Category
Test kits, water conditioners, gravel vacuums, cycling, RO water and feeders.
The API Freshwater Master Test Kit is still the kit to beat for freshwater tanks. Here is what each of its five tests measures, how to run them correctly, and its limits.
For tanks of 20 gallons and up, the Python No Spill Clean and Fill ends bucket carrying. For smaller tanks, Aqueon's bulb siphon is all you need. Here are both and an electric option.
Seachem Prime is the water conditioner we would buy: 5 mL treats 50 gallons, it handles chloramine, and Seachem states exactly what its ammonia binding does and does not do.
API's Freshwater Master Test Kit is the one we would buy: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and two pH ranges, over 800 tests. Here is when strips are enough and what reef tanks need.
Fish Mate's F14 holds 14 separate portions, so it cannot dump a week of food at once. Here are EHEIM's, a rechargeable LCD feeder and a budget timer for daily use.
Cycling grows the bacteria that turn fish waste into nitrate. Here is the fishless method, the fish-in method, what to test every other day, and the reading that says the tank is ready.
Reef tanks and soft-water fish need RO/DI water; most community tanks do fine on conditioned tap water. Here is what RO removes, what it wastes, and the units we would buy.
