Whether they are branded, from discount shop, hardware store, DIY, junk....as long as they are useful, they are good tools. -- Josh Sim / Malaysia
Water change is very important in this hobby. I do WC 2-3 times a week for my contest tank so i need a method that is fast and easy. This system allows me to drain/top-up water directly from toilet while i can do other tank maintenance job at the same time.
Apart from the normal WC using the bigger hose, once a week i also use this small hose to manually siphon water to a bucket. I use this method to clean all the dirt/mulm that is visible on the sand, in between rocks/woods and especially those trapped in the moss. I also use this small hose to siphon out the pest snails.
These are normally use during demolishing/cleaning old tanks during rescape. The smallest one also used for topping up bigger quantity of soil/sand after the tank is filled
For replacing CO2 tank.
The bigger brush is normally used during scaping time when the tank is still dry while the smaller brush is for fine adjustment when the tank is filled.
Double-sided tape is only used during photo session - for sticking the black board in front of the tank so that the light from flash/aquarium light won't be captured by the camera sensor.
Normal masking tape - to mark my vanishing point during the initial setup and to stick the colored background paper on the back wall during photo shooting.
Kitchen towel - for regular cleaning of the tank and as the gluing media.
Fish net - for catching fish/shrimp and floating plants after trimming.
Bamboo sticks - i use it as a support to stabilize some woods or rocks that i do not glue. Sometimes i add rocks/woods after the tank is filled, if the rocks/woods are not stable, i use these bamboo sticks to support them. Not a conventional use of the bamboo stick but i find it useful this way.
Some disposable container for planting. I prepare my plants in these containers before planting, moss too.
Stainless steel wire mesh for tying moss or fern.
Cable tie for temporary holding the hardscape in place before gluing. I also use it to tie rocks to woods to prevent the woods from floating.
I use this rope to indicate the final water level (for photo shooting) during the initial hardscape setup. I like to know where my water level will be right from the very begining, it will help me estimating the height of my hardscape and also the planting height.
A dish washing sponge to clean my tank glass during tank cleaning (rescape)
These are the scissors and tweezers i use for all the planting and maintenance purpose.
For cleaning filter hoses.
A syringe if i need spot treatment for algae. A small measuring cap for fert dosing and to top up small quantity of sand for fine adjustment.
Plastic cards to clean tank glass. Expired creditcard, ATM cards, petrol card, membership cards......
For tying moss, fern and all other plants.
Whiteboard marker to mark on tank glass. I like to mark my tank glass to indicate the height of my background plant. Knowing the height/shape of my background plants will help my hardscape arrangement.
A multi-purpose cutter. Apart from the normal usage, i also use it to do some small adjustment on my woods in the water. Sometime a certain part of the wood is not looking natural, or if i want to create some aged/jagged edges effect, i use this cutter to chip off small part of the wood for this purpose.
To clean rocks/woods. Soft and hard brush for different purposes and surfaces.
Lead strips - a useful tool to tie moss, fern, anubias, bucep or even Monte Carlo/HC. It is flexible, easy to bend into shapes and cut into any length. I use rocks/stainless steel mesh for the same purpose too, but there are places where this thin flexible strips can be really helpful.
There are all the tools for my aquascaping needs! They may not look pretty, but they are very important and useful. These are everything that i use, nothing else!
Author: Josh Sim / Malaysia
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