Giving adults Christmas presents gets to be a tricky and difficult task to do to everyone's satisfaction. The older we get, the less we need or want. (Just one's health.) When my Dad hit his middle 80s, he suggested getting him nothing which he couldn't outlive. (Boy did he get coffee!)

Fish heads have a certain advantage here...

With a little luck, one will not get yet another soap on the rope, lady's perfume which isn't one's brand or a Warner Brother's cartoon character tie which one has absolutely no place to wear.

I'm not suggesting that one give themselves over to avarice or debt. (Loved the credit card letter the other day, "Achieve Freedom!" Yeah! At 21% interest. They used to call those juice loans! More American divorces begin with unmanagable personal debt than any other single stated cause.)

So... what hints would you like to leave for friends and kin?

I would be delighted to get any ONE of the following:

100 or 1000 plastic bags for shipping fish, taking them to the store, taking them to club meetings and just so something can be sent home with visitors.

Containers of food. Mention the brand, size and best place to get them.

Coupons for a day with the fish. (I used to offer her coupons where I would watch the kids while she got the checkbook and a guilt free day to pump up the South Suburban economy of Chicagoland.)

Gravel grunger: another is alway handy.

Timers - for florescent lights or extra 4 foot; warm white light bulbs.

Almost anything from www.brineshrimpdirect.com

Sponge filters - several of a kind or the same brand so they are interchangable. Sometimes just a couple extra sponges, if they are available, is most appreciated.

Fine mesh nets for daphnia. They also do not catch spines of catfish or cichlids as badly as regular nets. Fry actually survive (herding them into a jar is still better).

A couple 3 foot lengths of hard airline tubing are always handy.

Underwater tank heaters: I like the new Ebo-Jager.
...

For many people, "look in the garage" may mean different things than for a fish person interested in a new set-up. ;)  However wrapping some fishy stuff may mean one spends more on the wrapping paper than the gift. A note suggesting that the recipient look in the basement or the bathtub and a taped on bow on the gift would work fine.

It is a good idea to leave the shop, detailed instructions and specific model for non-aquarists. (Size net, brand and weight of flake food...) That lowers the anxiety of the shopper too.

I buy locally whenever possible. The big box stores have claimed most of my favorite LFS shops. I'd hate to see the last few go under.

But once in a while I need fine mesh nets and they aren't to be had locally.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=6&pCatId=3866 , http://www.jonahsaquarium.com/nets.htm or
http://www.jehmco.com/
maybe Scott L's friend Ken might be good sources for items like that.

Obviously that doesn't limit the list of on-line venders, but it is a start.

This little batch of suggestions has a bit of a North American slant. How would people from other parts of the world appropriately use a gift list?

(I still smile every time I think of an Argentinian Fish Buddy who celebrates Christmas by the barbeque along side the swimming pool.)

Who might you have found reliable and pleasent to deal with on-line or in person?

What would you put on your wish list?