specialty tools…

[Magnum Man66 181]

they are out there, needed for every type of work, from automotive to aquariums… and they are often worth having, making your life easier… installing the big shades on my 3 season porch ( to better protect the aquarium that will be over wintering out there ) the hanger brackets are challenging to adjust the screws, particularly with the shade in place… I already switched out the phillips head screws for an all weather torx, after the 1st phillips started stripping while making adjustments… the widest shades are 10 feet wide, so proper adjustment is key for withstanding the weather… the bracket that includes the gearbox for raising and lowering is near impossible to properly tighten, so I had to order some specialty long thin torx drivers… having aquariums for so many years of my life, and having to live with tanks I built into walls 35 years ago, has required longer handles and specialty tools for working on some of them… one unsung hero, is my group of nets with expandable handles… sometimes the extra length is a bother, and sometimes it’s necessary… algae scrapers run the gambit of various magnetic ones, and long handled razor scrapers… my expandable hose , is something I love for filling my hard water tanks that are several rooms away from a water tap… when used with a heavy stainless “J” hook, with a ball valve on it, makes refilling a breeze, from my well water tap… and no “coiling” up of a stiff garden hose, it all shrinks up and goes into a 5 gallon bucket, when the water is shut off… the canister filter I made into a gravel vacuum, works great, and fits into a 5 gallon bucket for easy transport between tanks… and while most of my water change water is pumped out to a drain line, the gravel vacuum water goes into gallon jugs for the house plants…

what do you guys use for specialty tools to make your hobby easier???

 

[emeraldking46 97]

The only special tool I have purchased is a 27cm long tweezers.
I also have two sizes of plastic hand sieves for catching small fish and shrimps. Does that count as well...?

 

[Magnum Man66 181]

yes, you are repurposing to make a chore easier…

 

[GaryE26 24]

So so many...

In a raffle, I won some long tweezers and a stick that holds a blade for algae. Both have proven useful, as have long scissors from the same set.

Turkey basters aren't really for turkey basting. They squirt fry food, pick up mulm, catch snails, catch fry - wonderful tools.

My drill seems to be used in the fishroom more than anywhere else. The same for my chop saw. I like changing racks and trying to improve things. I generally fail, so I try again. It keeps me amused.

I have jewellers' glasses for looking at small things. Rechargeable flashlights, an infrared temperature gauge, a TDS/conductivity meter...

Fish catching nets for the tropics are very specific tools, to go with lightweight waders, breather bags and the tools of a fish collector.

I also have high tech poking sticks, plant starter baskets, rolls of rubberized garden wire, one sided razor blades, knives of various shapes for different fishroom tasks.

 

[Back in the fold20 5]

There’s always something as the need arises . One thing I have now that I feel is indispensable is a brine shrimp sieve . It is much handier than a fine net . Well , maybe not “ much “ handier but it’s just easy to handle and clean .

 

[Jennet45 103]

I have 35cm scissor tweezers I have repurposed from having to use to bait a 9' long carpet python with a rat if I didn't want him to hit my arm like a deadly missile. It is coming in useful to plant things in the aquarium. My reptile thermometers have also been repurposed. I also had a turkey baster, but the bulb had gone, so will have to get a new one.

 

[Magnum Man66 181]

I should probably mention the 10 inch by 12 in piece of tinted plexiglas I put over plants that like less light… the coffeefola is growing exceptionally well under a tint sheet ( the new leaves come out yellow, so there is a brand new leaf in this picture…

 

[bgarthe67 84]

Well…….I gotta few to mention.



1. The strainer screen is for grinding up food for my nano fish. I put some flakes in and grind into screen which is on top of a container to catch the ground up tiny flakes.

2. The ketchup squeeze bottle is for easily dispensing various additives to graduated cylinder or container for adding to tank. When I’m treating (say w Paraguard), I can easily and, wo mess, fill exact amounts wo pouring from big plastic jug.

