JBL ProScape SP30 Straight Aquascaping Spatula

JBL ProScape SP30 Straight Aquascaping Spatula is a double ended 30 cm spatula for shaping and levelling aquarium substrate.

Key Features

• Shapes the substrate before anything is planted: A spatula is how slopes, terraces and a level planting bed get made, and how sand is pushed back off the front glass once a tank is already running.
• Two blade widths in one tool: The 62 mm blade levels open areas quickly. The 25 mm end works between rocks and wood and up against the glass, where the wide blade will not fit.
• 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 It

• 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 on the blades will pit the steel, and a pitted blade drags through substrate instead of sliding through it.
• Do not use it as a lever or a chisel against rock. The blades are thin, and a bent blade will not level a flat bed again.
• Store it dry and on its own rather than loose in a drawer with other tools, which is how the edges get burred.
• Wipe the handle dry before it goes away. Water trapped where the blade meets the handle is where corrosion starts on any long tool.

Good To Know

• Thirty centimetres long and 78.6 g, with blades of 62 mm and 25 mm.
• Work the substrate before it is planted and before the tank is filled if you can. Levelling around established roots tears them.
• It also lifts and flattens a mulm layer behind rocks, where a siphon cannot get in.
• 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.