Setup & Use

Nothing to set up. Take it out of the packaging and use it. Rinse it in fresh water before its first trip into the tank, as you would any new tool.

What it is for. Reaching 800 mm into a tank without putting your arm in it. Placing and moving rock and frags, retrieving a dropped magnet or a snail from behind the rockwork, positioning decor, pulling out a leaf or an uneaten lump of food, and fishing things out of a sump you cannot reach into. On a deep tank it is the difference between a two-minute job and a soaked shirt.

The 2 kg limit is a real limit. Tunze rate the tool to lift 2 kg (4.4 lb) and the rating is about the grip and the shaft, not about bravery. A piece of wet live rock the size of a football is well over 2 kg. Lift what it is rated for; for anything heavier, drain down and use both hands.

Grip, do not lever. The rubber inserts in the jaws are there to stop objects slipping, and the tool is designed to close on something and hold it. It is not a crowbar. Using an 800 mm plastic shaft to prise a rock loose is how it breaks, and it breaks at the far end, in your tank.

A note on the material, and why it suits a reef. Lexan is a polycarbonate. It does not corrode, which is worth knowing because Tunze’s current aluminium-shafted replacement, art. 0220.440, is marked suitable for freshwater only for exactly that reason. An all-plastic tool has no such restriction and can live in a saltwater tank without the shaft suffering.

Rinse and dry it after every use. Salt water dries to salt crystals, and salt crystals in a pivot make a stiff, gritty tool. Warm fresh water, then dry it and hang it up.

Keep solvents away from it. Polycarbonate crazes on contact with acetone, strong alcohols and ammonia-based cleaners — crazing means a network of fine cracks, and a crazed shaft snaps. Clean it with water only.

Store it straight and out of the sun. An 800 mm plastic shaft left leaning against a wall in a hot room will take a set, and UV embrittles polycarbonate over years. Hang it or lay it flat, indoors.

What’s in the Box

One pair of Tunze aquarium tongs, art. 0220.400. Nothing else. There is no packaging list to work through and nothing to assemble — the tongs arrive as a single finished tool, ready to use.

What that one item is: an 800 mm (32 inch) shaft in Lexan, a pistol grip at the handle end, and a pair of gripper jaws at the business end with elastic rubber inserts on the inside faces. Tunze rate it to lift objects up to 2 kg.

No accessories, no spares and no manual. Tunze publish no spare parts list for this tool and no replacement jaw inserts. It is a single moulded item; if the grip breaks, it is not a repairable tool.

A note on the model. Art. 0220.400 is the Lexan pistol-grip tong. Tunze’s current catalogue lists two different tools under the same name — the 0220.440 at 86 cm in anodised aluminium and 316L stainless, and the 0220.450 Carbon in plastic and stainless — both of which fold for storage and have a rotating gripper. This is neither of those. If you have seen the folding aluminium version and expect that, ask us before ordering.

Returns & Replacement

Returns are accepted within 7 days of delivery, provided the item is unused and in its original packaging. Manufacturer-sealed items cannot be returned once the seal is broken, and sale-priced items are not refundable.

If your item arrives defective or damaged, message us on WhatsApp with your order number — or email us, if you would rather — and we will replace it. Approved replacements are delivered within 3 to 5 business days. Transit damage is covered by insurance on every shipment. If tracking shows delivered but nothing reached you, tell us within 72 hours, which is the reporting window Indian couriers allow. Damage caused during installation or use is not covered; replacement spares for such cases are chargeable.

Full terms are on our Cancellation & Returns page.