Miscellaneous Fish Stuff

[Puggle]

I was tidying up my fish room and it occurred to me that most of my fish stuff was not actually designed for fish. What things have you found to be incredibly useful that you would never find in an aquarium shop? I have: Styrofoam cups - for nesting Plastic cups - good for holding fish while cleaning their jars, and a million other uses Plastic shot glasses - just the right size for defrosting cubes of frozen food - attach to a stick and you've got a mini betta scoop for catching fry Take-away containers - for microworm cultures Syringes (the squirty kind, not the sharp kind) - to start airline syphons without getting a mouthful of water - acurately measure medicine Microfibre cloth from optometrist - good for straining bbs Pegs, stickytape and hairclips - to hold things in place Assorted jars, cut of drink bottles, plastic containers - anything big enough to hold fish ends up in the fish room and a bunch of other random things.

[Figure_8]

I have most of that list, plus chopsticks - great for attaching to airline tubing and making a mini suction hose that will reach into long bottles and jars without bending etc lacky's - gotta attach the chopsticks with something! a few large plastic jar lids with a suction cup attached - make great feeder trays pippettes - sucking up fry and ve's stockings - for covering tubes/inlets etc alfoil, zip lock bags razor blades - cleaning glass scourers - cleaning plastic/perspex permenant markers dust masks coffee filters scissors stanley blade no doubt there is a heap more stuff in there.. I have a habit of thinking " that will come in handy!" and chucking it in the box in the laundry :blush:

[VickiPS]

Yep most of that Also: - small fine tip hobby soldering iron (for making holes in PET bottles) - general tool kit (screwdrivers, hacksaw, hammer, stanley knife, small cordless drill/engraving kit etc) - serrated bread knife (good for cutting sponge filter riser tubes, bottle necks etc) - glass chemist's mortar and pestle for grinding food and pills - microfibre cleaning cloths - fold back clips and pegs for holding fish bags in the tank while acclimating - plastic 2 litre jug - plastic measuring cup with a handle that hooks over the side of the tank (good for scooping fish out, holding them while cleaning etc) - plastic ladle (betta scoop) - 4mm microirrigation bits -- rigid tube, joiners, taps etc - stuff for making filters n things, like sports drink bottles, plastic tubes with end caps that pens are sometimes sold in (make a few holes, stick a suction cap to the bottom end cap, slide a sponge over and you've got a neat small filter) - lengths of poster hanger strips - a garden hose that connects to the bath tap and runs into my workroom/fish room - clear PVC tubing in various sizes - a couple of bathroom hold-alls with suction caps ($1.99 in Coles) -- just got them to try out as holding traps for fish I need to separate temporarily. Cheaper than buying breeder traps or barracks! - LOTS of small plastic baskets, large placky storage bins and hold-alls etc :lol:

[Puggle]

I tried having a hose run from the bathroom to the loungeroom where all my fish are, but after flooding the carpet for the third time I figured I should stick with buckets I found another one for my list: Colander - very good for washing gravel

[VickiPS]

Yep, that too! And the all-important turkey baster And another thing -- a large plastic pedal bin, for disinfecting nets, jars etc.

[Callatya]

Gee! i can see i'm behind the times! About all I can add to that are corks (for holding up jars/nets/plants/etc) cable ties (can't be without my cable ties ) Tea strainer (catching wayward fry) Film cannisters (storing fishfood) Tulle (wonderful for making mesh bags)

[Chuckie]

I think I have all the above, except I use elastic bands to attach airline tubing to the chopsticks to make a siphon. I thought lackys were all the people who do my boss' work for him! Also: freezer bags, which I sometimes use to triple-bag fish or transport if I'm running low on bags. Magnets - I use these to stick the bags new fish arrive in upside down against my metal barracks to drain and dry, so I can use them again. Bamboo skewers, for moving plants to see fry without sticking my dirty oily fingers in, and to get dust masks out without sticking dirty oily fingers in. scourers - as "filter plates", for carding inside water, or for general colonising surfaces for bacteria about a thousand plastic 1L milk bottles, which I use to jar fry. a hand towel, for when I HAVE stuck my nasty dirty fingers in a tank, or if it is especially humid in there and I am dripping like I have stuck my whole head in one of the tanks! (Sorry to over-share). Suction cups, which I attach to home-made glass lids to make handles. Also attach them to onto the front of some tanks to hang nets off to dry. foam camping mats - in place of styrofoam sheets as tank bases. plastic tongs. Bubble wrap and yellow plastic as nesting material. Little pipette rom Flourish bottles, for dripping drops of medicine, feeding MW etc.

[Figure_8]

Colander

- very good for washing gravel

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Bubble wrap

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I have those too! No wonder GB is always telling me I have way too much crap out in the laundry

I think I have all the above, except I use elastic bands to attach airline tubing to the chopsticks to make a siphon.  I thought lackys were all the people who do my boss' work for him!

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I'm a lazy typer :D