3. The syringe w tubing piece attached is for gathering up tank water for testing and nicely filling API glass tubes wo overfilling and repeating. These are cheap to buy and can be used, one per tank, so as to not transmit disease from one tank to another. I also use these to measure/dispense meds evenly into the tank….no spills.

4. The zip ties are used for all kinds of things…..too many to mention.

5. The turkey baster is for my acclimation process when getting new bagged fish. It allows me to remove small amounts of bag water to discard and to add small amounts of tank water to bag. And yes…..it also does spot pick up of stuff on substrate.

6. My brass and/or stiff plastic brush has multiple purposes. It helps w getting algae off of tank decor, HOB tubes, and more.

7. My digital thermometer is used all the time for quick temp checks, water temp matching between containers, and tank temp confirmation.

8. The simple spoon helps me not overfeed the nano fish since my micro foods are SO easy to accidentally put too much of into tank. I’m surprised at how little food is needed for the rasboras, tetras, and dwarf barbs. With nano fish, a little food goes a …..long……way and overfeeding by mistake is very easy to do.

9. ******This may not qualify to the OP’s initial posting, but this helps me carry out all the WC maintenance.****** Installed fountain pumps in my large storage containers with hoses to pump out discarded water to yard or new water into tanks….(not pictured).

 

[Jennet45 103]

Thanks for that. Reminded me I've got a little strainer, so I can use that instead of crushing flakes with my pestle and mortar - easier too. I also use syringes for dosing plants and stuff, as well as testing water, and zip ties soon coming in useful to put sponge over my filter to stop little fish getting sucked in. Also have what I used to use as a flower tubes holder for individual specimens now doubling as a test tube holder for water testing. I think that was meant to hold test tubes initially, but repurposing is a good thing we all do at times. Great stuff.

 

[Magnum Man66 181]

I just got this enormous tongs, to help with some of my tanks, that because of placement, have places I can’t reach… I already have normal length 16 inch tongs, these are 24 inches long, and a little heavier…

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07QXKG4GB?tag=fishforums-20

along the same lines, I got this very long extendable handle net… the actual net is pretty small, but expect if it were much bigger, the extendable handle wouldn’t support the weight it could potentially hold… the handle extends to 39 inches…

Amazon.com: 4 Inch Aquarium Net, Fish Net for Fish Tank with 8.6" to 39" Long Extendable Stainless Steel Handle Blue Round Small Aquarium Fine Mesh Shrimp Nets Pond Food Residue Debris Skimming for Fishes Shrimp : Pet Supplies

Buy 4 Inch Aquarium Net, Fish Net for Fish Tank with 8.6" to 39" Long Extendable Stainless Steel Handle Blue Round Small Aquarium Fine Mesh Shrimp Nets Pond Food Residue Debris Skimming for Fishes Shrimp: Aquarium Nets - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[TwoTankAmin55]

Most of the tank tools I use were sold/made for that purpose and I bought them inline at aquarium related sources.

I do not count general tools which might be used for more things than we can count just because one of those things is in a fish tank.

Tell me this then what is the real purpose of a long tweezer? Or how about a hose? Its purpose is to move a liquid so does my using it move water into or of a tank change this? I fill the swimming pool, water the lawn, rinse off the deck etc. How about a suction cup or a magnet? How about a knife? I use one to cut up cooked shrimp to feed my fish.

Imo, any tool one can use to achieve an end doesn't change the purpose of a tool.

When I need to veed smaller flakes I used my fingers to make the pieces smaller. I buy Ebo Aquaristick foods not only becaise I like the ingredients but also because they offer them in multiple sizes. I use their powdered brine for fry, their Artemia comes in the following sizes:
0.4 -0.6 mm
0.6 - 0.9 mm
0.9 - 1.4 mm
1.4 - 2.2 mm
If I wanted bigger, I have their shrimp sticks.

