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Top Useful Aquarium Gifts Under 10 Bucks

• May 30, 2018
• PalaciosAn
•   1906        1      0

(Spoiler alert) I could not find full-spectrum programmable LED lights for under $10 but here is some useful item for aquarium lovers each under $10 in no particular order, below we label if the item is intended for freshwater or saltwater aquariums.

10. [$8.99] V2O Aquarium Foods Handy Grab Aquarium Tongs

Sometimes getting things that have fallen to the bottom of your aquarium can be a pain or hard to reach. You need to have a towel handy to dry off your arm half the time you get your shirt wet. Most of the time when I see that item has fallen even though it has most likely been there all day you have that irresistible urge to pick it up right then before getting prepared. 

I keep mine next to my tank so that I can access it quickly as needed, I don't own this one but then I also paid twice as much and the design to grab things is sometimes complicated. This one looks way more simple to use.

Pick one up at Marine Depot.

(Freshwater or Saltwater)

09. [$8.99] V2O Aquarium Foods Wide Point Coral Feeder II

Another item to make things easier and try to keep more of the water in your aquarium. Don't let the words "coral feeder" in the title make all of your freshwater tank owners skip over this one. Finicky eaters or feeding corals is made easier with a feeder, sure you can always take the turkey baster from the kitchen and get evil eyes from everyone else in the house but why? These feeders are cheap and the nice thing about them is that they are much longer than your kitchen turkey baster. 

Pick one up at Marine Depot.

(Freshwater or Saltwater)

08. [$8.00] Boston Aqua Farms Colored Reef Epoxy Putty 2oz

Keeping a coral frag where you want it can sometimes be difficult due to the flow of your pumps making them fall, crabs or fish who decide to redecorate your tank and move frags around. The epoxy helps keep frags where you want them and the color looks like coralline algae to make it blend in better with its surroundings.

While you could use this to aquascape some rocks together but we will keep this one for just the Saltwater industry?

Pick one up at Marine Depot.

(Saltwater)

07. [$3.49] Ocean Nutrition Feeding Frenzy Grid Feeder Clip

This feeding clip map seems cheap but the feeding clips make it easier to feed fish or invertebrates that enjoy eating sheets of food such as algae. Setting the clip in a well visible spot can provide lots of entertainment for yourself and guest. Sure you can hold sheet food with a magnet glass cleaner but there are always bits being held by the magnet that the species cannot reach. The clips are easy to use and allow full access to the sheet food.

Pick one up at Marine Depot. 

(Freshwater or Saltwater) 

06. [$5.11] Double Sponge Air Pump Water Filter for Aquarium

Are these the most efficient filters in the aquarium industry? Nope. You may have seen them at your local fish store (LFS) whys do they use them? First of all, they work well and help oxygenate the water. But you already have a filter why do you need this very cheap filter. That's why you need it, its a super cheap filter that can be used when you have to isolate a fish or quarantine a fish. If you need to treat a fish with something like copper anything that comes in contact with the copper-treated water cannot be used for your display tank because copper can kill invertebrates and corals even at low levels. 

You may have an extra filter laying around but why waist or contaminate it if you can just use a temporary $5 filter. I like having one of these around just in case, I have a small 20-gallon tank for a quarantine observing tank to make sure things are healthy before they go into my tank. (Keep in mind you will need an air pump to use it). 

Pick one up on Amazon.

(Freshwater or Saltwater)

05. [$8.49] BoomYou Aquarium Tweezers Stainless Steel

These 10.6" long tweezers can help you create the perfect one of a kind aquascape that will have all of your friends blown away but they are also helpful when feeding fish in a predator tank. Sure you took that dare to hand feed a giant snowflake eel in the tank and it sounded like a great idea from several feet away but when the eel smells its favorite food in the water and starts to go into a frenzy plus the fact that they have poor eyesight all of a sudden Stainless Steel Tweers sounds like a much better idea. Now the question is if 10" long stainless steel tweezers long enough. 

Pick one up on Amazon.

(Freshwater or Saltwater)

04. [$8.16] Green Plastic Handle Sponge Cleaning Brush 

So this item may feel like you are giving someone a toilet brush but indeed it can make your life easier when cleaning a tank, SHOULD ONLY BE USED on a glass tank. If you have an acrylic tank this will cause scratches, if you don't know what type of tank someones has you may want to stay clear of this item. These pads are able to clean glass better than most heavy duty magnets. They do require you to get your hands wet.

Pick one up on Amazon.

(Freshwater or Saltwater)

03. [$9.70] Marina Battery-Operated Air Pump

This is something that everyone in the aquarium hobby should have and for under $10 why would you not? So in the event of a power outage, it is great to have a generator available to keep some of the critical items running in your tank so that nothing dies. Not everyone can own a generator or would rather spend the money on a new pump or lights. 

If you have a generator or even if you don't I suggest having at least one of these on hand, I own two of them so when the power goes out I set one on each side of my tank to keep the water oxygenated and to allow some water moment. This is a great gift for someone in the hobby because most of us are not truly prepared if the power goes out for an extended period of time. 

Pick one up at Amazon.

(Freshwater or Saltwater)

02. [$5.99] Small Temporary Holding Habitat

I have used these temporary holding tanks for treating sick fish, sometimes I introduce new fish to the tank with it as well. Drop a couple pieces of PVC joints so that the fish has somewhere to hide and drop the entire thing in the tank, it lets some of the fish get close to the new fish but it does not let them fight. I have left a fish in there 1-3 days.

A couple of things to keep in mind, if you used the holding container to treat a sick fish you may not want to use the container in your tank especially if you used it for a copper treatment. If a fish is in the tank you need to make sure you can get some food to it so that it does not starve.

Pick one up at Petco.

(Freshwater or Saltwater)

01. [$6.99] UltraFire Red Light

So you may wonder why is there a red flashlight on this list? I have not had a freshwater tank for some time and I am not sure if it would be of any value to someone with a freshwater tank. With a saltwater tank you want to wait until the lights of your tank are off for sometimes, then keep all the lights off on your home and on the tank. Only use the red flashlight to get to your tank and use the red light to look around in the tank. You will find all kinds of things in the tank you have not seen before. Every once in a while I will look at my tank with a red light around 2 a.m.

Pick one up at Amazon.

(Saltwater)

So what did I miss, do you know of any great aquarium gift for under $10? If so comment below and we can incorporate them. I tried to stay away from aquarium food and tried to find items that could be used for freshwater and saltwater aquariums. What do you think of the list comment below with your thoughts.