Bath ducks

[Ron789]

As we all know, bath ducks are very important for obtaining optimal results when printing in the darkroom.
I have 3: one swims in the basin that heats the developer tray, two swim in the final wash tray.
Question: do you have any specific preference for colours and/or number of bath ducks?

 

[Neil Grant]

...doing it all wrong - you need your ducks line up!

 

[Pieter12]

In a dog bowl.

 

[Pieter12]

And in the rain...

 

[Rick A]

 

[MattiS]

Mine knows all about papers. And all news...

 

[Roger Thoms]

Much prefer the classic yellow bath duck, and you would do well to have all your ducks in a row, when printing in the darkroom. You’ll get much better results that way.

Roger

 

[cjbecker]

I hear they are very good for breaking the surface tension on the water and resulting in more uniform development.

 

[bdial]

I am a bit of a traditionalist in the darkroom, so I'd probably choose yellow ones. I wonder what sort of duck St Ansel used?

 

[MattiS]

Jobo ones, I guess...

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I use real ducks.

 

[Pieter12]

I use real ducks.

Aah. Feathers and poop in the processing trays, adds a distinct je ne sais qua.

 

[MattKing]

I've always wanted one of Andrew's Van Duck Browns....

 

[Roger Thoms]

I use real ducks.

I'd be concerned that the ducks would scratch the paper.

Roger

 

[Helios 1984]

I know folks around these parts are on the traditionalist side but there's a whole panoply of darkroom floating animals out there.

Here's the elusive Nessie with a Tam o' shanter cap.

 

[Vaughn]

Aah. Feathers and poop in the processing trays, adds a distinct je ne sais qua.

I have tape for that...

 

[Ron789]

...doing it all wrong - you need your ducks line up!

Thank you for the advice, Neil. So I got my ducks in a row.... is this better?

 

[Ron789]

Much prefer the classic yellow bath duck, and you would do well to have all your ducks in a row, when printing in the darkroom. You’ll get much better results that way.

Roger

Thank you, Roger, for your advice! I think I will go hunting for a few more yellow ducks tomorrow.

 

[Truzi]

Shouldn't the ducks be Magenta, Yellow, and Cyan?

 

[dourbalistar]

Aah. Feathers and poop in the processing trays, adds a distinct je ne sais qua.

Correction, it adds a distinct je ne sai quack.

 

[John Koehrer]

A bit larger but they can be motorized to agitate a bit.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/hun...size-floating-mallard-pk/3339523.uts?slotId=0

 

[Vaughn]

Educated Quacker

 

[fs999]

I tried this one, but it won't stay in place and always tries to fly away...

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Amateurs.

My duck has a battery grip... that means he's a pro.

 

[Ron789]

I think I nailed it now.... well in a row and added two somewhat larger classic yellow ducks. After thorough considerations I decided to keep the orange and purple in the family, for the sake of diversity: