Water tests

[Kittycat001]

Hi,
I have never used water test kits before and my fish have done OK until this past year or so. I decided I want to try testing the water, but there are so many different tests out there and I have no idea where to start. I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank with no live plants. I know I should probably have ammonia and nitrite tests, but what else. I hear the ph is very hard to mess with unless you really know what you're doing. Do the tests tell you how to fix the problems they find? I've seen tubes and strips for testing. Which is better? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[modernhamlet]

"Dip strips" are simple, but expensive on a per test basis. More cost effective are the kits with bottles of solution you drop into a small tube of tank water. If you can count drops, you can use the kits. There are several brands that carry a "Master Test Kit". I (and many others) use the test kits by Aquarium Pharmacueticals and they work fine, though their Master Kit doesn't have the Nitrates test.

"Tests Everyone Should Have" (IMHO):

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
pH

There are other tests that have specific uses depending on what kind of tank you have, but those four are pretty much essential to track regularly for the health of the fish. If you ever ask for assistance with a fish emergency on this board, the first things people want to know are the 4 parameters above and temperature.

Good luck!

 

[Bol]

Also, if you end up with a pH problem, you'll most likely want to know the KH (carbonate hardness, sometimes called 'total alkalinity') of your water, as the two are somewhat closely related.