Invert-Safe Plant Pruning Tools?

[Donya]

I recently set up a planted shrimp tank, which is somewhat new aquarium territory for me. The shrimp are multiplying and the plants are growing well - to the point that I need to start pruning to prevent the tank from gradually turning into a big plant tangle. But, with tiny little shrimp babies everywhere, I don't really want to do as I do what I do with my other fw tanks, which is to reach in and just do it all with hands only, since I wouldn't be able to see what I'm doing very well. Ideally I'd like to reach in with some small scissors and forceps, but some pairs scissors I've owned over time have had obvious lubricants of some sort around the joint so that they cut smoothly. The only aquarium-related cutting tools I've seen and owned so far are for things like coral propagation in reef tanks and are either meant to be used out of the tank or are just a single blade that I couldn't use very easily on plants. Are the jointed scissors meant for trimming in planted aquariums safe to use in tanks containing inverts? It's the scissors in kits like this that I'm wondering about:
http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3746+12164+26891&pcatid=26891 
It may be a stupid question, but I have never seen/owned scissors like that. Obviously the last thing I want to do is stick something bad in the tank and wake up to a bunch of dead shrimp the next morning. I know there are also some single-piece, shear-style scissors that are used for planted tanks, and I presume those would be safe, but I haven't seen any of those that would be small enough.

 

[RRaquariums]

What I did was go to my local farm store they have all kinds of forceps small scissors, scalpels and other things used for working on small live stock and pets I picked up a pair of the stainless steal scissors and used them with no problems just be sure to wash and dry the scissors off really well after each use and keep them in a place that won't allow anything else to contaminate them.
Anyways that's what I did just offering my two cents worth whatever you go with good luck

 

[daizeUK]

Aquascaping tools tend to be a bit on the expensive side so it's worth shopping around.  I picked up mine on Ebay and some specialist (UK based) online aquascaping/CO2 stores.  The long handles are useful for reaching the bottom of deep tanks but can be difficult to control.  I wouldn't use those if there were baby shrimp crawling on the plants.  For more accurate work I prefer an pair of short, curved ordinary nail scissors, especially for moss trimming.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have had a number of planted tanks for years. I have almost not implements sold as being for planted tanks. i have a stainless steel scissors made by Joyce Chen I have used since day one in early 2001. I have a pair of 10 inch flat nose tweezers for planting, also SS, given to me as an Xmas gift at the end of my first year in the hobby.
 
To avoid bifurcating shrimp or baby bn etc., I will use my left hand to grasp the stem or leaf where I want to cut it and then slide the closed scissors down that hand to just below my fingers. Then I open it and orient it against the finger tips to know exactly where to cut. This always chases off anything at risk that might otherwise get cut. And this enables me to make the cut without actually seeing where I am cutting. All I have to do is know/see where I am grabbing what I want to cut after that the rest can be done blind. This also has the added advantage of minimiing accidental pruning of things I did not intend to cut.

 

[Xzavier247]

http/www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-Steel-Aquascaping-Tool-Kit-5-Piece-Freshwater-Planted-Aquarium-/230992611077?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c83b8705

 

[TwoTankAmin]

That is no deal on those aquascaping tools at $44 with free shipping, imo
 
You can buy a DR Instruments Aqua Scaping Kit from DrsFosterSmith.com for $29.99. To get free shipping it takes a $49 total order otherwise you would have to pay $5.99 in shipping. But $44 on Ebay is still more than $35.98 from the Drs.  http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3746+26891&pcatid=26891
 
Or you can buy a Tamsco 5 Piece Aquarium Landscaping Kit for $35.99 http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3746+28695&pcatid=28695
 
They also sell forceps and scissors separately.
 
All those tools are a lot cheaper when not bought from aquarium related sites since as soon as anything is deemed to be aquarium related the price suddenly rises.Sera  Peat on an aquatic site is 1.1 lbs for $7.99. or head over to Home Depot and buy a 3 cu. ft. bag for $9.97 (the gross bag weight is shown as 65 lbs).

 

[Xzavier247]

Thanks for letti g me know

 

[Donya]

In this case I am less concerned about saving a buck than about getting something that is safe. What worries me is the mysterious black goop that was in a couple pairs of bargain bin scissors I've had over time. Not being an expert in scissor lubricants, I don't know what that stuff is, and it also wasn't immediately obvious upon purchase; it didn't get smeared around enough to be visible until the scissors had been used for a while. I've had invert tanks nuked by enough random, seemingly innocuous things in the past and I spend enough money on my current tanks that I do not want to take any chances. I take it either nobody has run across scissors with that sort of stuff in them or, if there was some sort of lubricant on them, it wasn't an issue in shrimp tanks?

 

[Xzavier247]

What scissors were you using? I know hair clippers have a littler lubricant. But regular scissors no. To make matters better. I would suggest pruning slowly and watch what you are cutting. I have over 200+ shrimp and they hide in my shrubs. So I give it a couple taps so they can move and prune away

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Donya, my scissors are for kitchen use, i.e. food safe. So I assume there is no goop. But, I am not suggesting one buy cheap, cruddy or goopped up scissors. They need to be stainless steel for sure. My point is often when a product gets labelled for Aquarium use, the price jumps up.
 
I have used the same pair since Jan. 01 and had the same inexpensive stainless steel long tweezers since Dec. 01. There is no rust, grease or anything else on them nor was there ever. I also level/spread gravel or sand using stainless or plastic spatulas and large stainless kitchen spoons. Basically, if it is kitchen/food safe, it should be tank safe.

 

[DrRob]

I use surgical steel tools, mainly designed for use on humans. Remarkably, they tend to work out far cheaper than very similar looking kit with aquascaping on the label. I can get them for very little, partly because they're single use on patients and often come in multi item packs, so unused items are simply disposed off (which is wasteful), but you can generally buy surgical and dental kit for less than aquarium stuff, and surgical grade stainless steel tends to be fine in tanks.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

surgical grade stainless steel tends to be fine in tanks.

 
This is especially helpful if you keep either any of the surgeon fish.

 

[DrRob]

It does indeed keep them occupied, but you may then be more worried about putting your hands in the tank.

 

[Donya]

What scissors were you using? I know hair clippers have a littler lubricant. But regular scissors no. To make matters better. I would suggest pruning slowly and watch what you are cutting. I have over 200+ shrimp and they hide in my shrubs. So I give it a couple taps so they can move and prune away

 
I don't recall the brands or even how they were described on the packaging, but they were from a fabric/craft store. One pair was pretty massive and also required some force to use, so that may be why it needed something to keep it moving freely. The other pair though was pretty flimsy and only had about 2" blades; couldn't really handle more than thick paper. It actually left some black smears on what it was cutting once. Of course, those are the only pairs where I've ever seen something like that out of the loads of other cheap scissors I've blunted and broken over time, so perhaps the gunk in the hinge of the small pair was just a fluke. 
 
 

I use surgical steel tools, mainly designed for use on humans. Remarkably, they tend to work out far cheaper than very similar looking kit with aquascaping on the label. I can get them for very little, partly because they're single use on patients and often come in multi item packs, so unused items are simply disposed off (which is wasteful), but you can generally buy surgical and dental kit for less than aquarium stuff, and surgical grade stainless steel tends to be fine in tanks.

 
Good to know, thanks Rob. I hadn't been thinking in that direction but I guess mysterious goop in tools probably wouldn't be appealing to surgeons, or for veterinary applications along the lines of what RRAquariums mentioned.