Aquarium Water Test Kits
Freshwater aquarium water test kits: liquid master reagent kits, 8-in-1 test strips and digital pH / TDS meters. The three parameters that actually kill fish: ammonia, nitrite, pH.
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Freshwater aquarium water test kits: liquid master reagent kits, 8-in-1 test strips and digital pH / TDS meters. The three parameters that actually kill fish: ammonia, nitrite, pH.
12 products
Water testing is the diagnostic layer of the hobby. Liquid reagent kits measure the three parameters that actually kill fish — ammonia, nitrite and pH — accurately to the tenth. Multi-parameter test strips are faster for a weekly sanity check. Digital meters cover pH and TDS reliably once calibrated.
Ammonia and nitrite should read zero on an established tank. Nitrate reads 5-20 ppm in a healthy planted tank and gets consumed by plants. pH sits where your tap water and substrate settle it. GH and KH matter for shrimp keepers. Everything else — phosphate, iron, magnesium — matters only when you are pushing high-tech growth.
Liquid reagent kits are more precise: dropped in test tubes and read against a graded colour card, they give you pH to 0.2 and ammonia to about 0.25 ppm. Test strips are faster and read multiple parameters at once but only to the nearest colour band. For a new tank, use a liquid kit; for weekly monitoring on an established tank, strips are fine.
Add ammonia to about 2 ppm and wait. Test daily. Once ammonia drops to zero within 24 hours, then nitrite drops to zero within 24 hours, and nitrate is present, the biological filter has established. This usually takes 3-6 weeks. Skip the cycle and you kill the first fish.
