FlyGTI Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Reefers, FlyGTI here to pimp the Dollar Tree. I went there the other night looking for some cheap stuff, and stumbled into a great little thing you might want to try for your tank. For those of you who go away for long weekends (ahem, MeatWhistle, kennerd, CrakB)), you're left with a couple of options. 1. Trust that not adding supplements over a long weekend while you're hangin' with the granola chicks and hippie lettuce in Boulder won't hurt the tank's balance. 2. Trust that the roommates at school that they'll dose the tank properly, and not confuse B-Ionic Part 1 with Smirnoff while they're in a stupor. 3. Trust that the tank sitter knows how to read the graduations on the dosing cup. Any way you look at it, it's a risk. Until now. While I was at the Dollar Tree (pretty sure it's a chain, check it in your area), I found the coolest little stackable pill organizers. They're acrylic, they screw right on top of one another, they're small, they're cheap, and there are seven of them screwed together in a package. So, we picked up about 5 weeks' worth, as I'm in charge of maintaining my boss' 55 gal., and I wanted to make dosing chemicals easy for his wife on a daily basis. So, the plan is simple, and since my wife and I are leaving for a five day weekend in Vegas on Friday, we asked my mother in law to look after our tanks in order to test out how well these things work out. We measured out each dose of B-Ionic, dumped it into the cup, screwed it in place, for both tanks. Pictures of what this all looked like below. By the way, check the Dollar Tree or your other dollar stores for cheap buckets, tube brushes, dosing cups like the ones pictured below, all sorts of stuff. Trust me, if you spend ten minutes there now and save yourself a hell of a lot of hassle and stress next time you're away drag racing at Englishtown for the weekend, or out in the Hamptons with the inlaws, you'll consider it worth it. Plus, it's cheap. Everything's a buck. Can't go wrong. Note: This won't necessarily work on tanks that you're dosing more than about 20 mL a day on, unless you double up your containers. However, for a weekend away, it might not kill you to underdose your tank a little. Now, for show and tell... Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 Dammit...the pictures post better when you remember to hit enter after tagging them into the box. Here they are... Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 Here's how they stack together. Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 By the way, like the wine glass in the picture? Sort of a cool housewarming gift from our realtor. Any of you Des Moiners looking for a house, Stephanie Wright is a top notch, kick ass realtor. Anyway, here's the box these things came in, so you know what you're looking for if you decide to try this. Link to comment
horsehunter Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 I'm not giving up one of my hard earned dollars that easy I premeasure out food for my fry tanks so my wife can feed during the day and use empty 35mm film canisters there FREE. Our dollar store has nets identical to Hagen's in all sizes from small to very large probably from the same factory in China. They also carry not bad looking artificial aquarium plants if you would ever use an artificial plant I wouldn't but lots do. Frank Link to comment
caja Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Fly you are a genius. The hell with NJLuke, you are our new hero!!! Put THAT in your sig line! Link to comment
Toooloud Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Just a question, but for a few more dollars, why would you not build or buy a Kents Aquadoeser? 1400ML. this way you are doseing the correct amount with topoff water.. This way no one has to touch your tank.. Link to comment
sammy33 Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Dollar Tree... I got my reefkeeper's secret weapon from Dollar Tree. My Turkey Baster ! Use it for spot feeding corals. Blasting the excess sand off LR. "Dusting" my red sponge. Sucking up cyano when I was cycling. Gathering water sample for testing. etc. Link to comment
caja Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Yes, but the point is we're trying to save more dollars. Cheap, cheap! Kent's aquadoser is about $15.00 here in VA. Lemme see...$15.00 vs.$1.00. Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 Thanks. Glad someone else thought it looked plausible. Tooooloud, the reason we don't touch that Kent Aquadoser is because it's hideous, and you need an IV pole to hang it from. That pretty much makes it look like your tank is on life support. I figure that a monkey can pretty much dump in topoff water from time to time. The Aquadoser is about $20 here in Des Moines. I suppose you can probably buy it online a little cheaper, but then there's always shipping. I just figured that the little canisters would work just as well for those of us who don't drip kalk all that often. For two part supplement users, it works great. I thought about the film canister, but being that I'm more of a digital guy these days, I don't have many canisters laying around anymore. Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 In my old tank maintenance days, there was a guy who had MS who couldn't get around except for in a wheelchair, but kept three tanks. We always used prescription bottles for dosing B-Ionic because he'd always dose a fair amount of chemical each day. But for nano tanks like the ones that we usually keep, I think that something a little smaller and more compact would work a whole lot better. Link to comment
NJLuke Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Haha yeah well it IS going in my sig line! Suck on that! There is only one draw back to this way of organizing: Dont you feel like an old elderly crippled man when you hve to have a pill organizer lying around? or do you already? Oh- haha that was harsh i a sorry. thats what hapens when you are 16 and see old people things...im sorry -Luke Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 I guess, at the ripe old age of 25, I don't feel like a decrepit old man. I'd have to be at least SeaMountain's age before that happened, and he still gets out and about from time to time, so I guess there's still hope for me. I guess you're free to do with Cajastan's remark as you will. I'm glad you're so gratified to own a single sentence on the internet. Link to comment
NJLuke Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Make that 3 sentences! good idea mate. -Luke Link to comment
fishbabies Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 I wanna know why you can buy a portable cd player nowadays for same price as a Kent aquadoser? WHY? Link to comment
Spencerx Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 also, you would need 2 aquadosers to dose Bionic A/B..... Link to comment
fishbabies Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 for 2 Kent aquadosers you could get a VCR! ...and the auto-timer record would be more accurate than the plastic aquadoser clip Link to comment
myelin Posted July 12, 2003 Share Posted July 12, 2003 Wow, that makes it almost idiot proof. Good idea! Link to comment
AbSoluTc Posted July 12, 2003 Share Posted July 12, 2003 Umm, do these things have a lid or screw into each other or just stack up? Cuzz, if they screw in or have a lid - that would be very kewl for me when I need to feed my tank and nemones. I can prepare the food, portion it out into these things, close them up and throw them in the freezer. When I am ready, just take one, dip it in the tank to add water and WOILA! Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted July 16, 2003 Author Share Posted July 16, 2003 Abso, they screw into each other in a seven day stack. They'll work great for dosing food. Link to comment
CUNROE Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 for dry food a weekly pill organizer container from walmart. they are flip top and have m,t,w, etc. on top. they work great for dry food but wouldn't work for wet things. I like your idea for wet and frozen things. Chris Link to comment
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