If I need a net to use in a 13 inch deep tank I get a net with a short handle and to reach the bottom of my 24 inch deep 6 foot tanks, guess what I buy? I make my pre-filters from Poret foam sheets. I often prune plants in tanks with this

It is a Joyce Chen kitchen scissors. But it also cuts paper, aquatic plants and almost anything else one needs to cut with a scissors of this size. I am sure when Joyce designed it she was not thinking what kind of scissors could be used in an Aquarium.

One sign of intelligence is the ability of figuring out how to use a thing for a purpose that did not even exist when that thing was originally designed and made.

 

[TwoTankAmin55]

I have tip for folks who have planted tanks and bottom feeders. I have a few tanks like this where I am feeding sinking foods for catfish or loaches. I have mostly well planted tanks which will contain corys, ancistrus plecos or loaches. When I feed sinking stick, wafers or other smaller sinking foods of of it gets stuck in the plants before it reaches the bottom of the tank. I have a longish piece of thin rigid tubing which works in some places to know the food of or else I can be up almost to my armpits doing it with my hands. This makes for a wet floor even when I have a towel handy and often for a wet shirt.

So I found a solution which allows me to feed these foods in several spots in a tank and to do so accurately in a way that keeps me dry and lets m drop food exactly where I want. All that is needed to do this is a substrate vacuum. I remove the piece at the "top" which connects the clear hose to the the vacuum tube. I can then use the tube to dispense the food. I simply place the end of the tube as close to where I want the food while the top of the tube stays above the surface. Then I drop what ever sinking food I want into the top of the tube.

The food sinks down through the water inside the tube and it sinks down and put the other end. All I have to do is to make sure the far end of the tube opens clear of any plants and 100% of the food reached the bottom. So, does this count as repurposing a tool since the tube is part of a standard aquarium piece of equipment we use.

(edited to fix many typos)

 

[TwoTankAmin55]

At one of my recent monthly meetings we had a speaker who mentioned he used a few toothbrushes for cleaning tank related things. I have a toothbrush I have been using for ages. But the speaker said he was a bit nuts about having tools and cleaning the bottom of a smaller container was difficult to impossible to do. He said he went as far as to use heat to bend a toothbrush so that the bristles faced down. I wanted to get a second toothbrush to keep in the fish space in our other building and I bought the cheapest I could find. I got two medium tooth brushes.

When I got home I decided to see if I could modify one of them as described above. I used Bic lighter to heat the tooth rush and then bent it. I held it in its new shape until it cooleed. But the curved part of the toothbrush where the toothbrush hand was thinner. So once it was cooled I then coated both sized with CoraFix glue to reinforce it. It seems sturdy, but I have not used it yet. It is ideal for cleaning out the bottom and impeller area on the smaller AquaClears for example.

 

[GaryE26 24]

We have 2 venerable institutions around here. One is the "Dollar Stone"- several chains where nothing costs a dollar anymore, but everything used to. I sometimes walk all the aisles if I'm killing time while family members shop seriously, and look at what I can repurpose. I've found many objects that became very useful tools in the fishroom. Their inventors/producers didn't have that use in mind (or did they....) but they work.
The second is an automotive supply store that has branched out into selling all kinds of surplus and simply weird things. I've even found good quality aquariums on pallets in there as clearance pick ups at a fraction of their cost in fish stores. It's amazing how many fishkeeping needs can be solved in such "surplus selling" places - lights, whatchamacallits, whatevers and unexpected solutions.

 

[WhistlingBadger61 17]

I too have a set of long forceps that I use constantly for removing excess greenery (in conjunction with a pair of scissors), feeding my frog, and grabbing random stuff without sticking my big, white hand in and terrifying the critters.

With the paludarium, I use the phone flashlight a surprising amount, especially for making sure no fish have wormed their way into the pump area.

Then there are the pythons, of course.

I haven't found a way to use any of my bows for fish keeping yet, so those two hobbies remain distinct.