[Fishly]

Forcepts- long, short, straight, curved. Which ones are best and why?

 

[Jeffww]

Definitely long. Why you would ever want short ones is beyond me.

Straight and curved doesn't really matter. I suppose for hand fatigue's sake curved but that's only for planting something like glosso. I also dislike pinsettes or the pointy ones. They crush stems very easily since the force is concentrated in the tips. That said their thiness also means less soil disturbance so it's a matter of preference really.

I have 12" straight forceps that are about 1/4" thick and have ridges for gripping things.

 

[Pooch]

Best thing ever!

http://www.sciplus.com/recommend.cfm/recommendid/8965

 

[gonzo.njexit9]

I think i whacked the stems of about 25 plants yesterday trying to use some tweezer my wife got for me.
it was only about 6 inches and i had to empty the tank.
IMO-invest on a good long pair.

POOCH -might get one of those

 

[ClintonParsons]

Different types of tweezers are suited best for different jobs. In general, long straight forceps are best if you only want one good pair of tweezers. I love my ada tweezers.

But they suck for planting at good angles, or planting HC in a patch that needs thickening in (you'd want to plant it at a sideways angle so it grows sideways and mixes with the rest in the area instead of straight up and lanky) so I ordered the curved pincettes.

I didn't care for the "pro grip pincettes. Too bulky, disturbs aquasoil, and wasn't good for plants with fine stems. It felt too massive in my hand, too.

Short tweezers and scissors are, imo, best suited for trimming up and manipulating stems/plants outside the tank before planting or after removing them to trade/sell.

 

[Kathyy]

I always go back to my 12" long forceps with straight ridged tips.

I tried sticking a couple stems down with my fingers a couple weeks ago and won't again, tools with nice skinny tips work a whole lot better!

 

[carpenoctem]

Ive been using foot long straight tweezers and same size hemostats for a while now on my tall tank. They work fine but I'm still constantly up to my elbow in the water. I'm thinking its time to order some 2 foot Marllin forceps. Similar to the ones Pooch linked but longer. Maybe my hands can stay dry for once.

 

[DaveK]

I've always just used my fingers, but I also don't have any of the very small plants that are often used in the foreground or in Amano designed tanks.

 

[Sd760]

Toms aquatic garden tool on amazon. It has scissor adaptor on the end and a pincher adapter for 8 bucks I think it was good deal. I love mine. I also have metal surgical forceps for feeding my snakes I use as well

 

[dmattbfan5]

Foreceps!

I have found many helpful pairs of foreceps in the past. I work for a company that purchases and sells medical foreceps, scissors, and utensils. I have those exact same alligator foreceps for sale for $10 with free shipping inside the continental US. I also have. bayonette foreceps, surgical scissors, and hemastats. They all range from$8-$11. PM me if you're interested. They are medical grade and therefore very durable. I use them everyday in my shrimp and planted 55gal tank!!!! Cheers!

 

[karatekid14]

What would be good for trimming a carpet? The "nude" ADA/GLA scissors?

 

[Jeffww]

What would be good for trimming a carpet? The "nude" ADA/GLA scissors?

...
You do realize a hunk of metal is a hunk of metal right? Any curve bladed scissors are fine.

 

[m00se]

Toms aquatic garden tool on amazon. It has scissor adaptor on the end and a pincher adapter for 8 bucks I think it was good deal. I love mine. I also have metal surgical forceps for feeding my snakes I use as well

Petco sells them for $7.99. You're right - I love mine too.

Here they are on e-bay: 200420759074

They seem to think they can get $25 for them with the shipping!

 

[Fishly]

Update:
I bought some long straight forcepts and they work GREAT! I used them to plant some giant hairgrass in a 10g and it took 10 or 15 minutes to plant over 60 pieces. Pinch root, shove into sand, let go, repeat. roud:

 

[Alyssa]

I bought 12 inch stainless steel tweezers, and I am finding that the ridges on the tip seem to grip the stems and roots of what i;'m trying to plant so that even when I let go, the plant is still attached and gets yanked back out of the sand!

Is there some trick to getting them to not catch on the plant itself?

 

[JessDay06]

I actually have a pair of 15" straight Forceps with the ridges, but I was concerned about injuring the stem plants as I was planting them. So far I have planted everything by hands and it SUCKS majorly. I have fat fingers and the hole my fingers/plants makes is way too big, LOL> I keep having plants float back to the top.

 

[Fishly]

As long as you hold the plant gently, it should be okay. Jess, try them out with a few stems and if they do hurt the plants, just use them with sturdier plants. Here's a video that shows how to use the forcepts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KL8PZeX9os

 

[A Hill]

I like long pinsettes that are tapered or are very skinny because it allows versatility and doesn't get in the way of the the plant when it is coming out. I have found that forceps and pinsettes with grip on the end can pull the plants back up too easily, and the wide tipped ones don't let the substrate stay in place while lifting them back out so the plants float away after you plant it.

With that said, there are no forceps or pinsettes long enough to make planting DHG in a 55g enjoyable.

-Andrew

 

[Naekuh]

pinsettes... like the one A Hill sells..

lol... went though a lot of tweezers.. the ones which are thick in the middle are hard and tend to cramp your hands for long term use.

The pinsettes like A Hill's dont tho.. and they are very effective.

 

[Robert H]

Well I have had 15 inch and 18 inch straight tweezers for years and love them. I still have 15 inch ones available