WATCH OUT Something to know about Mag 12

[tynman]

I have had Mag drive in sump pumps since I have gotten into the hobby. I ran a mag 12 as my return from my sump. This is just to let you know what happened to me with the pump and the compay.
After about 2 to 3 years running a mainly SPS reef tank, seeing frags from 1/2 inch grow into fist size colonies things just started to go bad and fast. I had RTN and STN and SPS just turning into pretty white stone. I checked my water thinking there was something wrong with it. Everything was usual no big changes. I was lost and no one seemed to know what to think. So after restarting my SPS tank with all new frags, colonies, live rock and even sand. I didnt see anything good happening no kind of color or polyp extention. I had some encrusting at the base but nothing like I got 3 years ago.
So after about 6 months of looking at the tank and thinking about it I pulled the plug on the system and broke everything down. Well what I found was very disappointing, I pulled my Mag 12 return pump out of my sump and found rust around the screws and where you would take the inpeller out. (see picture) I never had a problem with the pump working. It was a strong pump.

Now I know why most of my SPS crapped out on me. The sad part is I dont have it in me to start all over again.
So I call Danner in NY and asked them what the story is with this and what they can do. Well I was told that 2 times a year isnt good enough to clean the pump, it should be done every 4 weeks.. (I dont know about anyone else here but my return pump was very hard to) Im out of warranty by a year or so. So she told me basiclly its my problem and I need to buy a new pump. I told her this wasnt something I could fix or replace like the impeller it was the body of the pump. They wouldnt do anything to help me but sell me a new pump.
So from my experience I just want to let everyone know about mostly the rusting problem and the companies care and help. I would be very careful with using there pumps... I will never use a Danner pump again...
Thanks for reading and beware and good luck.

 

[StReNuOuS BiOmArKeR]

yeah i dont know why these pumps get so much credit....everyone ive seen rusted at some point just like this one. darn now i really need to check mine. thanks

 

[skinz78]

GFO is made of rust, I'm thinking the problem wasn't the rust on the pump. If this was the case then most tanks out there running GFO wouldn't be able to have SPS in them.

 

[skinz78]

yeah i dont know why these pumps get so much credit....everyone ive seen rusted at some point just like this one. darn now i really need to check mine. thanks

FWIW, I've never been a fan of them, they tend to run hot.... LOL that being said, I currently have one as my return pump.... they are cheap and so am I....

 

[redfishbluefish]

Tynman, that slight amount of "rust" is not the reason of your coral problems. I have no idea of why your tank crashed, but it's not from the MAG.

 

[ToXIc]

have you opened the pump? the rust color seems to be coming from inside the pump not the screws..

 

[tynman]

Tynman, that slight amount of "rust" is not the reason of your coral problems. I have no idea of why your tank crashed, but it's not from the MAG.

I wouldnt call that slight... Thats a lot more then slight.... And I ran the pump and kept SPS for 3 years and then the problems started... The rust formed and started to go into the water...
But this is just my opinion.

 

[tynman]

have you opened the pump? the rust color seems to be coming from inside the pump not the screws..

No I am done with the hobby... I dont want anymore disappointments....

 

[Troylee]

Tynman, that slight amount of "rust" is not the reason of your coral problems. I have no idea of why your tank crashed, but it's not from the MAG.

I would have to agree... I have seen a few tanks with rusted out hose clamps submerged in the water and tanks are thriving... I'm thinking it was pest or something else myself...

 

[dnov99]

I just removed a mag 7 from my sump that was leaking a good amount of stray voltage into my frag system. It was 2 years old, perhaps your pump was doing the same. Its eheim from now on for me...

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk 2

 

[turbo21]

GFO is made of rust, I'm thinking the problem wasn't the rust on the pump. If this was the case then most tanks out there running GFO wouldn't be able to have SPS in them.

I asked the same question on here months ago and the only reply i got was that gfo is pure where when other othings rust there are several different chemicals leached into the water.

We had a guy local here with a full blown 180 sps tank and he started experiencing the same things described above. it turn out it was his frag rack magnets leaching who knows what in the water.

bob

 

[cdness]

Look at the amount of corrosion following alongside the impeller cover... It seems to follow the cover, not just the screws. The last time I saw something like this, the pump actually cracked and caused the copper winding inside to get exposed to saltwater. The saltwater caused the pump to fail, but I am glad I caught it before it crashed my tank. That was the end of using that brand of pump... I would have a hard time believing it was the screws that caused the crash without seeing the inside of the pump.

I switched to the Marineland pumps which have the same type of screws as the MAG pumps do. They have not rusted yet, but I do give the pump a good vinegar soaking every year or so. They seem to run fine still and haven't caused any issues.

Lots of pumps use these screws and I have seen many tanks that have metal parts touching the water with no issues. Also the others are correct that if rust itself caused the crash, GFO would do the same thing as it is like dumping a cup of rust directly into the tank at once but in a reactor to maximize contact time.

 

[tynman]

opened the pump up.

Well I figured why not Im not going to sell the mag 12 anyway so I opened it up.
Take a look at the pictures and tell me if its the screws causeing the rust...

I think they are only part of the problem.

 

[myzislow]

I just removed a mag 7 from my sump that was leaking a good amount of stray voltage into my frag system. It was 2 years old, perhaps your pump was doing the same. Its eheim from now on for me...

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk 2

how did you test for stray voltage? What adverse affects were you seeing in your coral?

 

[redtop03]

I just removed a mag 7 from my sump that was leaking a good amount of stray voltage into my frag system. It was 2 years old, perhaps your pump was doing the same. Its eheim from now on for me...

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk 2

Eheims are a bit more expensive but worth every penny IMO

Well I figured why not Im not going to sell the mag 12 anyway so I opened it up.
Take a look at the pictures and tell me if its the screws causeing the rust...

I think they are only part of the problem.

I wouldn't want that in my tank either,I use GFO but it is contained in a reactor and flow through it is controlled by a slow flow and the output is ran through a filter sock to try to catch any loose particles,when you have this in the sump,you have no control over it at all and no way to keep particles away from coral or fish....I kinda doubt that it is totally the cause for you loosing your SPS but,IMO,there's no way this could be healthy for a reef either

 

[redfishbluefish]

how did you test for stray voltage? What adverse affects were you seeing in your coral?

Very simple to do.....use a multimeter or VOM (volt-ohm meter) and set it to AC volts. Stick one probe in your tank and the other to a good ground. I typically use the little screw in an outlet plate as my ground. A couple volts is OK. Anything more, and you could have problems.

 

[Bubbles_B]

I asked the same question on here months ago and the only reply i got was that gfo is pure where when other othings rust there are several different chemicals leached into the water.

We had a guy local here with a full blown 180 sps tank and he started experiencing the same things described above. it turn out it was his frag rack magnets leaching who knows what in the water.

bob

I second that notion. my frag rack magnets rusted and my corals RIP'd i had an extensive collection. very extensive