# What aquascaping tools do you use and why?



## George Farmer (17 Oct 2009)

I've managed to lose my aquascaping scissors and tweezers!

Before I invest in some new tools I'd like to know what makes and styles you guys and girls use, and why.

I was using curved tipped scissors and angled tweezers - both 30cm and JBL.  They did the job fine, but were showing some rust, and I have used more comfortable tools.

Cheers!


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## Superman (17 Oct 2009)

I use a small pair of tweesers and a pair of nail scissiors - both for trimming and planting uses. I'd like to have a small set of curved type scissors to help trimming the carpets in awkward positions.


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## JamesM (17 Oct 2009)

I use the curved 30cm JBL snips and tweezers too, and I find them perfect.

For more detailed work I use some 5" curved medical snips, and some hobby 6" sprung tweezers. I did use some rather expensive hairdressing scissors, but the medical snips are just as good.

Other tools I use are an old credit card should the glass get dirty, a 5ml syringe to dose liquid carbon, and some measuring spoons for dry powders. A baby bottle cleaner for the hoses (with bamboo cane attached for extra length), and a jug n' bucket for water changes.


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## TDI-line (17 Oct 2009)

I used the AE set of 5 tools, but mostly used the long tweezers, and also a JBL razor blade like glass cleaner, and a dustpan for sculpting aquasoil.


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## Mark Evans (17 Oct 2009)

UKAPS set does me. and a paint brush.


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## JamesM (17 Oct 2009)

Ooooh, yeah, forgot about me paintbrush


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## Jack middleton (17 Oct 2009)

JBL curved scissors, and a pair of tweezers again made by JBL, i wouldnt be anywhere without them


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## LondonDragon (17 Oct 2009)

I use the UKAPS toolkit also, but after using Dan's ADA tweezers at the last BBQ I know what I will replace my kit with eventually  the quality and ease of use were something else.


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## viktorlantos (17 Oct 2009)

Have 2 papillon tools. A long straight Pinsette and Scisssors. They are good when you have large tank otherwise using them less then my smaller tools.
Have 2 other tools a Do!Aqua small curved scisssor and a i guess an M or an S size straight pinsette also Do!Aqua.
The scissor is similar to a surgery tool. Very sharp, light and easy to handle. Use that on my nano and on the large tank too. Very easy to cut mosses, foreground plants even stems.

The pinsette where the branded stuffs rocks really. they are very comfortable, precize, lightweight. My Do! pinsette is a pinhead. Which is the best for planting or replanting. Good to make fine movements pick floating leaves etc. Or pull out pieces from the moss easily.

Wider head pinsette is good for algae hunting, planting strong plants, cutting and handling long leaves like Echi or Narrow. But not good for planting small plants.
Pinhead is perfect for planting ad for precize movements, but plant anubias or other strong plant is not good because the pinhead cut the rizome and damage the plants.

Sill i vote for pinhead pinsette and a curved small scissor.


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## Stu Worrall (18 Oct 2009)

ive got some ebay long curved scissors, a long ebay tweezer (the ones with the groozes in the end) and my best investment, the 30cm pinsette solingen TGM tweezers which are just perfect for planting things like glosso and HC.


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## aaronnorth (18 Oct 2009)

I used to have JBL tweesers and i found the end to bulky for planting smaller speces, so i bought some off ebay for about Â£11 and they are great.
For scissors i use UKAPS as i didnt want bad quality.


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## Garuf (18 Oct 2009)

I use a set of surgeons scissors that a friend got for me, I use Aquatic magics tweesers and sand flatter too though I must admit the tweesers are terrible compared to the JBL and ADA ones I was lucky enough to have a feel of. They're just too bulky and the tips don't align. 

The sand flatter I wouldn't use if I didn't already have it, it's pretty good for shifting small ammounts of soil but a hand is better still!


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## John Starkey (18 Oct 2009)

I use ukaps set and Tgm pinsettes,

john


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## glenn (18 Oct 2009)

john starkey said:
			
		

> I use ukaps set and Tgm pinsettes,
> 
> john


i use the pinsettes too, they are very beautifull to look at and use. i also use the tgm straight scissors which are very nice.


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## YzemaN (18 Oct 2009)

I use the 5-piece set once available from AE.
I mostly use the angled tweezers and the curved scissors for all the everyday maintenance and planting. The straight tweezers come in handy when replanting stems at the back of the tank. I use the straight scissors when handling plants out of water and very rarely use the spatula for anything. I find using your hands is a lot more intuitive, but it's probably just a case of getting used to handling them.
I could do with a pair of small curved scissors for trimming ground cover in my nano, though.

Oh, and probably also a comb for moss trimming...


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## George Farmer (19 Oct 2009)

Thanks for all the feedback so far!


