What is the best practice for aquarium water testing?

A goldfish in a fish tank
Published: 24 July 2024

Following best practice for aquarium water testing is the ideal way to ensure your tank is safe, habitable and healthy for your fish, invertebrates and plant life. At Hanna, we specialise in aquarium testing for a wide range of essential marine and freshwater parameters, offering solutions that are reliable and easy-to-use to help you keep up-to-date with testing.

Read on to learn more about best practice for testing your aquarium water:

What is aquarium best practice?

Aquarium best practice is a series of rules or steps you can follow to appropriately care for your aquarium. The best practice for a fish tank will differ depending on how complex your aquarium is. A reef tank with numerous corals and multiple fish species may require more steps than a simpler freshwater aquarium with artificial plants, for example.

Some of the factors that make up aquarium best practice include:

  • The regularity of testing: testing often is key to identify changes in water chemistry as quickly as possible
  • The consistency of testing: a testing routine as part of aquarium care prevents lapses in fish tank management
  • Which parameters you test: the type of aquarium and the plant and fish life you choose will affect which parameters you should test
  • Your method of testing: an accurate digital tester that provides clear results is an ideal way to achieve best practice

a single fish within an aquarium

How to achieve best practice for fish tank testing

Some of the practical ways you can achieve best practice for testing water in aquariums include:

Testing your water often

Testing the water in your fish tank often provides the insight you need to make changes should your parameters increase or decrease beyond acceptable ranges. For example, a higher level of ammonia in your fish tank can indicate problems with filtering. By measuring water in your aquarium each day you can quickly resolve this issue, preventing toxicity and providing your fish with a healthy environment.

Creating a schedule for aquarium care

Water changes, cleaning and general maintenance are all a part of day-to-day fish care. Incorporating testing at the beginning and end of these processes can help you achieve best practice. For example, water changes may lead to changes in marine magnesium levels in reef aquariums, a key parameter in coral development. Monitoring this parameter before and after changes can ensure your corals continue to have the resources they need.

Ensuring you test all necessary parameters

The type of tank you have will influence the parameters you need to test. For example, a marine tank may require a saltwater tester for alkalinity and magnesium, while a freshwater tank will require a solution that works specifically for water without salt. See our guides to freshwater and marine parameters to learn more.

Utilising an electronic tester for measuring aquarium water

A digital tester is a reliable, accurate option for measuring all key fish tank water parameters. Hanna Checkers are specifically developed to meet the requirements of the aquarium market. As a replacement for chemical testing kits and test strips, Checkers provide clarity over testing results with a digital readout on a screen, without the guesswork and personal perception necessary to measure results manually. 

The majority of Checkers allow you to test the water in your fish tank in four simple steps, including the popular HI-715 Medium Range Ammonia Checker. More complex parameter Checkers such as the HI-782 Marine Magnesium Checker replaces chemical testing processes to provide accurate digital results.

Buy Checkers from Hanna Instruments UK

We stock a full range of digital Checkers and reagents for aquarium water, available on next-day delivery. Browse the Checker range online now, including dKH alkalinity digital testers and phosphate electronic testers, to achieve best practice for fish tank care with accurate measurement. 

 

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