Fish are usually seen as easy or dull pets, but they are absolutely the opposite. Taking good care of pet fish is a hobby many across the globe enjoy. While some people have extravagant, wild aquariums full of small and large fish alike, most people have a 20-50 gallon tank to enjoy and take care of themselves. One of, if not the, most important part of caring for your swimming friends is taking excellent care of the water. Without the right pH balance or temperature, your fish are vulnerable to many elements that might kill them. Finding the best fish tank test kits in 2021 is as important as finding the right aquarium. We’ve compiled a list below to help you easily select exactly what you need. These at-home test kits offer a variety of ways to measure your water with ease, so keep reading to ensure your fish are there for you like you are for them!
Pet Type: Fish
Dimensions: 31.81 x 6.05 x 13.02 cm, 68 grams
Contents: One testing solution, glass test tube, and color card
This Aquarium freshwater pH test kit from API comes with a color card, a bottle of testing solution, and a glass test tube. It has just the right tools to get your aquarium water tested for the safety of your aquatic pets.
With this kit, you can effectively keep track of the pH of your aquarium water and adjust it to keep your fishes in optimal health. You can maintain surveilance on your fishes weekly or deploy the test kit when you notice a problem. It reads pH levels flawlessly between 6.0 -7.0, but more importantly, it can adjust to the temperature of any given geographic to measure the right pH. The API measures the changes in pH levels that are caused by different factors inside the aquarium so you can keep your fishes safe.
Number of Strips: 25
Allergen Info: Allergen-free
Dimensions: 3.8 x 12 x 12 cm, 35 grams
Pet Type: Fishes and Aquatic Lives
The Tetra 6-in-1 aquarium test kit is quite the monster pack bearing 25 strips. You can test the 6 most vital parameters of a healthy freshwater aquarium under 60 seconds with it.
Loaded with 25 strips, the Tetra aquarium freshwater test kit promises reliable and accurate results in just a minute. But that’s only a side to it. This superb test kit can test the six most essential qualities of a safe water for your aquatic darlings which includes; pH, Chlorine, Nitrite, Nitrate, general & carbonate hardness. And the process is not even tasking because you can test all six parameters in just one step. And to even make things seamless, the test kit can work with a smartphone app that helps you to derive the water values faster. You can now protect your fishes and aquatic pets from every element lurking in the waters that could be harmful to their health.
Number of Strips: 125
Usage: Versatile (All Aquatic Habitats)
The BOSIKE aquarium test kit comes loaded with 125 strips for testing 6 different essential water parameters for a safe aquarium. Its results are precise and gotten under 90 seconds.
In this test kit, each strip paper is created from high-grade fiber to avoid any case of bleeding and to guarantee accurate results. These test strips are well preserved in a carefully sealed bottle to extend their shelf life. With this test kit from BOSIKE, you can test all six most important factors that determines how safe the water in an aquarium is. From nitrate, to nitrite, and from Chlorine, to water hardness and pH, there’s no going wrong with this kit. The test kit is versatile and can be used for other aquatic habitats if you want.
Number of Test Strips: 24
Pet Type/ Usage: Fishes in Aquariums and Ponds
Notable Feature: Smartphone app result display and reccommendation
The JBL ProScan, Recharge and Refill Test Kit Uses a Smartphone app for its analysis. It’s designed for freshwater fish tanks and can test for all essential six parameters.
This test kit has a free app (ProScan) which can be downloaded on the Apple and Google playstore for free and the app is used to scan the test for precise results. It toes the path of digital water analysis where results are precise, accurate and are displayed on a smartphone. The great part is that, it can test for all six essential parameters of a safe aquarium for your beloved pets with clear results that also indicate if it’s good, medium, or poor. It’s compatible with Android 4.0 versions and above, and from iOS 5.0 upwards. The analysis is faster, ticks all the checklist for a safe water habitat and delivers results in numbers. Each pack is loaded with 24 analysis strips.
Number of Strips: 50
Pet Type/Usage: Fishes, for Ponds and Aquariums
Color: Blue
The King British 6-in-1 aquarium test strips is a water analysis kit used to check the safety of your aquatic pets in their habitats. Loaded with 50 strips, 25 are for ammonia and 25 for the rest.