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## tel (7 Apr 2010)

Old thread I know, and not really on topic, but I just received my first aquascaping tools and had to share the news. 
For some reason I just really liked this brand and had to get them,   (probably). 
cheers ,tel


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## Mark Evans (7 Apr 2010)

nice looking set tel.   

I find that the most important tool is scissors. A rigid pair is vital...for me at least

 1 x curved, long/straight and a pair of extremely sharp pair of kitchen scissors for huge stem trims.


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## tel (7 Apr 2010)

saintly said:
			
		

> nice looking set tel.
> 
> I find that the most important tool is scissors. A rigid pair is vital...for me at least
> 
> 1 x curved, long/straight and a pair of extremely sharp pair of kitchen scissors for huge stem trims.



Thanks Mark, 

The scissors feel really good, very sturdy and  quite balanced. I thought that with the length they might feel a bit front end heavy, instead they sit quite nice.

The tweezers are quite light which I am not sure whether that is good or bad, with delicate work the lightness may end up feeling really good.

As we go along I may invest in a couple more items   
cheers,tel


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## viktorlantos (7 Apr 2010)

tel said:
			
		

> saintly said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



good stuff   2 things which you can try also from this brand. the wave one and the spring one.
they are the clone of the ADA tools not the equal material, but the price is less and still fine. wave is really wave you can see a couple photos as we've tested that here: http://akvarisztika.budapet.hu/2010/03/10/bekanyarollo/ (hungarian post sorry, but the photos are self explanatory).
the spring ones are helpful for moss forming especially if you have much on your woods.

however i feel these tools expensive. compare to the low range ADA tools (Do!Aqua brand). but they have many tools which you only find in the ADA sortiment.


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## Mowze (9 Apr 2010)

I got a needle point pair of medical forceps from a dissection kit, a normal pair of medical forceps, pair of medical forceps with a â€œbentâ€ end, pair of plastic forceps from an old first aid kit, pair of JBL forceps someone left in my room at college, pair of straight nail scissors, pair of curved nail scissors, old RAC card on a stick as a substrate scraper, an old tooth brush, small decorators paint brush, medium decorators paint brush, DR Wellfish algae pad, few Stanley blades and razors, various household spoons, various size syringes (0.5ml, 1ml, 2ml, 5ml, 10ml 20ml), some measuring cups off old treatment bottles, digital scales plastic cups and the small round screw lid Tupperware boxes for ferts and other little bits and peices.

 Donâ€™t think iv actually paid a penny for any of them, they all either outlived their original intended use, were found or scrounged from around the house or given to me and they ALL come in incredibly useful!

 No need to spend tonnes of money on overpriced products from JBL, ADA etcâ€¦ They are all just simple tools which are packaged with all pretty colours as something intended for aquatics given a little logo on the handle and had their price jacked up 10x.


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## GreenNeedle (21 Apr 2010)

Superman has already beaten me to it but............

...........I have curved and straight scissors.  Curved and straight tweezers plus a 'substrate leveller'.  All about 30cm long

I use them for...............show!!!  They are in the cabinet virtually unused!!!!!

By that I mean that I find a pair of nail scissors (I use small ones meant for babies) and my fingers are more suitable for the job.

Occasionally I will use the straight scissors to plant large root plants like Crypts but other than that they get no use at all


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## Paulus (21 Apr 2010)

i use these:






bought them from ebay  click


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## ghostsword (21 Apr 2010)

I use curved long scissors from JBL and long tweezers. 

I am however looking for 45 degree angle scissors, that would make it easier to trim the carpet plants.


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## James Marshall (22 Apr 2010)

I use JBL scissors and ADA tweezers.
Does anyone know if the rule is "the sharper the better" where scissors are concerned, or can they be too sharp?
Also i notice that the thick blades of the JBL scissors squash the cut stems a little, I wonder if this is a good thing or not.

Cheers,
James


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## Garuf (22 Apr 2010)

I've always been told sharper is better, it reduces damage to the plant structure, actually cutting rather than crushing the stem.


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## ghostsword (22 Apr 2010)

I have hand sharpened my jbl scissors, and they work really good, cannot complain about it.


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## James Marshall (22 Apr 2010)

I keep mine pretty sharp too, they definately cut rather than tear the stems.
However they do flatten the end of the stem a bit, this is not necessarily a critism, perhaps this will prevent so much of the plant's sugars and ammonia leaching into the water after pruning.
I've no idea if this is the case, just a random thought really  

Cheers,
James


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## ghostsword (22 Apr 2010)

Never checked the stems after cutting actually, but they grow so well afterwards that it does not seem to be an issue.

I though about getting a surgical kit but it is harder to get surgical scissors than I thought..


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