Power head holder

[Mike L]

 Has anyone ever made a magnetic power head holder. Suction cups suck.
Mike out

[Stussi613]

Most Koralia and other powerheads come with magnet/suction combo cups.  The ones on my Jebao's are so strong they actually pull my mag float over if I get to close to it...

[Al]

Agree , pretty much anything with suction cups is on a short life cycle, especially in hard water. As Stussi points out on the Koralia, they use a magnetic holder. I use Sicce powerheads and their magnetic mounting brackets are top notch.

[Mike L]

 Problem for me is I have mj 900. So I'm going to make my own. You can buy after market but they want 30 each for then. Ah no thanks. I have already source rare earth magnets from Lee valley that are coated and now have to figure how to mount. I have some ideas and will experiment.

[Al]

Mike,
Is the MJ doing the job for you - if so, then I guess its worth investing in some kind of magnetic adapter. If you're not 100% on the MJ, you might want to consider another powerhead - and I say this without knowing if you have tried a Koralia or Sicce or Jebao - but the wider flow of these newer types of powerheads add a whole new dimension to powerhead use. I feel that's why Marineland starting offering the adapter kit for the MJ - after having seen a heavy shift in the market demand, but the adapter system for the Marineland MJ doesn't measure up in my books. Having said that, if the standard MJ setup is doing the job for you, one thing that can be said for the MJ is that they are bulletproof. Once I switched over to the newer style I never looked back. My MJ would run forever but the deflector would never stay in place if you wanted to point the flow upwards or downwards, etc. And then there are those stupid suction cups !!

[Mike L]

  Hey Al/Stuart
It's just that I have them and they are working. Purchased the Italian made ones from Mops and Got Fish. Paid 18-20 dollars each a while back when they had some. I use them in the traditional setup with round black sponges that are 4" long for addition mechanical filtering and they do a wonderful job at that.  By the time the week is up for water change they are loose though.
I know the others you mentioned are superior but given how I use them it was the only option plus at this point I would need to invest in 5 of them and that's a large cash outlay right know. I'm going to give this some thought. Lee Valley sell 12 pound magnets at .85 cents if you buy 25 or more. Four per P.H. would do. Or I might consider doing what you suggested but buy one at a time. Thanks for the info though.
Regards Mike

[Stussi613]

I use maxijet 600's, 900's and a 1200 in various QT/Frag tanks and my Brute 35g saltwater mixing bin and when I connect the bracket to the glass with the 3 suction cups they don't move.  The 1200 that goes in the Brute gets pounced by water flow and it's never come off...

[lucius]

Maybe just try new suction cups for now.

[Mike L]

 Thanks all for your input. I do use the 3 suction cups, however after a week they are not holding or barely holding. The cups are still pliable and work great for about 3-5 days. I also want to come up with something that will be effective for heaters and filter tubing. I now have 2 ideas that I will try to MacGyver using rare earth magnets. Will let you know how it works.

[lucius]

Going with the way Hydor pumps use magnets/suction cups, you could place the magnet inside the suction with some silicone and then silicone the open space between the magnet and suction cup so that nothing gets in behind there.  If it doesn't work, just scrape the silicone off and get your magnet back.

[Mike L]

 That indeed is the first idea I'm going to try.
Mike

[wayn496]

What I did was go to walmart and buy the cheap version of a MagFloat.  Then I removed the suction cups from the bracket that holds the MJ and super glued it to the part of the Magfloat that goes in the tank.  Attach your MJ to the bracket the way you normally do and place in tank where you want it just like you would with a Korilia etc...

Ill be taking some pics of the tank tonight so I will try and get a couple of the MJ mod to show you.  Has worked for the past 3 years.  I think the wal-mart magfloat versions were about $10

[Mike L]

 Thanks Wayne
That is a  good option. and the cheapest That will work so far I want to try to adapt so that all suction cups can be replaced as cheap as possible. Given all the suction cups that are part of a tank it would be good to come up with a very inexpensive alternative that all could use.
Regards Mike