Rust intrusion from Innovative Marine Gourmet Defroster

[Brieninsac]

I wanted to share this so others with this accessory could be warned.

A couple weeks ago I noticed the backing over the magnet had started to separate from the plastic housing. After closer inspection I also noticed a couple of small cracks in the backing. It appeared as though the backing was expanding and beginning to crack and separate.





I contacted Innovative Marine and even though it's no longer within the warranty period they replaced the damaged part. Albeit I had to pay $6 for shipping. I am grateful for the replacement but I won't be using it again.

After I got the replacement I decided to lift up the backing on the damaged one to see if there was any rust and as you can see oh boy was there rust.



This explains why my anemones, corals and inverts have been going down hill over the last few months. I have also lost some fish without any known cause too. So needless to say this has been a disappointing development and I hope through some on-going water changes I'll get past this and start the recovery period.

[mikee b]

Do you use gfo because that is basicly rust!

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Jose Mayo]

Sintered Nd2Fe14B tends to be vulnerable to corrosion, especially along grain boundaries of a sintered magnet. This type of corrosion can cause serious deterioration, including crumbling of a magnet into a powder of small magnetic particles, or spalling of a surface layer.

This vulnerability is addressed in many commercial products by adding a protective coating to prevent exposure to the atmosphere. Nickel plating or two-layered copper-nickel plating are the standard methods, although plating with other metals, or polymer and lacquer protective coatings are also in use.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium_magnet

[HBtank]

Originally Posted by mikee b

Do you use gfo because that is basicly rust!

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

I don't think the concern is iron oxide itself, but anything else that may be within the magnet, impurities, contaminants, coatings, etc..

[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by mikee b

Do you use gfo because that is basicly rust!

All magnets are not created equal..
The ferrite magnets used on the impellers of pumps and exposed to the water are harmless but this isn't a ferrite magnet..

So the "rust" is probably not the issue/cause of the coral decline..

A neodymium magnet is composed of neodymium, iron and boron..
Boron or neodymium toxicity could easily be a cause of coral problems..

To achieve the magnetic strength manufacturers are using neodymium magnets (unplated or plated) to allow these products to work through thicker glass,etc..

As stated once the potting has failed/been penetrated corrosion starts/accelerates and whats leaching out can certainly cause problems..

[OurCoralReef]

I have the same problem
It’s definitely a issue in the materials they use