How to Make a Magnetic Aquarium Scrubber

Most aquarium owners tend to experience algae growth and crud buildup on the aquarium walls. This can block out natural light from entering the aquarium, it can obstruct a person's view into the aquarium and can make the overall appearance of the aquarium less than satisfying.

To solve this, aquarium owners can purchase a magnetic scrubbing tool and can use it to scrub the inside of the aquarium walls. However, I enjoy solving problems myself and wish to build my own rather than purchase one.

Using the same design as the store-bought scrubber, my design is relatively cheap, easy to build and very effective.

For this tutorial, you will need:

1. Two bottle caps.
2. Two magnets (the magnets must be strong enough to sandwich the glass aquarium wall but must not be strong enough to break the glass and cause to much friction when scrubbing).
3. A microfiber cleaning cloth.

And the tools:

1. Scissors
2. Hot glue gun.

The microfiber cleaning cloth can be found at any grocery store for a under $4-5. The magnets can be ordered on amazon for a few dollars too. Home Depot and True Value also carry good magnets but for a about $2-3 more.

Take everything listed in the previous step.

1. Then, take the micro fiber cloth and cut two circles out that are about 3 inches in diameter. Place a little bit of hot glue in the center and place the bottle cap, face down, over it.
2. Glue the magnet to the interior of the cap. Then, glue the folds of the cloth over the rim of the cap and onto the magnet.
3. Repeat for the other bottle cap.

NOTE: Make sure the magnets are oriented so that they attract each other or the scrubber will not work.

Congrats! You built your own scrubber.

To use the scrubber, place on bottle cap on the inside of the wall and the other on the outside. Gently let them attract. Use the outside cap as a handle to scrub.

Make sure you use the scrubber every week or so to prevent crud build-up on it.

Thanks for reading!!