Reefing Tools

[MockandRoll]

Figured I would post a pic of my reefing tools. Let's see what everyone else uses.

 

 

[Friendly]

in what circumstances do you find yourself needing the flashlight?  

[Clown79]

Oh boy, here's my list.

 

Tupperware

Plastic cups

Tweezers (plastic) and surgical length 

Glue

Toothbrushes

Baby bottle brushes

The pond gloves(the yellow ones)

Nitrile disposable gloves

Pipettes 

Flashlight 

Towels 

 

 

 

 

 

[MockandRoll]

1 hour ago, Friendly said:

in what circumstances do you find yourself needing the flashlight?  

The flashlight is awesome. It's LED with 5 whites on the outside and 1 red in the middle. Each color is controlled by a separate button. The red I use for night viewing. The whites for in the sump/tank. I also drop this thing almost daily and it is still going. 

[MockandRoll]

1 hour ago, Clown79 said:

Oh boy, here's my list.

 

Tupperware

Plastic cups

Tweezers (plastic) and surgical length 

Glue

Toothbrushes

Baby bottle brushes

The pond gloves(the yellow ones)

Nitrile disposable gloves

Pipettes 

Flashlight 

Towels 

 

 

 

 

 

Where do you keep it all? I finally started using a shoebox so I can throw it away and not feel bad. Remember not to use the good towels 

[Clown79]

I live in an apartment so I had to get very inventive. I also really love organizing...

 

I got one of those cube shelving units and all my stuff is organized on that. My extra equipment, test kits, containers, floss, salt etc 

That's in my front hallway closet. Next to it is one of those plastic trolly drawer organizers. My hand towels, gloves, vacuum, small tools are in that. I just drag it in front of the tank while doing a waterchange.

 

If I had a house, I'd have a work station.

[Mark1313]

Where did you get the plastic tweezers? Love the cable tie tooth brush idea, these are examples I need! 

 

I'm gonna have to look out for the flashlight also, better then trying to cover one up with red paper. I got something munching my Zoa so the flashlight is needed to figure out the culprit. 

[MockandRoll]

6 hours ago, Mark1313 said:

Where did you get the plastic tweezers? Love the cable tie tooth brush idea, these are examples I need! 

 

I'm gonna have to look out for the flashlight also, better then trying to cover one up with red paper. I got something munching my Zoa so the flashlight is needed to figure out the culprit. 

Got tweezers from eBay and flashlight from home depot. 

[seabass]

There are so many household items that I use.  A big one is a Shop Vac.  I have lots of room, so I have one dedicated for reefing, but you could just have a dedicated hose or nozzle.

 

I couldn't reef without 5 gallon buckets.  I must have over a dozen of them scattered about.  For larger tanks, you need Brute canisters (yeah, I have three of them too).

 

Lots of fragging tools from hammers and cold chisels to cable cutters.  Not to mention real reef tools like stainless steel bone cutters and even a coral saw.

 

There are PVC pipes that I stir saltwater with, and hand clamps to hold hoses in place.  You get the idea, my basement is cluttered with stuff.  Of course there is reef stuff too, like test kits, plumbing parts, spare equipment (even some new equipment that I've never used), rocks in saltwater, dry rocks, phyto cultures, rotifer cultures, spare tanks, some half built tank stands... and on, and on. 

[seabass]

Then there are chemicals.  I have bleach, muriatic acid, 3% and 35% hydrogen peroxide, and vinegar.  Not to mention reef supplements, and fertilizers (like iron, nitrate, phosphate, etc).

[Thunder Goose]

Let me add extra long surgical locking forcepts (rinse with tap water after every use), plastic bulb pipettes, 1 gallon jugs, and large size yogurt containers (16 oz, I think, a very useful size). Storage is a cabinet end table and shelving in the basement. Thank goodness I have a basement! I can't imagine trying to store all my stuff without one.

 

Of course I have completely separate set of supplies for my freshwater tank!

[MockandRoll]

5 hours ago, seabass said:

There are so many household items that I use.  A big one is a Shop Vac.  I have lots of room, so I have one dedicated for reefing, but you could just have a dedicated hose or nozzle.

 

I couldn't reef without 5 gallon buckets.  I must have over a dozen of them scattered about.  For larger tanks, you need Brute canisters (yeah, I have three of them too).

 

Lots of fragging tools from hammers and cold chisels to cable cutters.  Not to mention real reef tools like stainless steel bone cutters and even a coral saw.

 

There are PVC pipes that I stir saltwater with, and hand clamps to hold hoses in place.  You get the idea, my basement is cluttered with stuff.  Of course there is reef stuff too, like test kits, plumbing parts, spare equipment (even some new equipment that I've never used), rocks in saltwater, dry rocks, phyto cultures, rotifer cultures, spare tanks, some half built tank stands... and on, and on. 

Sounds like your basement looks like my garage

2 hours ago, Thunder Goose said:

Let me add extra long surgical locking forcepts (rinse with tap water after every use), plastic bulb pipettes, 1 gallon jugs, and large size yogurt containers (16 oz, I think, a very useful size). Storage is a cabinet end table and shelving in the basement. Thank goodness I have a basement! I can't imagine trying to store all my stuff without one.

