Lucy

I thought this might be a fun and useful topic.

There are a few things I use for my aquariums that might be unconventional.

One of my favorites are wooden skewers. I use them for holding veggies, and generally poke, move and stir things around like if an algae wafer lands on a plant.

How about you? Name one and what you use it for.

haedra

Turkey basters are general awesomeness.

I target feed with mine.

Narwhal

I use a spatula or fork to smooth out the gravel and slope it from the back after I vacuum the gravel in my 10 gallon. O_O Don't worry, I wash them after.

Omgami

I use a wooden spatula for arranging the gravel and a discarded UGF tube to target feed. I line up the tube and using a turkey baster put in the food which floats down to the bottom of the tank.

Beeker

Turkey baster is a must!

I also use tongs for moving stuff around, smoothing out the gravel, etc. They are great!

MissMTS

Tupperware and measuring spoons are things that I find very useful for my tanks. Measuring spoons are great for dosing water conditioners, chemicals, and meds. Tupperware is great for holding fish for short periods of time.

REDKAHUNA

I use a turkey baster to remove wiggler cories when 1 happens to hatch with the parents.

I use commercial cieling wire holds up drop cielings bend it and attach CUC zuc for the plecos and cories.

I use garden stakes like to hold up tomatoes the green ones to stir java moss into a ball for the cories that prefer it tight and move stuff around the tanks.

Egg crate for commercial lighting as tank dividers when necessary small enough the cories cant swim through it large enough for quality water circulation.

Hypoalergenic pillow stuffing for my old fashioned box filters 3 bucks a giant bag versus 8 for 1/2 the amount at the LFS. I also put gravel and marbels sometimes mixed with charcol or oyster shell in the bottom of the filters.

harpua2002

I use a 2 liter bottle cut in half with a PVC tube glued to the top to feed my sun coral.

Amanda

I use an eyedropper to target feed. Tupperware is a must.

Butterfly

Fork or spoon handles stuck in fruits and veggies to make them sink.
Carol

bolivianbaby

The teeny little "sauce-sized" storage containers work great for defrosting bloodworms, mysis shrimp, and brine shrimp. I walk around with an eye dropper a few times a week and give my carnivores/omnivores a little "something" extra.

Lucy

Clothes pins......great for attaching bags to the sides of a tank during acclimation.

Elodea

Longer chopsticks for manipulating objects: two chopsticks to pick up rocks and plants; one for moving gravel and poking algae wafers and pellets off plants.

Plastic cups (the big ones) for transferring clean water from bucket back into tank during water changes (can't pour it all in at once, or it'll mess up the plants).

Half a water bottle for thawing bloodworms.

aquarist48

Tip:

I see measuring spoons mentioned above. If you use spoons with measurements in ml instead of tsp and tbs (I think I got that right lol) you actually save on chemicals or whatever you're measuring. Most labels these days use ml's. ml's are a smaller amount than tsp and tbs. (every little bit helps!)

tsp = teaspoon
tbs = tablespoon
ml = milliliters

Ken

Butterfly

Needless 5ml syringes to measure liquids with(dechlor etc) Can be found in the baby section at the grocerystore for giving baby meds.
Carol

Tigerfishy

My mum works for the health board and got her hands on some little "urine sample" plastic tubs. These are great for removing small dead fish (usually fry from the nursery). During water testing, I can collect three tank water sets at once and sit in one room watching TV while testing, without going about trying to rush in advertbreaks! And also during acclimation, they are good for slowly adding water to the bags without trying to be smart about it and pouring tank water all over yourself. Or wait, is that just me!!
Also an old tub I have that is great for moving fish or even isolating a sick/dying one within the main tank as it floats about but has no holes so I would remove 90% water once/twice a day depending on waste and refill directly from main tank. If the fish dies, it's easily removed, and also no ammonia can get into the main tank if it does go.

lorabell

my favorite is pantyhose(new ones) for seeding tanks!!!! My other favorites,clothspins,eyedroppers,turkey basters, terra cotta pots, tiny tupperware, extra suction cups, and my old faithful quilt batting from the craft store!!!!!

Red1313

1cc syringe to measure prime. Syringes in general for liquid measuring. Glass jar/clear containers for catching my fish. Rubbermaid tubs for QT. Yogurt containers/tupperware for when you need to move/transport fish.

Lucy

I love this idea. Great way to spot feed an ADF.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned plastic craft sheets.
Not only can you use them to divide a tank, I cut them to size and use them to full gaps around filters. It keeps any thing from jumping out, but also keeps my cat from going fishing.