STS: Things good to have for a planted tank

STS stands for "Stuff to share". Ha.

This is not an article or sorts so I just post it here. I sometimes have people asking me what things does one need to have when one has a planted tank? Here are just the main stuff I use for my planted tank and I am sure some of you have some good tips on what stuff will aid aquascapers. Anyway here it goes.

Scissors



Underrated. Everyone has a pair but not everyone tries to get a good pair. A good pair of scissors will help greatly in trimming off your plants and a bad pair will be unconfortable to use and difficult to trim with.

I use a pair of SS (stainless steel) scissors with an angled tip. This gives greater flexibility in trimming off the tips of plants, especially short plants as it is difficult to angle around.

Pincers



Piners should be a tool that everyone should use. Using your fingers to plant your flora will cause alot of problems, for example causing unnecessary disturbance of the substrate, the plants not anchored well and causing other plants to be uprooted.

I use 2 different pairs, a long and short one. Gives you more flexibility as certain situations will call for different lengths to be used. Prices are pretty cheap and they usually come bundled with the scissors. Go take a look around.

Measuring spoons



These are common measuring spoons used for bakery and the likes. I got the one with 4 different measurements to help in dosing dry fertilizer powder. You can also use it to skim off the protein layer but you need patience. I tried for a 1.5 footer but gave up after a while.

Syringes



Now this is good for precise measurements and dosage of liquid fertilizers. They are precise and very cheap. Go to any Guardian or similar stores and you will find them stacked on the shelves. I personally use one specific syringe for individual liquids and label them accordingly. It may be a little anal but I prefer not to mix. Also they can be used to direct any medications you want to dose, Excel for example, is one where you should use a syringe to shoot unto the BBA directly.