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Tongs and tweezers

ofzakaria

ofzakaria

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Hi forum.
Anyone used these tweezers before?
It says its carbonation coated to avoid rust.
Do you think it's safe for salt water? Am so tired of the cheap steel ones they rust no matter what..

Amazon.com : FRUTA Aquarium Tweezers Stainless Steel Straight Tweezer with Carbonation Protection Coating Against Rust Long Feeding Tongs Aquarium Tools for Aquatic Tank Plants,10.6 inch, Black, Straight : Pet Supplies

Amazon.com : FRUTA Aquarium Tweezers Stainless Steel Straight Tweezer with Carbonation Protection Coating Against Rust Long Feeding Tongs Aquarium Tools for Aquatic Tank Plants,10.6 inch, Black, Straight : Pet Supplies
www.amazon.com

Any alternative you can recommend?
 
Kind of a myth that stainless steel is rustproof. There are different grades and even what is commonly called "marine grade", 316, can rust given the amount of chloride that gets on it. Hell my stainless steel sink near my tank has rust areas

That said not surr I'd buy the whole carbinated coating claim. Just wash off whatever tweasers , and dry them well after each use
 
OK... reaching into my dark past here...

So, most stainless will rust with the exception of non-magnetic stainless steel, which may still rust but only under certain conditions. If you use a pair of stainless steel tweezers, and wipe it, usually it will prevent rusting from happen.

The reason being is that stainless steel is an alloy that uses chromium in its make up. The chromium in turn forms a chromium oxide layer on the surface of the stainless steel which is what prevents the staining and rusting. when you have salts that form on it, a gap\cavity when two metals (perhaps stainless on stainless even) resting on each other, or a metal that is galvanically different, then it creates a mini fuel cell which causes electrons to flow across, eroding the chromium oxide layer to expose the iron layer, which in turn forms iron oxide aka rust...

in most cases, depending on the quality of the stainless steel, all you need to do it wipe or polish off the rust to reestablish the protective chromium oxide layer (self-healing) until the chromium itself is exhausted or you throw out the tweezers in frustration... lol.

Coating a pair of tweezer will surely minimize rusting except if there's a chip in the coating... in which case the fuel cell condition mention above may form, and create rust pitting.

My mom will be so glad to hear that my college education came into use after all and stop giving me grief for all those wasted years and tuition $$$ -- lmao
 
The tongs I use most is an old set of BBQ tongs.
They have really nice teeth, slightly pointed together, great for grabbing live rock.

Non-marine grade stainless will generally show slight rust stains, which can be ignored.

I do have a rather old boat:
The high quality marine grade stainless, like parts from Harken, are almost pristine.
The cheaper quality parts are definitely showing rust stains and tiny pockmarks.
 
rygh said:
The tongs I use most is an old set of BBQ tongs.
They have really nice teeth, slightly pointed together, great for grabbing live rock.

Non-marine grade stainless will generally show slight rust stains, which can be ignored.

I do have a rather old boat:
The high quality marine grade stainless, like parts from Harken, are almost pristine.
The cheaper quality parts are definitely showing rust stains and tiny pockmarks.
Click to expand...
and you can put the pieces on the grill if you get hungry
 
I mean for the cost I wouldn't be turned off by the Amazon ones, however the litmus test I usually do for things on Amazon is to search again with the type of product "aquarium tweezers" and see what else pops up, when it looks like a ton of different brands of the same stuff that usually puts it into the "not the best of quality" type of products.

That said I do use similar ones as thanh posted as a "I don't want to get my arm too wet" picking instrument, they're ok. Don't plan on picking up anything of any weight (i.e. a rock) and it should be fine, also found that you need to bring them out of the tank vertically and let them drip back into the tank as the plastic hinge/mechanism tends to collect with a bit of water, otherwise you will drip all over the place.
 
Yeah, it takes a lot for 316 stainless to rust. @scuzy I’m pretty sure I used 316 on your light mounts. That was a couple years ago. Any signs of rust on them?
 
The main problem with long metal tongs, especially angled, is that they can be unwieldy and easy to scratch the inside glass. I like plastic better for that reason.
 
I've gone through a couple pairs of tweezers. The stainless ones did ok for a while (not sure if they are 3xx or 4xx and they're packed in a box at the moment). Ultimately I'm heading towards plastic tweezers, not just because they won't rust, but because I like the fact that they float. I do wonder if wooden/bamboo would have slightly better grip, although I suspect durability wouldn't be as good.
 
im printing my own tweezers now.
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Last edited:
treylane said:
I use these for moving frags around - they rust eventually, but last several years if I remember to rinse them off after use:

Amazon.com : LILYS PET Straight and Bend Stainless Steel Super Thick Tweezers Set, Pliers Aquarium Tool Fish Tank Aquatic Plants Forceps Clip (18.9") : Pet Supplies

Amazon.com : LILYS PET Straight and Bend Stainless Steel Super Thick Tweezers Set, Pliers Aquarium Tool Fish Tank Aquatic Plants Forceps Clip (18.9") : Pet Supplies
www.amazon.com
Click to expand...
I use these as well. Dip in vinegar and a light scrub with metal souring pad if you see any rust. Looks good as new.
 
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