Whatever Water you Decide to Fill your Aquarium with, Test it First!

You see, water quality is the number one deciding factor in whether your fish live or die.

While you cannot see it, your water actually contains many different salts and elements dissolved in it.

Some of these are good. Others are dangerous and can kill your fish.

Fish can adapt to less-than-ideal water conditions. However, it does negatively impact their health and happiness. For example, your fish may not live as long or refuse to breed.

Part of your job as a fish keeper is to monitor these levels in your water and make adjustments as necessary.

Unfortunately, you won’t know what’s in your water until you test it.

Don’t worry! Testing is quick and inexpensive. You can do it yourself with an aquarium test kit. I recommend grabbing an API Master test kit. It contains almost everything you need to perform these tests.

What should you test for? Well, start with these four…

1. Ammonia – Ideal level: 0

2. Nitrite – Ideal level: 0

3. Nitrate – 10 ppm or less

4. Phosphate – 0.05 ppm or less

Now, there are three others you should test. However, the ideal levels of these vary according to what you keep in your tank.

1. pH

2. KH

3. GH

Don’t stress if you test your water and find that the levels are not ideal. Many products are available to improve the water quality. For example, you can use Purigen to remove ammonia or an alkalinity buffer to increase KH.

All water sources require some preparation on your part to make it safe for your fish.

The results of your tests will guide you on how to make your water safe or whether you should choose a different water source altogether!