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Cultivated Reef

SouthReef -- Bye bye Red Planet!


SouthFlorida_Tron

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Not cool. I get his response but basically pointed most of the blame on you, as if you stored the powerhead in your toolbox or scrap metal pile prior to throwing it the tank.

 

Not cool.

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My 6095 has a black coating on the magnets. It looks like this model doesn't? I don't see how they could just leave uncoated magnets, and not expect to have problems.

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My nano osmolator magnet rusted in a matter or weeks, I put the rusted side outside now and the other side hasn't shown any signs of rust. Sorry to hear about the mandarin and other tank problems.

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Not cool. I get his response but basically pointed most of the blame on you, as if you stored the powerhead in your toolbox or scrap metal pile prior to throwing it the tank.

 

Not cool.

Agreed, seems like all manufacturers do this, bull#### their way out of taking blame for a flaw in their products. Since this pump is the lowest end of their product line they obviously wanted to save 11 cents and not go with the complete coating like is found on all their other pumps. I like Tunze because I think they put out quality equipment but this "over site" is obviously a cost saving measure for them, kinda disappointed really.

 

I have asked him for a new bracket.

If you get it I'm asking him to post a recall... LOL

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SouthFlorida_Tron

This is what I posted:

How do I either fix the issue or get a properly working magnet bracket. As of now, I'm not using the pump.

 

 

He replied:

If it is really the iron plate inside that is rusting, that is a warranty issue and we would send a new magnet half, but the majority of the time, all that has happened is the magnet picked up some iron particles.

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SouthFlorida_Tron

Argh! Not cool man.

Still waiting for Tunze's morning reply... Not really wasting more energy on this as it was a $40 pump i bought with a gift card and I have since removed it from use... I guess it will be a dedicated water making flow pump, without the rusted clamp :)

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Still waiting for Tunze's morning reply... Not really wasting more energy on this as it was a $40 pump i bought with a gift card and I have since removed it from use... I guess it will be a dedicated water making flow pump, without the rusted clamp :)

Yep, will be interesting to hear what they say. A guy here on a local forum had the same issue. Another member wrote Tunze and got this response:

Good day Cuan,

 

All magnets, coated or uncoated will attract iron based phosphate removers. The only difference is that the smooth surface of the coated ones has less surface area and any attracted particles easily wipe off, but you will see older magnets with scratches in the coating develop the same staining. This is only a cosmetic issue and basic caution of rinsing the iron based media before use to reduce the free dust should solve the problem and any stains that form should be easy to clean up, I would use a scotch bright pad on the magnet and the white expanded melamine pads we call magic eraser in the states, work wonders on any stains on the glass and will not scratch.

 

In 2009 China, which is the source of 98% of the worlds Neodymium, nationalized production of this material, they drove the price up 600% and then offered a 50% discount to companies that would assemble finished products in China. This was a very underhanded attempt by the Chinese government to take jobs from other countries, most of these magnets go to green energy products like windmills and electric motors for cars which are a booming industry. Most of these companies were only buying magnets and finishing the product in the US, Europe, Japan or wherever they were based. We purchased enough raw magnets when this nationalization was first implemented that we were able to keep with the original magnet holders until 2011 in most cases, hoping that the WTO and UN would intervene and stop this unfair trade practice. When we ran out, we had to switch, the issue was still not resolved with China. The ferrite magnets cannot be coated, they have much less strength and maximizing the holding power means as little barrier as possible between the glass and the magnet. Enough companies did what we did and simply switched to alternative magnets that the demand has dropped and the price followed. We are now at a point where prices are about 2.5 times what they were in 2008 before the nationalization took place. As it was, we could not even produce the magnet holders at the prices we charged for them (the raw magnets had increased in cost so much, that they cost more than we were selling the finished product for) and raising prices in a global recession seemed like a harebrained idea, given the circumstances, we simply had no alternative, the alternative was what one of our competitors did, you may recall the roughly $100 price increase imposed on EcoTech pumps. Neodymium magnets have come down in cost and in the near future we may return to using more Neodymium, but we have no definite plans and it is likely some products will keep the ferrite magnets regardless as they are generally more durable long term, ferrite itself is a man made ceramic, it is what most impellers are made of and it cannot rust and is non toxic, that cannot be said of Neodymium should the coating ever fail.

 

Regards,

Roger Vitko

Tunze USA

And this from a local store regarding the issue:

The official announcement as far as the magnets are concerned, is that there is a reaction with the ferrite if using certain products ( I will not mention names ) and certain customers have had issues while others have not.The reaction however can't cause any detrimental effect on the system or fish or corals.

 

To cut a long story short all the pumps will in the future closed magnets and there is a new magnet produced as we speak, the new products will be the first and all other products will follow suit, this might take a month or two.

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I call BS. Being the big company they are,they shouldn't even ask questions and just send a new magnet mount. I mean what is it to them really ? Regardless of it being their "lowest model on the totem poll" kinda thing,they same procedures so happen even with the cheapest of their products.

 

Hopefully they sort this out for you and quit jerking off,sheesh.

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Well, I removed a few, I know theres a handful more... owell...

 

Thanks

they're kinda freaky looking (especially when you pull them out of the sand), so I can understand taking them out.. I think they're neat..

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I have a few tiny ones in my tank,I always see them digging thru the small amount of crap that collects in the corner of my tank. Awesome scavengers really.

 

I understand man. It seems that companies make such big fusses over the smallest things..

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  • 2 weeks later...
SouthFlorida_Tron

Finally got my hands on the PLS-50 Elite. Substantially larger neck and cup, and absolutely no micro bubbles... definitely a new design to the drain system... been 2 minutes and I'm working on dialing it in.

 

again, not one micro bubble!

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SouthFlorida_Tron

For the past 2 years of long drives in traffic I've been dreading stick.

 

And for the record, DSG is not just "automatic" lol

 

This baby is turbo diesel and it has balls!

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For the past 2 years of long drives in traffic I've been dreading stick.

And for the record, DSG is not just "automatic" lol

This baby is turbo diesel and it has balls!

Sorry flappy pedals, that they do!

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