Glass Cleaners

I purchased a magnetic glass cleaner with an inbuilt thermometer yesterday that works fantastic but was curious what does anyone else use. I had been using household dishwashing sponges (only for the tank). I have noticed the magnetic cleaner can get sand caught between it and the glass if I use it to close to the substrate and was thinking they could end up scratching the glass.

I've never used one and like you I still use soft scrub pads. I have read that the sand issue is a common problem with magnetic glass cleaners. Even when using the scrub pads sand can be a problem. What I did to avoid this was gently pull the sand away from the glass before cleaning it.

I have a mag cleaner i use in my tall SW, works OK. The others I use a soft scrubber or the glass cleaner on a handle, but if you have acrylic, beware!
My 90 show tank is acrylic, and has acquired some scrathes over the years, but recently Stu decided to "help" and there must have been sand in the scrubber... there's a lot of scratches now...

I never use a magnetic cleaner because they do scratch the glass. Especially if one have fine sand in the tank. I use sponges and sometimes razor blade scrapers if it´s necessary.

i use the mag floats best around if you pull it off the one in the tank floats right to the top

I did put a nice scratch on one of my tanks with the magnetic cleaner soon after I started using it and have never used it again. I was being so careful too!

Now I use my hand. At and below the substrate, I use one finger. This way I can feel if even one grain of sand gets in the way. I do this every week with water changes, so what little is on the glass comes off easily. For more stubborn spots, I just use a paper towel.

My 180 is all screwed up now from kids, magfloats, rock piles, powerheads with grit behind them, and I still use the magfloat I've got a stiff brush on some pvc I use for the corners and back of the tank, as well as scrubbing the rocks and driftwood with. There's no sand in the 120, but I've still managed to scratch it somehow with a magfloat, I normally just use a paper towel and brush during a water change but still use the magfloat between changes.

The front pane of glass on my tank has a few scratches on it now and I was thinking about turning the tank around one day and refitting the cabinet so it looks reasonably good but I still dont like the idea of putting more scratches on it. I might remove it so my little girls don't play with it and cause damage. I am building a basic stand for a 4ft tank I have in the shed that will be eventually set up in the shed so I might just use it in that for the digital thermometer.