The Flipper Max is the third installment of the popular dual-sided algae magnet cleaner. We first heard of the follow up to the Flipper and Flipper Nano algae scrapers at MACNA in Denver and we’ve finally had a chance to put the Flipper Max through its paces.
If you’re not familiar with the Flipper family of algae scrapers, these are some of the most innovative magnetic algae scrapers that have been developed especially for the aquarium market. Where many companies have simply slapped scrubbing and buffing sides on two matching algae magnets, Flipper has put some serious thought into developing a truly useful aquarium cleaning tool.
The Flipper Max is a good 25% larger than the original Flipper magnet, and about the same scrubbing area as a Mag Float Large, but considerably thinner in profile. The skinnier design of the Flipper including the Flipper Max allows it to squeeze in between rocks and the glass pane in places where the aquascape is getting a little tight.
One thing that we’ve always appreciated about the Flipper magnets is that the dry magnet has a smaller area than the wet, working magnet, allowing you to see exactly what it is you are cleaning from the aquarium glass. Taking this one step further, the Flipper Max has a sizable scraping blade which protrudes significantly from the ‘magnetic center’ of the scrubber, allowing users to scrub parts of the aquarium glass which may be obscured by bracing, framing, the stand or canopy.
Flipper magnets were some of the first to incorporate a removable scraper blade and we would argue that their design is one of the most effective at applying pressure to the working part of the magnet blade. The Flipper Max comes with both a metal scraper blade for glass tanks, and a hardened plastic edged blade for combatting even the toughest algae in acrylic tanks.
We tested the Flipper Max on a glass tank with 3/4 inch (19mm) thick glass, and an acrylic tank with one inch (25.4mm) thick glass. The Flipper Max is perfectly sized for cleaning and scraping glass that is 20mm thick, with still a lot of force for both the scraping and the scrubbing sides of the algae magnet. The Flipper Max still held a decent grip on the one inch thick glass, but this would only be strong enough for light scrubbing and scraping of the glass. And of course, flipping the Flipper Max using its patented inverted magnet system was very simple to do on both glass thicknesses.
The Flipper Max is one of those delightful aquarium products that really lives up to what it was designed to do. The large size and strong magnets of the Flipper Max makes it one of our favorite magnetic algae scrapers for large tanks and it is one of the most affordable too.
For larger tanks with thick glass, historically you’d be looking at spending $100 to $200 for a really strong algae magnet. But being priced at $79 the Flipper Max is not only a better value, but simply a better algae magnet in every way. When you do one thing and you do it well, it’s no wonder that Flipper has been so successful at developing their algae magnets so well, and we just wish more companies could be as focused as they are.
FCC regulations require us to inform you that we were given this product for review but our opinion and review of a product is never affected by how we acquire it
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