 

Of course I have completely separate set of supplies for my freshwater tank!

Yes the plastic bulb pipette are a must. I get them cheap from DFS

[Friendly]

I bought a load of stainless tools off Amazon for FW aquarium. 

 

would these be useable in the SW or because it's metal, not a good idea?

[seabass]

10 minutes ago, Friendly said:

I bought a load of stainless tools off Amazon for FW aquarium. 

 

would these be useable in the SW or because it's metal, not a good idea?

You just can't keep stainless steel permanently in saltwater.  However, stainless steel tools are commonly used in saltwater aquariums.  Just rinse with freshwater after use, so they don't rust.

[Christopher Marks]

On 8/6/2017 at 9:58 AM, Friendly said:

I bought a load of stainless tools off Amazon for FW aquarium. 

 

would these be useable in the SW or because it's metal, not a good idea?

seabass is right, just give them a good rinse and they will be fine. Dry them with a towel too, ideally. You might find some rust developing in the hinges of certain tools if you don't. What tool set did you get?

[Friendly]

12 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

seabass is right, just give them a good rinse and they will be fine. Dry them with a towel too, ideally. You might find some rust developing in the hinges of certain tools if you don't. What tool set did you get?

hey Chris, I got the5 piece  Signstek one's off of Amazon. here's the listing:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SY19AEO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s04?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

note, mine did not come with teh case.   

[MockandRoll]

10 hours ago, Friendly said:

hey Chris, I got the5 piece  Signstek one's off of Amazon. here's the listing:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SY19AEO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s04?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

note, mine did not come with teh case.   

That is a nice set! I have SS tweezers but they rusted. I wasn't consistent at rinsing them off. That is why I decided to got plastic. Hopefully they will hold up over time.

[Friendly]

they're pretty solid...no complaints, but I haven't used them for the FW tank I bought them for, so I don't know how good/bad they'll be at trimming the plants and such. 

[burtbollinger]

On 8/6/2017 at 6:15 AM, seabass said:

There are so many household items that I use.  A big one is a Shop Vac.  I have lots of room, so I have one dedicated for reefing, but you could just have a dedicated hose or nozzle.

 

I couldn't reef without 5 gallon buckets.  I must have over a dozen of them scattered about.  For larger tanks, you need Brute canisters (yeah, I have three of them too).

 

Lots of fragging tools from hammers and cold chisels to cable cutters.  Not to mention real reef tools like stainless steel bone cutters and even a coral saw.

 

There are PVC pipes that I stir saltwater with, and hand clamps to hold hoses in place.  You get the idea, my basement is cluttered with stuff.  Of course there is reef stuff too, like test kits, plumbing parts, spare equipment (even some new equipment that I've never used), rocks in saltwater, dry rocks, phyto cultures, rotifer cultures, spare tanks, some half built tank stands... and on, and on. 

what do you do with the shop vac?

[seabass]

 

 

 

I use it whenever I empty a tank, tank transfer, or whatever:

• You can only pump so much water out of a tank/sump; so when it gets to the bottom, I use a Shop Vac to get the rest.
• Also, if you use a vinegar solution to clean out a tank, you can vacuum up the extra solution.
• You can use it to clean the back chambers of an AIO.
• Cleaning up spills/floods.
• Ever spill PhosGuard?  Those little pellets go everywhere.

 

[Clown79]

 

 

 

12 minutes ago, seabass said:

 

 

 

I use it whenever I empty a tank, tank transfer, or whatever:

• You can only pump so much water out of a tank/sump; so when it gets to the bottom, I use a Shop Vac to get the rest.
• Also, if you use a vinegar solution to clean out a tank, you can vacuum up the extra solution.
• You can use it to clean the back chambers of an AIO.
• Cleaning up spills/floods.
• Ever spill PhosGuard?  Those little pellets go everywhere.

 

How often do you empty tanks?

 

Wish I had room for a shop vac.

 

Never spilled phosguard but I have spilled reef roids on the carpet  (what a stinky mess) 

[burtbollinger]

so, if I wanted to use a shop vac inside my sump to clean out spilled carbon and GFO, I could do that, eh?

 

 

[seabass]

36 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

How often do you empty tanks?

With the smaller tanks, I probably clean them completely out once a year.  I've only done it once on my 100 gallon; but I've emptied the sump a few times.

 

2 minutes ago, burtbollinger said:

so, if I wanted to use a shop vac inside my sump to clean out spilled carbon and GFO, I could do that, eh?

You could siphon it out.  However, if you wanted to clean out your entire sump, a Shop Vac would be my tool of choice (after pumping out most of the water first).  This is a great way to do a big water change without disrupting anything in your tank.

[Clown79]

I've never cleaned mine out. 

[Thrassian Atoll]

Are the gloves necessary?  Will a good hand wash before sticking your hands in the tank suffice?