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Show me your favorite makeshift tool!


mouseturd13
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16 hours ago, Schwack said:

What do you all use on the end of your refill pumps to spread the outflowing water? I picked up a little cheapy with just enough head lift on Prime Day, but even at the lowest setting it's still pretty violent.

I have something very similar to @JettsPapa :

512C8C2A-4904-4C1E-B957-7BBF8A1F6ECD.jpeg.c54622157a37813388c6ef7963939248.jpeg

I wedge it behind some driftwood and stick the hose in it when I’m refilling the 55 gallon. I use a large claw hair clip to hold the hose in place.

The jenkiest makeshift tool I have is a “smoosher” I made to squeeze my brine shrimp hatchery in an attempt to quiet the bubbling noise. It worked better when the plastic was newer but it still helps!BE448A34-62F7-4BE4-92F1-C5F97D915045.jpeg.12f6387c43d4c1410d9414465850a89c.jpeg

And the one I’m proudest of is the fry box I made out of a salad clamshell container. Though the plastic has degraded really quickly, so I’ll be looking for some Tupperware to use if I ever make a version 2.

5AB10FF1-1CB2-4D47-9EA2-3CB0256B134D.jpeg.91eafdd7d7f2fc859e4bb7677d09ed67.jpeg

Building makeshift tools is part of what makes this hobby fun for me. It’s a great creative challenge!

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17 hours ago, Schwack said:

What do you all use on the end of your refill pumps to spread the outflowing water? I picked up a little cheapy with just enough head lift on Prime Day, but even at the lowest setting it's still pretty violent.

A medium Aquarium Co-on intake sponge fits tightly on 3/4 inch pvc and slows the water down great from my 600gph pump, if the sponge is mostly submerged, nothing gets stirred up.

F2B90A5A-6B9B-4088-BECD-E3537569A62E.jpeg.b9ccc833a32053728f260c8e34c4ff1e.jpeg

Edited by MattyIce
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1 hour ago, Hobbit said:

I have something very similar to @JettsPapa :

512C8C2A-4904-4C1E-B957-7BBF8A1F6ECD.jpeg.c54622157a37813388c6ef7963939248.jpeg

I wedge it behind some driftwood and stick the hose in it when I’m refilling the 55 gallon. I use a large claw hair clip to hold the hose in place.

The jenkiest makeshift tool I have is a “smoosher” I made to squeeze my brine shrimp hatchery in an attempt to quiet the bubbling noise. It worked better when the plastic was newer but it still helps!BE448A34-62F7-4BE4-92F1-C5F97D915045.jpeg.12f6387c43d4c1410d9414465850a89c.jpeg

And the one I’m proudest of is the fry box I made out of a salad clamshell container. Though the plastic has degraded really quickly, so I’ll be looking for some Tupperware to use if I ever make a version 2.

5AB10FF1-1CB2-4D47-9EA2-3CB0256B134D.jpeg.91eafdd7d7f2fc859e4bb7677d09ed67.jpeg

Building makeshift tools is part of what makes this hobby fun for me. It’s a great creative challenge!

These are great! 😂

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54 minutes ago, MattyIce said:

A medium Aquarium Co-on intake sponge fits tightly on 3/4 inch pvc and slows the water down great from my 600gph pump, if the sponge is mostly submerged, nothing gets stirred up.

F2B90A5A-6B9B-4088-BECD-E3537569A62E.jpeg.b9ccc833a32053728f260c8e34c4ff1e.jpeg

I would have never thought to try an intake sponge to disperse water for filling! 

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22 hours ago, mouseturd13 said:


 

Mine is one of those forks they use in flower bouquets to hold the card. It’s great for poking around the tank or rolling my moss balls around when I don’t feel like sticking my hand in.

image.jpg

That is just pure genius at work. I'm totally going to try that! 

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I use a lot of red plastic Solo drink cups for everything from priming the AquaClear HOB to thawing frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms in a little tank water. Strain out the freshly hatched baby brine shrimp with some tank water into a red cup. Also pipettes...got a huge bag.  Great for filling API test tubes or feeding thawed shrimp or bloodworms. 

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29 minutes ago, L.W. Wetarm said:

I use a lot of red plastic Solo drink cups for everything from priming the AquaClear HOB to thawing frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms in a little tank water. Strain out the freshly hatched baby brine shrimp with some tank water into a red cup. Also pipettes...got a huge bag.  Great for filling API test tubes or feeding thawed shrimp or bloodworms. 

If you happen to break the glass tubes... like I might have 😂 I got these plastic ones on Amazon for like 10 bucks and they work great! 

image.jpg

Edited by mouseturd13
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1 hour ago, L.W. Wetarm said:

I use a lot of red plastic Solo drink cups for everything from priming the AquaClear HOB to thawing frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms in a little tank water. Strain out the freshly hatched baby brine shrimp with some tank water into a red cup. Also pipettes...got a huge bag.  Great for filling API test tubes or feeding thawed shrimp or bloodworms. 

