Keep Your Fish Safe With Aquarium Water Test Kits

By Author: Ethan Smith
Total Articles: 10
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Fish are some of the best pets a person can have. A small tank with colorful fish and beautiful coral makes for a fabulous set piece in any home. When out and about, many people enjoy visiting aquariums to catch a glimpse of some of nature’s most dazzling creatures. If you own a home or commercial aquarium, it is important to take proper care of those living beings residing in the water. Toward the end, you should always monitor oxygen levels, food, and a few other important things. However, many forget to look after the single most important element, and that is quality of the water.

Both salt and freshwater should be checked for contaminants before being placed in a fish tank. In order to do so, you’ll need to acquire some quality aquarium water test kits. These kits will help to identify a range of components in water that can harm your fish.

Most of aquarium or pool water testing kits are able to check for the following:

• Ammonia
• Nitrite
• Nitrate
...
... • Salinity/Specific Gravity
• pH
• Carbonate Water Hardness
• Alkalinity
• Chlorine and Chloramine
• Copper
• Phosphate
• Dissolved Oxygen
• Iron and Carbon Dioxide

Most aquarium test kits are strips that you dip in a test tube filled with water from your tank. These strips change color when they come in contact with certain contaminants. You can then compare the resulting color of your dip strip with the color key that came with your kit to get the final reading of each test.

Other types ofportable water testing kitshave liquid droppers. You dispense the liquid into a test tube with tank water, and then shake the tube,waiting a few minutes for the test to develop. Just like the strips, you then match the color of the water in your test tube against a key card to get your final reading.

If you plan to invest in pool water testing kits, you should base your purchasing decision on your own unique requirements and needs. A master test kit is preferred for most cases. However, for commercial use, you may need individual kits as well. In fact, you should plan to stock up on different strips for one time use.

Keep your fish safe by always using testing your water with specialized kits.