Unorthodox "tools"?

[myriam]

I have this plastic back scratcher that has a little "hand" on one end. I've totally washed it down and disinfected it. I use it when I want to move things around in the tank but don't want to have to stick my whole arm in, like if I'm just moving some gravel around or something. It really works great.

Does anybody else use unorthodox "tools" in this hobby? I'm just curious 8)

 

[Allivymar]

Yep!

The turkey baster. Is great for sucking up lil bits of poo, etc, when one does not want to do a full gravel vac. Is also useful for sucking up small fry, small shrimp etc when one needs to move them

Erm, don't leave it in the sink near Thanksgiving tho LOL

 

[Sinuhe]

I've been looking high and low for turkey basters for aquarium use, but so far haven't been able to find one. Might be because we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Finland, and eat ham for Christmas .

 

[jratuszn]

I cut the bottom of an old wet/dry vac off, to about 18", and use it as my waterchange bucket. It's great because it has wheels, so I can roll it to the toilet to dump it out.

 

[Sati]

Ooo, I like the back scratcher idea. I've got to get one, lol :]

 

[madasafish]

Well apart from using every *former* salad, mixing etc. bowl I have for various aquarium-related tasks (my g/f is infuriated by it) not much that I can think of...

 

[Fruitbat]

Jeeez madasafish....I just use the salad bowls for my latest plant acquisitions. If there are a few stray leaves left over....well....they are PLANTS after all! I don't think my wife has ever even noticed the extra flavor and texture of Aponogeton and Cryptocoryne with dinner! LOL! I think she might go ballistic if she ever finds out about the java moss in the spinach!

 

[jsoong]

It seems kitchen implements are rather popular in the fish-keeping business.

I myself use long chopsticks & sometimes a stirrer for my tank moving tasks. And a tea leaves stainer works pretty well to remove uneaten food too.

 

[flamron]

I use a long handled spatula to "herd" the fish so I could move them more easily. I guess our next step will be to just keep the fish in the kitchen sink. LOL

 

[Fruitbat]

I once kept a dogfish shark in the bathtub. Was only for a couple of hours millenia ago when I was a kid....but man was my mom surprised!!!!

 

[grimlock3000]

I use a Radio Shack infrared thermometer to check water temps. This makes checking water temps a breeze, just point at the water and click for an instant temperature reading with almost perfect accuracy. Water changes are easy to, since I can match the temp of the water to the temp in the new tank just by playing with the faucet and clicking a few times to see the current water temp coming out of the tap. Looks like this:

They are good for around the house too, can tell food temps, find drafts in rooms, temps in the fridge/freezer, even exhaust leaks on vehicles... These types of thermometers are used for RC nitro engines a lot, they sell them cheap here:

http://www.towerhobbies.com/products/duratrax/dtxp3100.html

 

[myriam]

grimlock, that is too cool. I'm assuming you need to point it directly AT the water, without glass in between.

And I like the long chopsticks idea, too!

It seems like the kitchen implements are popular for fish keeping. But I think my husband would really be grossed out if I used the food bowls for fish stuff. He used to gag years ago when he saw me with the siphon in my mouth, trying to get the water going for the tank's water change, because sometimes I'd get some of the water in my mouth...yuck