JBL ProScape P30 Slim Line Aquascaping Pincers

JBL ProScape P30 Slim Line Aquascaping Pincers are slender 30 cm pincers for planting carpeting and foreground plants.

Key Features

• Slender tips for carpeting plants: Made for dwarf hairgrass, Monte Carlo and the other lawn formers that go in a few strands at a time. Fine tips slide into the substrate and withdraw without lifting the plants already set either side.
• The lightest pincers in the range: At 44.8 g they are noticeably lighter than the others, which matters when the job is several hundred small insertions rather than a handful of large ones.
• Cross corrugated tips: The gripping faces are cut across rather than left smooth, so a stem or a root is held securely without the squeeze a polished tip needs. That squeeze is what crushes plant tissue and leaves a stem that rots instead of rooting.
• Stainless steel, made in Japan: JBL have these made in Japan from stainless steel with a highly polished finish. The finish is not cosmetic: a smooth surface sheds plant sap and salt instead of holding it, which is what keeps the tool from pitting.

Choosing Between The ProScape Tools

• The letter says what the tool does. P tools are pincers, for planting and placing. S tools are scissors, for trimming. SP is the spatula, for shaping the substrate.
• The number is the length in centimetres. Sixteen for close detail work in a small tank, twenty for most aquariums, thirty to reach the back of a deep one from above the rim.
• Straight is the shape for general work. Curved brings the tips or blades in flat against the substrate while your hand stays level above the water. Wave is for shearing a carpet to an even height and for plants tucked out of reach.
• Most planted tanks are covered by one pair of straight pincers and one pair of straight scissors. The curved, wave, slim and spring versions each solve a specific job that the straight pair does awkwardly.

Looking After Them

• Rinse in fresh water and dry properly after every use. Stainless steel resists corrosion, it is not immune to it.
• After use in a marine tank, rinse immediately. Salt left to dry in the joint and on the tips will pit the steel, and a pitted edge tears plant tissue instead of cutting it.
• Do not use them to prise, scrape or lever anything. One bent tip and the two halves never close against each other again.
• Store them dry and on their own rather than loose in a drawer with other tools, which is how edges get knocked and points get bent.
• A drop of light oil in the pivot once in a while keeps the action smooth. Wipe the excess off before the tool goes back in the tank.

Good To Know

• Thirty centimetres long and 44.8 g, the lightest of the ProScape pincers.
• Fine tips are for fine work. Use the straight or curved pincers for hardscape and larger rooted plants, which will bend these.
• Sharp points and edges. Keep them out of reach of children and do not leave them lying in the cabinet where you reach in without looking.
• Suitable for fresh water, marine and brackish tanks, as long as they are rinsed in fresh water and dried after use in salt water.