Why You Should Use a Test Kit in Your Aquarium

     There is no doubt that aquariums help beautify your house since they contain colorful fish and other organisms that add a nice calming touch of class. In order to successfully beautify your house and enjoy fish keeping to the maximum it is important to take good care of your aquarium. This article is going to elaborate on how test kits can help you and why you should use a test kit in your aquarium.

Test kits are designed to help you determine if there is something wrong in your aquarium and help you keep problems at bay. Test kits provide results for PH levels, ammonia levels, nitrite levels and nitrate levels. Keeping track of these three levels are important because if any of the levels for the parameters go beyond the normal level then your fish can be in danger.

In a freshwater aquarium fish produce wastes that are basically ammonia and these wastes are excreted in the form of poop through the fish gills. Ammonia is extremely poisonous to all living organisms inside the aquarium. It can cause a great deal of harm to your fish and other marine life. Ammonia is broken down in the aquarium by helpful bacteria into a less toxic form known as nitrites, which are then further broken down into the least toxic form that is known as nitrates. This whole cycle of breaking down ammonia to finally nitrates is known as cycling of an aquarium and ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kits help determining if the cycle is going smoothly or extra measures need to be taken to speed up the cycle.

The PH of water is extremely important in determining the health of your fish since a slight change in PH can prove to be detrimental to the health of your fish. The PH of water ranges from 0 to 14 with 0 PH being completely acidic and 14 being completely alkaline. A PH of 7 in an aquarium is considered to be neutral and depending on your fish you will need to adjust the PH accordingly. Certain freshwater fish like tetras like acidic PH while many cichlids prefer alkaline PH and in order to know if you are adjusting the PH accordingly test kits are very important. Lime rock and sea shells are often used to make the PH alkaline while driftwood and peat is used to make the PH acidic and it is important to check the PH regularly if you are buffering or altering the PH of the water. The PH of the water can also affect the ammonia levels in the tank and it is important to use ammonia test kits if you are adjusting the water抯 PH.