Maintenance Tools?

[coldmachineUK]

Hi, I was looking at these various 'tools' such as long scissors and tweezers which are being sold by a few online retailers. Are they really worth the money they seem to (fairly extortionately!) cost?
Can alternative (household) items be used instead? Or, is the good old fashioned human hand just the best thing for the trick?

As an aside, I saw one pair of aquatic pruning scissors retailing for around £120 on one site...crazy!

 

[kewskills]

you are right, waste of money, still somebody must buy them

 

[lowee]

While setting up my tank, i used a long pair of tweezers from aquaessentials. They really were worth it, helped a huge amount! But 120 quid is insane!

 

[doubledee]

I got a some from ebay and a nursing supplier. They are useful. I've seen that ADA kit and it is certainly a case of paying for the name. Brand snobbery, I'm afraid. I'm sure they're excellent quality but no pair of scissors is worth that. I doubt even top hairdressers or surgeons pay that sort of money!

 

[Themuleous]

I do find the curved scissors are helpful, but my crappy aquaticmagic ones are not sharp at all, so on new plants i tend to pull them out of the substrate before I cut them, not very helpful! To be honest, what's the point of the really long scissors? Your going to get your hands wet, nature of the beast, so might as well invest in a decent pair of nail type scissors, that give you a nice clean cut, then stick your hands in the tank and get cutting!

Sam

 

[arif_93]

you dont need to waste money on tools u dont need
i planted my whole tank by hand it was a bit messy ( murky water) but the next day it was clear after i let the filter run and to prune plants i use normal scissors
i buy for 80p at my local whsmiths.

 

[Themuleous]

I will add the a decent, fine pair of tweezers is very useful, especially for this plants like HC and sags.

Sam

 

[George Farmer]

Depends on your aquarium. A tank full of crypts and anubias will need little maintenance, but a tank full of fast growing stems.....

I consider tweezers and scissors essential for most aquascapes. Tweezers are always useful for initial planting. Sharp scissors are essential, as blunt cuts won't allow re-growth.

Hairdressers/barbers/medical labs can pay a lot more than £120 BTW.

 

[nry]

www.aquatics-online.co.uk have the JBL tweezers at £8.99, pretty cheap, debating some for myself though the £35 FishVet Kit from www.aquaessentials.co.uk is pretty decent value for tweezers, rake and scissors I reckon.

 

[spankone]

well im dead chuffed with my fish vet kit deffo worth the money. the siccsors could be sharper but they do the job. tweezers are a must, and the rake is handy. not sure why they sell 120 pounds tools on AE though you'll need to be crazy to buy them

 

[nry]

The world is full of crazy people

 

[SuperColey1]

I do find the curved scissors are helpful, but my crappy aquaticmagic ones are not sharp at all, so on new plants i tend to pull them out of the substrate before I cut them, not very helpful! To be honest, what's the point of the really long scissors? Your going to get your hands wet, nature of the beast, so might as well invest in a decent pair of nail type scissors, that give you a nice clean cut, then stick your hands in the tank and get cutting!
Sam

Sam - You really do have some bad luck with Aquatic Magic. lol The scissors I got are sharp and perfectly in line. worked really well when I pruned my tank back last week, and the long arm tweezers that I used to put all the background in were invaluable as it meant I could look through the front of the tank whilst planting and see from there as well as from above.

Try using my ebay account. Maybe he'll send some 'grade A' instead of 'seconds' then. lol

Andy

 

[PortWash]

Long Tweezers