Let's see those tools

Over the years I've tried all kinds of tools and gadgets to assist in cleaning and feeding newts. Everything from battery powered syphons to home made pooters, but I always fall back on a handful of trusty tools. It struck me that few of the items I use regularly are actually intended for use with aquariums or animals. It would be great if we all shared some of our favourite tools, you never know, you may be using something that no-one else has thought of.

Here are some of mine to get the ball rolling (pictured above).

1) Large Squeegee - Great for cleaning algae and dirt from the glass. It can also be used for cleaning the outside of the tank. I like the design of this one as the frame holding the rubber blade creates less water movement than if it were solid.
2) Basters – One of the most useful and embarrassing tools you'll ever buy. Essential for sucking up poop, transferring larvae or eggs and priming syphons.
3) Long forceps/tweezers – Rarely a day goes by without delivering some unsuspecting invertebrate to it's death using these forceps. Great for feeding worms and grubs.
4) Radiator Paint Brush – This is a long handled paint brush with an angled head. It's intended for painting behind radiators, hence the long handle. I cropped the bristles to leave approx 2cm which makes it far stiffer and therefore more useful for scrubbing. Great for brushing algae from glass and tank decorations. Very few places in a tank are too awkward for this to reach.
5) Feeding Wires – A simple but effective way to offer food to newts. The top one is a bait hook from an angling shop. The bottom is home made using a wooden skewer and some fine wire. To make, simply remove the thin wire from a food bag twist tie and roll around the end of a skewer. Perfect for offering soft pellets and worm chunks.
6) Razor Blades – Sometimes the only thing that will remove stubborn algae and water marks. Can be used in a holder or by hand in awkward places. TAKE EXTRA CARE WITH BLADES! I once ended up in A&E using a razor blade to clean a tank.

Right, lets see yours...

Great idea!

Wont't make it to six tools like you, but got two which I use a lot.

The first one is a pipette, my dad works in a lab and he brings these home for me. I use them for sucking up small pieces of dirt and for sucking up food items like tubifex and bloodworms from where I store them to transport them to the newt tanks.

Second one is pretty much known to many newt breeders, but still I wanted to show it. The straw, not only great for drinking lemonade but also very useful for moving small larva from one tank to another. First I place my thumb on one end of the straw, so no air can pass through that end, then you bring the straw near the larva you want to transport and by lifting your thumb water and the newt larva will be sucked into the straw. After that you place your thumb on the end of the straw again to prevent the water and larva from falling out of the straw when bringing the straw to the tank you want to transport the larva to. Lift your thumb from the opening of the straw again and the newt larva will fall out off the straw into the new tank. It's as easy as long as this text has become

I don't have a squeegee, It is a great idea though! So on top of the other things Mark has mentioned I have:

1. cocktail sticks. Along with the wire and tweezers I use them for hand feeding young metemorphs.

2. Sharp knife. Used for all sorts of stuff like cutting airline and filter pipes etc. The ones I use have a break off blade, so if I need it to be razor sharp for chopping worms I can just snap the end off and don't have to muck about changing blades.

3. Bottle brush attached to some strimmer cord. This is a great tool for cleaning out algae etc from filter hoses, I just thread the cord through the hose first, then use it to pull the brush through.

4. Soft flat paintbrush. I use this for gently lifting tiny terrestrial Cynops morphs in to my hand when I need to clean their tank out. Unlike picking them off the flat bottom with my arthritis riddled fingers there's no danger of squeezing them too hard and injuring them.

5. Battery operated gravel cleaner. I can't imagine it being anywhere near good enough to clean gravel, but its perfect for cleaning poop and othe debris off the bottom without sucking up any sand.

I've gone through at least 3 of those battery operated vacuums. They are so flimsy. It's a shame because they're a nice concept. I also have one of the air driven vacuums which works pretty well and has less to break. I wish someone would offer a robust mains powered unit. I'd buy one in a snap.

Genius!

Chinadog said:

3. Bottle brush attached to some strimmer cord. This is a great tool for cleaning out algae etc from filter hoses, I just thread the cord through the hose first, then use it to pull the brush through.

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Mark said:

I've gone through at least 3 of those battery operated vacuums. They are so flimsy. It's a shame because they're a nice concept. I also have one of the air driven vacuums which works pretty well and has less to break. I wish someone would offer a robust mains powered unit. I'd buy one in a snap.

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I'm pretty sure the motor could be swapped for one from a radio controlled car for more power, I was also thinking of a home built one based on a mains voltage power head.
They sure are flimsy as you say though, mine was sold under the Fluval name, but I've had a few from different brands and they have all been identical.

I use this mirror when I want to see the bottom of a tank (usually looking for newts or making sure I didn't trap one under a decoration). The mirror is looking at the bottom of the tank above it.

Thanks for the good ideas! I have a tool that I used a lot when beginning with newts and feeding them more frozen food. It's actually ment to pick small items fallen into car motor space that are hard to get out by hand. It's long enough to put a cube in the bottom and melt it there, or pick some fallen leaves if you're not in the mood wetting your hands (though by hand it's somewhat easier!). With live food tweezers are better as critters can crawl into these if you're not holding them accurately

Here's something I forgot last time but use every time I clean tanks! Head light is really useful since three of our four tanks has lights that has to be lifted away and it's quite difficult to see in the dark water...

In winter, when its dark early I use my head torch for digging worms up in the garden. Its great fun to see the neighbours trying to secretly spy on me and work out what I'm doing. I don't know why they don't just ask me!