Keep the water in your aquarium healthy with a routine weekly test using this kit from King British. For all essential six parameters including ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, carbonate/general hardness, chlorine, and pH, this test kit has got you covered. It has a special focus on ammonia so you don’t fret when using disinfectants on the water since they can react with ammonia and possibly endanger the lives of your pet. It’s very easy to use, can be used on warm and cold water aquarium, and on freshwater ponds/aquariums. Results are fast, accurate and reliable to keep your aquarium and its inhabitants safe at all times.
Keeping a healthy and balanced environment for fish is very important for their growth and wellbeing. The only way to maintain this sort of environment for your fish is by regularly testing the water in your fish tanks. This means that carrying out tests on your fish tank is directly linked to keeping healthy fish. To ensure that your fish flourish, you have to make certain that your fish tanks remain at a level similar to their natural habitat. Anything below that quality can lead to fish illness, and if not properly monitored, death.
The most popular parameters used to gauge the quality of the water in your fish tank are Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate concentrations, and pH levels. These parameters are not detectable by the naked eye and are also prone to constant fluctuations, so the only way to guarantee that they are always within the desired range is to carry out weekly fish tank tests. To do that well, you need to get a reliable fish tank test kit.
There are several important details for you to consider when trying to choose a fish tank test kit, and in this buying guide we cover every single one of them.
There are so many things that can cause the water in your fish tank to have problems. It can be due to an accumulation of fish waste and uneaten food, or it could be due to a build-up of organic matter. It can even be that you added untreated water to your tank. Whatever the reason is, once your fish tank becomes less than ideal, serious danger could be posed to your fish. And what’s more? There’s no way to differentiate between water that is less than ideal and water that isn’t using just your eyes.
This is where fish tank test kits come in. These kits help you maintain an optimal level to your fish tank and alert you whenever there is an imbalance in your fish tank. Fatal changes to the water in your fish tank usually happen gradually, and consistent use of test kits helps you get right on top of these changes.
Fish tank test kits are categorized by what they test for. Some popular types include:
A master test kit is simply a combination of multiple individual test kits. They are ideal for beginners because they can test for several water parameters.
Ammonia test kits are up there with the most necessary individual test kits. Ammonia within your fish tank could be of two forms; the ionized form (also known as ammonium), and the non-ionized form. Some ammonia test kits test for both the total ammonia level and the level of non-ionized ammonia, while others test only for the level of total ammonia.
Nitrite test kits are super important for new fish tanks and should be used weekly in the early stages. For fish tanks that are already established, it is recommended that nitrite tests are carried out every month or whenever a fish gets sick.
High levels of Nitrate in fish tanks can lead to fish stress, which in turn leaves them more vulnerable to diseases. For this reason, it is important to use nitrate test kits regularly.
These kits are used to measure the concentrations of dissolved minerals in your fish tank. The GH and KH parameters are particularly important because they determine the species of fish which can flourish in fish tanks.
Changes in pH levels, whether gradual or sudden, are typically harmful to the health of your fish. As such, consistent pH tests are essential if you want to maintain optimal levels in your fish tanks.
Before going to buy your test kits, you need to determine the level of accuracy that you are looking for. If the fish in your tanks are a species that are sensitive to slight changes, then you must go for test kits that offer high accuracy levels. But with species that can adapt to subtle shifts in the water chemistry, you can settle for tests with lower accuracy levels.
The thing with accuracy is that the more detailed and on-point the test kit’s results are, the more expensive they come.
Depending on how regularly you want to run tests on your tanks, you might need to consider how many tests you can perform with a particular kit before the materials run out. Larger kits can last for many months and carry out several tests.
Some test kits are much more easily figured out than others. Dip strips, for example, offer you a level of convenience that you might not get with more complicated tests. You need to decide whether you are going for the straightforward test kits which can be used in less than a minute, or the ones that require a lot more processes.
Considering that you will be carrying out tests pretty regularly, you need to consider the price range of test kits you are getting. Target the ones that match your spending power so that you wouldn’t get overwhelmed with the costs of refilling or replacing the components of the kits.
Cheap fish tank test kits can be bought anywhere within the $8-$15 range. For this price, you can get kits that test for only a single parameter.
Test kits that fall within this category will cost between $15 and $20. They are also mostly single parameter kits, but they usually can carry out a lot more tests.
The most expensive fish tank test kits will cost you between $20 and $40. These are typically the master test kits that can test for different water parameters for your fish tank.
A: Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kits work for saltwater and freshwater tanks, but the color cards used to compare the test results may vary.
A: That depends on what you are going for. Test strips are much more convenient and easier to use, but liquid tests offer you more in-depth test results.
