Water-based magnetic fluids were made of the synthesized ultrafine magnetite with surfactants such as sodium oleate and loeic acid. The water-based magnetic fluid was prepared under the condition that added amounts of sodium oleate and oleic acid dissolved with NH4OH were 2.64$ imes$10-2 mol, 1.5~2.0$ imes$10-2 mol respectively. The water-based magnetic fluid was stable and should be dispersed well dispersion in the range of pH 9.0 to pH 11.0. As the solid content increased from 0.05 g/cc to 0.4 g/cc, the viscosity of water-based magnetic fluids increased from 2.5 cP to 152 cP and their magnetization at 5 KOe linearly increased from 3.1 emu/g to 26 emu/g. The aggregated powder after drying the water-based magnetic fluid was also successfully re-dispersed in dilute NH4OH solution and in kerosene.