There's a new "tank" Sheriff in town - FLIPPER

[BigAl07]

There's a new "tank" Sheriff in town - FLIPPER


This new scraper/cleaner is coming to market later this month and I think it's going to be a big hit. I hope to have one in hand in the next few days to review. The inventor is a friend of mine, avid reefer and one smart guy.

Once I get one in hand I'll let yall know how it works. I suspect it's going to be better than it's predecessor and I LOVE that unit.

 

[Bosco83]

Looks pretty sweet I'll deffinately try one.

 

[BigAl07]

I had some time yesterday evening and was able to tinker with the "Flipper" for a few minutes. Some more observations:

• a) The outside section is considerably thinner/shorter (height from glass surface to top of handle) than the other version making it potentially able to get into new and tighter places than was previously possible
  
• b) The magnets are considerably stronger than the other version
  
• c) The inside scrubber section is pretty much the same size as the other version which is great. It's a good size to get in between most rock and the glass. I doubt you'll find anything as thin or thinner yet as functional.
  
• d) the inner section (at least if memory serves me well) is slightly more "Buoyant" than the other brand meaning it sinks slower making the "Flip" easier to accomplish
  
• e) The "Surface Area" of the internal section is pretty much the same as the other version allowing a lot of glass to be cleaned with each pass of the scrubber
  
• f) The inner "scrubbing surface" (not blade/scraper) seems to be better and more "aggressive" than on the other version
  
• g) I was able to scrub/scrape both sides and the front glass of my tank completely (except where the Vortech is and the magnetic frag racks are attached to the glass) in about 3-4 minutes
  
• h) due to the stronger magnets the transition from front to side (and back again) glass is easier and much more "solid" feeling
  

Side notes:

1. I'm doing this testing on my RSM130D (34g) tank
2. I don't have any signs of hard coralline or any other glass "items" that need hard/heavy scrubbing
3. Per the included instructions I performed the "Flip" in low flow area where-by making it a 100% success rate

I'll use this some more over the weekend and give more feedback. I'll also have some feedback on some larger tanks to report back after the weekend.

 

[BigAl07]

Outside Unit
4" x 2" x 1/2"

Inside Unit
4 1/8" x 2 1/2" x 1/2" (tip to blade 5")

Blade 2 7/16"w


These are just "approximations" on the dimensions.

 

[Peppie]

Outside Unit
4" x 2" x 1/2"

Inside Unit
4 1/8" x 2 1/2" x 1/2" (tip to blade 5")

Do they offer a size that will clean a 3/4'' acrylic tank?

Blade 2 7/16"w


These are just "approximations" on the dimensions.

Do they offer a size that will clean a 3/4'' acrylic tank?

 

[JJMoneyman]

How does that scraper side work for you? Can it get that real caked on stuff from last month that you missed?

 

[BigAl07]

Here's what a local reefer just wrote about it on our local forum:

My first impressions & review of The Flipper algae cleaner.
I ordered the flipper and recieved it very quickly. First impression was that I really did not know what to expect. I thought it was strange since the outer part is actually smaller than the internal half, but this turns out to be a really great feature.
I rinsed the internal section and quickly put it into the tank. My tank really didnt have much algae on the glass but cleaned anyway. I was able to clean the glass that is next to a particular single rock that I have never cleaned before because I placed the rock too close to the glass, it is perfect now.
OK, the biggest thing that I am impressed with is I used the metal blade side and due to the outside of the cleaner being smaller than the inside I was able to clean deep into the corners and the area above the plastic trim of the tank. I couldnt believe the amount of algae being cleaned away in areas that my old cleaner couldnt reach. It literally looked like there were pieces of super green nori being scraped away.

So quick recap, I love the thickness of the cleaner, the blade cuts through thick algae quickly, the magnets are quite strong, the outside part being smaller than the inside is a great idea for cleaning areas that you just couldnt before, and the internal pad is a good polisher. The only thing I would change is that the internal pad is a bit soft. I realize that this is planned so that the cleaner can be used on acrylic or glass and with the blade it really doesnt matter.
This is the best mag cleaner that I've had!

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I watched a vid of this yesterday. Still looking to see who sells and how much

 

[NC2WA]

for those of you that would like to see this in action (as I did), here you go:

Flipper algae scraper is a near perfect clone of the Mag-Flip

As with Mike, I am looking for a price and whether there is a version that works on acrylic tanks.

 

[DolphinLVR]

for those of you that would like to see this in action (as I did), here you go:

Flipper algae scraper is a near perfect clone of the Mag-Flip

As with Mike, I am looking for a price and whether there is a version that works on acrylic tanks.

At this point in time there is no version for Acrylic Tanks

 

[NC2WA]

bummer. :frusty:

do we know a price yet??

btw in that link if you read the comments, it appears the patent that magfloat had expired and decided not to renew..so this is essentially magfloat patent enhanced.

 

[DolphinLVR]

bummer. :frusty:

do we know a price yet??

btw in that link if you read the comments, it appears the patent that magfloat had expired and decided not to renew..so this is essentially magfloat patent enhanced.

On Special for 19.99 from what I saw on their site Kirk!

I sent them an email inquiring about a version for Acrylic Tanks

 

[NC2WA]

Jeff,

what site/link was that??

thanks

 

[BigAl07]

oops this was in error... Sorry

 

[BigAl07]

Sorry gang.. my original post was deemed "advertising" which it really wasn't. I was only trying to get people aware of a cool new product. As such if you want to see more you'll have to google the flipper cleaner to see more about it.

Sorry Scooterman I didn't mean it as advertising more of a "Public Announcement" than anything.

Hopefully they'll be available at your LFS once the LFS are aware of them.

For me it's currently the best product (for the money) that I've got for my tank. There is an issue with the metal in the blade but that's being addressed ASAP by the manufacturer and will be resolved soon. The supplier used a metal that's "Rust Resistant" as opposed to Rust Proof. Hopefully they'll get this resolved quickly.

Again sorry Scooterman.

 

[Bosco83]

I ordered one and I have been purposely waiting to scrape all the hard algae in my tank just to try this thing out. I'll let you guys know how it works I'm really hoping it's as good as the video makes it look.

Brian

 

[BigAl07]

I am pretty sure they will be re-announced as being Acrylic use. There was an issue with the buoyancy of the unit with the acrylic friendly plastic blade but that's been resolved so they are indeed acrylic safe with the plastic blade attached.


I took mine to the LFS Sunday and let the owner of the store use it on his 210g show tank. He was amazed at how well it took care of algae that his original scraper had left behind that he didn't even see.

 

[Bosco83]

I got my Flipper today and I am pleased to say that this thing has by far exceeded my expectations. I have been really slacking on my hard algae scraping and this thing just tore it up. Normally if I wait this long to get my hands wet and scrape by hand this would have taken me an hour and really sore wet hands. Sorry about the video quality I was holding my Iphone with one hand and scraping with the other.

Click the top two pictures for quick videos. All the tank edges and sand bed line were covered in hard green algae and it only took me about 10-15 minutes to do my 210



Cloudy water from all my tank scraping.

 

[Skeptic9962]

This little guy looks pretty sweet. Going to have to buy one for the hubs...he just loves to razor the glass of his tank, lol.

 

[BigAl07]

This little guy looks pretty sweet. Going to have to buy one for the hubs...he just loves to razor the glass of his tank, lol.

I'm pretty sure he will LOVE it! I use mine all the time and it's one of those things you HAVE to show off to anyone new to the tank

"Hey watch THIS!!"