Ordinary Household Items

kireek · Dec 20, 2014

Do you use a household product in a unconventional matter for your aquarium? Maybe you have a creative way to reuse something? For example,I use a glass door from a broken toaster oven as a heat proof light shield.Here's a few more of my random ideas;
A sewing thread holder can be used to air dry test tubes

A lipstick caddy doubles as a test tube holder

Engineeringman27 · Dec 20, 2014

Nice! Great idea!

kireek · Dec 25, 2014

Engineeringman27 said:
Nice! Great idea!

Thanks @Engineeringman! A tiny cubed ice cube tray works great too-

afamousjohnson · Dec 25, 2014

Cool thread - i use black vacuum hose to enclose my bundle of drain hoses from the reactors in the sump to keep the light out and to keep them clean. Also i think my wife is still looking for the tubawear that is now made into a nifty skimmer stand.lol

vic67 · Dec 26, 2014

To protect my corals from stinging each other I use the open lids from McDonalds sundaes.

fagundespavinp3 · Dec 26, 2014

bottom of a 1 Gal Water Jug Temp Frag Rack LOL

sherita · Dec 26, 2014

Freaking awesome idea! I am soooo gonna steal this and put a stop to my warring chalices!

vic67 said:
To protect my corals from stinging each other I use the open lids from McDonalds sundaes.

lionfish5740 · Dec 26, 2014

vic67 said:
To protect my corals from stinging each other I use the open lids from McDonalds sundaes.

I'm going to use this also but to get some random loose polyps to attach to rock rubble without needing to glue them. Thanks!

lsaint88 · Dec 26, 2014

I used a tupperware that I got at the $1 store and drilled holes to place over corals that I just feed to keep others form stealing its food

DrBoxedWine · Dec 26, 2014

Great thread, following.

kireek · Jan 11, 2015

afamousjohnson said:
Cool thread - i use black vacuum hose to enclose my bundle of drain hoses from the reactors in the sump to keep the light out and to keep them clean. Also i think my wife is still looking for the tubawear that is now made into a nifty skimmer stand.lol

Great idea!The plastic hoses from vacuums are very strong and will last for years.My husband and I frequently use Tupperware for aquarium purposes.In addition to skimmer stands they work well for transferring and accilmating frags.I also cut holes into them to cover and protect surrounding equipment( like aqua lifters)from salt creep.

fagundespavinp3 said:
bottom of a 1 Gal Water Jug Temp Frag Rack LOL

I have a problem with temporary frag racks.The tend to become permanent fixtures.

lsaint88 said:
I used a tupperware that I got at the $1 store and drilled holes to place over corals that I just feed to keep others form stealing its food

Excellent idea! This would really protect the corals from greedy inverts.I can't wait to frustrate the Sally light foot crab!

tyler1503 · Jan 11, 2015

That McDonald's sundae lid idea is awesome! Looks good too.
I use small food grade storage containers as in tank acclimation boxes. I just add a bunch of small holes to the bottom and about 1/4 from the top for water flow. It traps air in the top 1/4 of the container so it floats and the containers are big enough that I can add some sand, a small rock and/or rubble rock.
My last one cracked recently so when I make a new one I'll post pics

WindeyD · Jan 11, 2015

Wooden BBQ skewers can be used to spot feed corals, flip over snails, and pulverize vermatids

saltyphish · Jan 11, 2015

Same here!

WindeyD said:
Wooden BBQ skewers can be used to spot feed corals, flip over snails, and pulverize vermatids

Zacco · Jan 11, 2015

The top of a plastic water bottle and some T8 flourescent tube guard makes for a good coral target feeder. Fish and crabs cant steal or bother corals when feeding. A little coral glue and a zip tie to fasten together.

bonz · Jan 13, 2015

^Looks like a gravity bomg

palymadness · Jan 13, 2015

Yus it does. But its a good design lol

kireek · Jan 16, 2015

Zacco said:
The top of a plastic water bottle and some T8 flourescent tube guard makes for a good coral target feeder. Fish and crabs cant steal or bother corals when feeding. A little coral glue and a zip tie to fasten together.

What is nice about this design is you don't have to get your hands as wet.Especially when you want to feed multiple corals.

tyler1503 · Jan 25, 2015

I use stickers and coloured textas as labels on cords and power points so I don't have to trace cords back to the object. I just know the yellow label with skimmer written on it is my skimmer and the blue label with return written on it is my return pump etc.

I put one on the power point switch, one on the very end of the cord and a couple along the length of the cord so I can easily remove something without having too many problems figuring out what's what.