5 Gallon Tank Aquarium scissors vs regular

[newbietetra]

Hi,

Is aquarium scissors worth the extra price tag?
Why is it so good? When I can buy a pair from the dollar store.

Thanks!

p.s. I just have pearl weed, rotala, anubius.

 

[ruud]

I use scissors and tweazers. Every week I do my round of aquatic gardening. Cut, plant, dispose.

Both tools are long, which I find very handy. The scissors are curved, which is handy also with carpet plants. So it's a matter of convenience.

I must have this pair for over 10 years or so and intend to use it forever.

I run 10 tanks.

All considerations.

 

[JustAFishServant]

I agree with ruud; aquarium scissors are handy when cutting carpet plants or shaping a "bush" since they're curved. They also don't have plastic that could (probably won't but could) be toxic. Their protective coating over the stainless steel allows for them to be used frequently in water without getting rusted. But then again, they are like $10. Normal scissors, if you're careful, can be just fine. They're not curved and may rust but meh...at least they're cheaper so you can buy more for the same price. Really the choice is yours

Scaping Scissors
Pros: won't rust, curved, no plastic, sturdy, long
Cons: costly, and curved isn't for everyone

Normal Scissors
Pros: cheap, easily replaceable, straight is best for some plants
Cons: may rust, contains plastic not meant for fish, not curved, usually shorter, may be cheap quality

 

[Littlebudda]

Also tank into consideration reach generally the aquarium scissors have a longer reach (for my tank I have to buy the longest available to reach if I used normal scissors I would need to swim in the tank)

 

[FunnyFish]

I found a great set of stainless steel off Amazon for approximately $30 Canadian when I started planting. I use the scissors and curved tweezers quite often and found the cost to be worth it. It also came with a scraper and straight arm tweezers. I think it was worth it vs putting regular scissors in the tank.

Also tank into consideration reach generally the aquarium scissors have a longer reach (for my tank I have to buy the longest available to reach if I used normal scissors I would need to swim in the tank)

Me too. Short girl problems in a real tall tank lol

 

[Fishfur]

I found a great set of stainless steel off Amazon for approximately $30 Canadian when I started planting. I use the scissors and curved tweezers quite often and found the cost to be worth it. It also came with a scraper and straight arm tweezers. I think it was worth it vs putting regular scissors in the tank.

Me too. Short girl problems in a real tall tank lol

Yep. Being on the shorter side is no help with fish tanks! Personally, for small tanks I use any small scissor I have handy - there are far too many pairs around here because I sew!

But for bigger tanks the curved blades and longer handles of the purpose made scissors do work better. I was sent an entire set of aquascaping tools by a company I bought a ton of plants from, which was incredibly generous of them. I had resisted spending money on scaping tools ‘til then but free is a price that’s hard to turn down. I think the full set sold on their site for close to a 100 CAD.

 

[Fisch]

I definitely vote for aquarium specific scissors. The tips are thin enough that you can really target. Normal scissors are thicker and getting to that specific tiny leaf can be tricky and frustrating.
The special tools are worth their price.

 

[SecondTime]

You have so many reasons why aquarium scissors are better than regular ones, but here are a few more:

I love my aquarium scissors, and keep them stashed away so that no one else can use them for any reason (they look so cool, I know the grandkids would scoff them for a school project!) This means they aren't contaminated with any other substance (like food, glue, tape), and they stay super sharp, which is helpful for clean cuts on plants.

Plus, more than once, those curved scissors have come in very handy to quickly retrieve something that fell into the tank, or an errant piece of plant.

I also bought mine on Amazon, about 2 years ago for $11.99. They're called 9.8" Wave Scissors, stainless steel.

Handy tip: ALWAYS dry your scissors very thoroughly before storing (I keep mine in the cellophane sleeve they came in). Storing wet can cause rust, yes, even on stainless.