at this a bit more rationally. I admit that rare-earth magnets was an assumption on my part. Reading all of the warnings regarding the magnets and their safe usage in Hydors directions certainly would lead one to believe that they are not refrigerator magnets. They are the same set of warnings you routinely see with rare earth magnets. However, the Hydor rep says they are not rare earth magnets and I have not disputed that. I have been researching magnets and their compostion and from what I am learning there are potential contaminants in many types of magnets, and I am not talking about rust from iron. The whole "we use rust to remove phosphates in our tanks" schtick is wearing thin with me. Perhaps I chose the wrong nomenclature. Lets use the word corrosion instead of rust as that is indeed more accurate. My magnets were corroded and that corrosion had the potential (unproven of course) to leach heavy metals and/or toxins into my tank. Due to the fact that I do not know what the composition of these exact magnets are there is no way to prove that this could have been the case. So our story leaves everyone wondering.

And on a personal note, your post is just as reactionary and un-informed as those that you are complaining about in this thread. I bid you good day.

-Prof

Although I dont own the nano pump, I have others though, I have been following the thread. I really like the way it is going. I am not a rep for hydor. I enjoy the comments without bashing, very informative, "Professor" you are doing a good job making this "hey just make sure" post and not and bash these people post. I am new here and I am liking the way this has been handled with members mods and hydro. I guess what I am getting at is that I have WAY more respect for this forum because of the way this is/was being handled. Sorry I dont have anything to say about the topic.

While a debate is not bad, it would be better without patronization (especially when the age difference is unclear).

The age difference is clear to me unless his profile is incorrect. Hmph, I thought I was being polite. I guess I should have just said GTFO like everyone else does so I would fit in around here.

Nevertheless, you make a good point. Not really called for.

-Prof

I'm always on the lookout for a little post hoc ergo propter hoc, but I wonder if there is a pattern. While there is no proof, a pattern would be instructive.

I'm glad you posted about it, but I'd like more data (wouldn't we all?! ). Tell me again how long it was after you removed the koralia before you saw an improvement in your system?


And don't mind illuminano. He was rude to me as well in a thread yesterday. I just chalked it up to him having a bad day. *shrugs*

Fosi,
It was about a week before I started to notice an improvement. To muddy the waters even more, as I stated in my original post I moved the livestock to my new tank so any link to the magnets is purely hypothetical and unsubstantiated. I am hoping Bonsai will see some results as he was having issues with his tank if I recall his posts correctly. It will be interesting to see if his situation improves once they have been removed.

I would love to have more info about the magnets but Hydor has not responded to my requests for information yet. I don't really blame them at this point with the way some people have over-reacted. I do believe the potential is there for leaching secondary to corrosion from a magnet, particulary in our nano-reefs that are small closed systems. But to prove it will involve setting up a controlled experiment. I have actually been thinking about doing just that, as this topic has got me curious. You interested in playing Fosi?

-Prof

Well, I hope bonsai will come back and post about it. Not that it will prove anything but it will be one more data point. Enough data points and we can form a trend stronger than any of the individual points.



Agreed.

Plus, IME, companies generally don't like giving up info about their suppliers, especially if it will cause them problems down the line. Also, they (Hydor) likely haven't paid much attention to the composition of the magnets.

That means they would have to do the legwork to back to their supplier and find out the relevant into then report the info to you and they may not want to do the legwork. Especially not since what they report will likely be blown out of proportion in the same way as we have seen in this thread.



I'm interested, but as usual, the devil is in the details. Before talking about experimental design, we'd need to address how leaching will be assessed. What will be measured?

First off I would like to say that Hydor is an awesome company. When I lost the dry side magnet to my K1 they replaced it free with no questions asked, even though it was my fault and I was only calling them to try to purchase a new one. My old nano that I had did have a rusty magnet but I was replacing it with the K1 so I didn't think anything of it and just tossed it. Just my input on the subject.

Someone should start a small tank with a few cheap corals in it. Lay one of the old corroded magnets in there and see over time if there is any ill affects! Or if you really wanted to be technical start 2 one with and one without the magnet and compare.