Need help sand stuck to magnet?

[JW65]

I bought a bag of black sand to use in a nano that I am setting up and I was putting the power head in and I dropped the magnet that goes on the inside and it was covered in sand. I tried dusting it off because sand should fall right off but it was stuck. I pulled it out and ran it under water in the sink and it sill did not come off I ended up rubbing most of it off by hand. I then took a magfloat and tried using just the outside part from the outside near the sand and some of it was moving. Does this mean there is iron in the sand? If so I am sure that is not good. If this is not the correct forum please move this to where it should be.

Thanks

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Try using a toothbrush to get it out from between the velcro.

 

[JW65]

Thanks that is a good idea so it does not scratch the tank but is it safe? I was hoping to put a few small coral and an anemone with a pair of clowns in the tank and I would really rather not start off with bad sand.

 

[redneckgearhead]

"black sand" is kinda vague. Is it black aquarium sand? If so what brand. And yes if it is sticking to the magnet then it must have iron in it.

 

[kgross]

Yup, many black sands are iron based. It will scratch the tank, but it will not poison the tank, as long as it is an aquarium sand that you purchased.

Kim

 

[JW65]

It was live black sand I do not remember the brand. I am pretty sure it was this stuff. http://www.livesand.com/pop/Bio-Activ-Live-Aragonite-Black-Beach.htm The bag has saltwater fish on it lol.

 

[redneckgearhead]

You should be fine then.

 

[lordofthereef]

I have heard of people having issues with this. If you plan to use the mag cleaner in the future, this will continue to be an issue. Even if you don't drop the magnet again, it is going to attract magnetic particles as soon as you get close to the sand bed with your cleanings. At this point, you risk scratching the glass. My recommendation would be to just replace the sand.

 

[NatureNerd]

One of the chemistry experts should weigh in but, IME iron does aid algae growth.

 

[kgross]

The biggest issue I have seen is, from the magnets picking up the iron and scratching the tank. I will not use it just because of that.

Kim

 

[AquaReeferMan]

Ived used this sand in the past and I dont know if it was because of the iron but algae was always an issue. Other tanks we setup using different sand had no issues. We figured it out once it got stuck on a magnet like the OP. Needless to say we replaced it and the algae faded away.

 

[tkeracer619]

Common but I would ditch the sand and go with a reef grade aragonite sand.