 

I keep a stack of the little plastic cups that fruit comes in (mandarin oranges, pears, peaches, etc) in my fish food drawer.  I use them every day when I feed my fish.  I shake the food into the cup, then give it to the fish.  I know I could shake the food into the food container lid, and then dump it straight in the tank, but I stopped doing that about the 3rd time I dropped the lid in the tank.

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My favorite device is my peroxide shooter.  A piece of S/S windshield wiper stiffener inserted  into the airline tubing gives me a precise aim without diluting the peroxode with every 1ml. pump, or getting my arm wet.

The stiffeners can be cut and bent for rust free hooks on the side of the tank, hooks for retrieving lost plants or tools, plant weights and attaching/retrieving veggies.

H2O2.jpg

Fish Stick.jpg

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On 1/6/2021 at 7:30 PM, MickS77 said:

I made this for refilling tanks so I don't have to lift a bucket, splash water everywhere, disturb substrate, etc. 

It's a Cobalt MJ1200 pump, some push connect fittings, 90° barb, silicone tubing, and a switch on the outlet to control it. I use an extension cord to keep the switch in my hand. 

20210106_192153.jpg

I do basically this same thing, with a simple pond pump from Lowes and a 25' 1/2 inch tubing from the same.  works like a charm between my kitchen sink and the tank.

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I carry this little scoop I 3D printed nearly everywhere. It's sized at .1 tsp and shaped as a just right fit into the bottles I like to use to feed out dry food and measure out baby brine eggs. The back end contains a strong magnet so I can stick it to whatever while I feed and do maintenance and having a magnet always on had is handy now and then.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, TheDukeAnumber1 said:

I carry this little scoop I 3D printed nearly everywhere. It's sized at .1 tsp and shaped as a just right fit into the bottles I like to use to feed out dry food and measure out baby brine eggs. The back end contains a strong magnet so I can stick it to whatever while I feed and do maintenance and having a magnet always on had is handy now and then.

 

 

20210112_213501.jpg

That’s so awesome! It’s like a fish nerm multi-tool 😂

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12 minutes ago, TheDukeAnumber1 said:

I carry this little scoop I 3D printed nearly everywhere. It's sized at .1 tsp and shaped as a just right fit into the bottles I like to use to feed out dry food and measure out baby brine eggs. The back end contains a strong magnet so I can stick it to whatever while I feed and do maintenance and having a magnet always on had is handy now and then.

 

 

20210112_213501.jpg

that would be very handy for when your big flake food container is nearly empty but you cant just stick your hand because it won't fit.

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I don't have a picture handy, but I bent a plant weight into an S-shaped hook.  I hung it on the back of my tank, and then suspended the little nano air pump from Aquarium Co-op that drives the sponge filter from it.  That puts the air pump out of the way behind the tank, and it's high enough that the water can't siphon out in case of a power outage so I don't need a check valve.

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I use my microscope on a daily basis to observe the happenings in my aquariums and I needed a way to take photos with my phone. I made this adapter with an eyepiece out of our kitchen cutting board to hold the phone while shooting photos and video.

image.png.ff1851a17acdb95ef3896519c48d7d7a.png

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4 hours ago, Daniel said:

I use my microscope on a daily basis to observe the happenings in my aquariums and I needed a way to take photos with my phone. I made this adapter with an eyepiece out of our kitchen cutting board to hold the phone while shooting photos and video.

You win. I just bought a new microscope with wifi capabilities because I couldn’t figure out how to make an adapter to fit my current one to my phone. 😅 (It was also a magnification upgrade so it’s not a total loss. 😉)

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On 1/7/2021 at 9:29 AM, mouseturd13 said:

These are all awesome! 
I just thought of another one I use. It’s one of those tiny pipe cleaner brushes for reusable straws. I use it to scrub gunk off of the never clog air stone felt and just in general to scrub around small items. Don’t worry it’s a fish only scrubber it does not return to the kitchen

They have some brushes and things used for cleaning espresso machines. I don't know why we don't have those in the hobby.  Something where it's simply the same thing but fish safe materials. Should be a pretty useful multitool.

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On 5/8/2022 at 10:49 AM, mouseturd13 said:

Not necessarily a tool but I did make a cheap makeshift top for my tank out of the screens you can buy at lowes for windows. Worked great for something quick and easy. Can’t have glass here in AZ it’s just too hot! 

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Nice! You should try your hand at making a custom size screen. They have kits for it.

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On 5/8/2022 at 1:46 PM, Wrencher_Scott said:

Nice! You should try your hand at making a custom size screen. They have kits for it.

I have considered making one. I had no idea they had kits! I just haven’t had the time to really sit down and decide what exactly I would need. Haven’t ever actually had a lid but I’ve got a cat around now and don’t want her little paws in there 😂

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