Question of the Day Hobby Hacks - your best tips, tricks and time-savers!

[Burr740]

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Nothing beats these for getting the inside of your glass crystal clear. They are 25 cents each and you recycle them when they clog up.

I’m stilling using my first bunch that I purchased two years ago.

Disclaimer: make sure they are wet when using.

I get the scratch-resistant blue ones, pink is even better if you can find. Green will scratch glass very easy if youre not careful, especially low iron rimless glass

I like Mr Clean Magic Erasers ever better, can get a big bag of generic ones cheap. Anything too hard for those I use a sm paint scraper that holds a single-edge razor blade

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I use organic “plant based” sponges with a scouring pad, work great

 

[Count Krunk]

+1 on cheap razor blades. Been using those for years.

 

[Koan]

New favorite





Now you see it:











Now you don't.

 

[Koan]

Inkbird has you covered:

Sweet aftermarket mounting kit:




In your choice of eight colors, because Etsy

 

[vinzphua]

A simple way to add soil or sand into an established tank. There are similar methods on YouTube, but the key difference is filling the bottle with water before pouring out the substrate. That helps keep most of the fine dust inside the bottle. When I stop pouring, the bottle is still black inside. That's all aqua soil dust. Without filling with water first, the fine dust will follow the substrate out during the initial part of the pouring. Easy to manoeuvre as well.

 

[JohnLaPaz]

I use clay pebbles as a bio media filtration in my canisters.
And, organic clay root tabs made for indoor plants. They are esay to break and put around the plants deep on the substrat to prevent nutriments leaking.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Pot scrubbers for filter media. Good surface area to support large microbial communities and good flow through, so not limiting turnover. And cheap.

Old credit card to get rid of algae between the glass front and substrate.

Using a funnel with tube attached to add fresh substrate in an established tank when still full of water. Very good for getting it exactly where you want it without mess or disturbance.

Turkey baster with hose attached to disturb mulm in those awkward places and syphon it out at the same time.

Similar method for trimming moss. Attach hose to scissors, syphon moss out as it’s trimmed. Stops it going everywhere and growing where you don’t want it.

Layer of greenhouse shading mesh between soil substrate and capping substrate. Stops the soil mixing and messing up your aquarium. Particularly good when pulling up plants or distributing the capping substrate.



Another turkey baster one, use it to get rid of excess water in or just above the substrate when doing dry start or to get rid of that last bit of water you can’t quite syphon out.

 

[ElleDee]

I think I saw this tip at UKAPS a while ago and it really made a difference: put down washable puppy pads while you work to catch drips. They are less bulky than towels and naturally lay flat, and one side is waterproof so you don't have to worry about anything soaking through to your floors.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I only recently tried the turkey baster method and it’s truly incredible how vital a tool it is, especially if you have hardscape where detritus can collect.

 

[TRyan]

I'll second the turkey baster method.

 

[TRyan]

Sweet aftermarket mounting kit:
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In your choice of eight colors, because Etsy

Great find! I'll have to get a set of these.

 

[TRyan]

For anyone using Eheim 350 surface skimmers, this product really helps keep shrimp from getting sucked in and also diffuses that pesky jet stream that just about breaks stems in half.

 

[PeerUnk]

For anyone using Eheim 350 surface skimmers, this product really helps keep shrimp from getting sucked in and also diffuses that pesky jet stream that just about breaks stems in half.

Nice! I am an owner of the skimmer as well. Do you have a link to this product?

 

[TRyan]

Amazon.com

Here you go.

 

[PeerUnk]

Amazon.com

Here you go.

Much appreciated, worth a try because the skimmer already took two innocent lives before it was shut down.
Cheers!

 

[TRyan]

Much appreciated, worth a try because the skimmer already took two innocent lives before it was shut down.
Cheers!

You're welcome! I really like mine set up like this.

 

[Kwyet]

I’ve finally found an easy hands-off way to keep returning water from churning up the substrate. Put the return hose into a 200 micron filter sock.

 

[Count Krunk]

That's a great idea. If have the hook over style made of pvc adding a 90 elbow would also work.

 

[JuJuFish]

I bought this gadget a while back to give me an estimate of how much water I’m changing in each tank. I have it on the hose between the pump (in the remineralized water Brute can) and the Python hook on the rim of the tank. Before this, I was really just guessing at my water change percentages. I’m sure it isn’t completely accurate but it’s close enough for me.