General Water Chemistry

[bflem]

Hello,
I have recently gotten back into aquariums. I have a decent knowledge of biology and have had many tanks in the past but I am now to the point where I would like to be perfect (or close to it) with my water chemistry.

In the past I always used Stress Coat after water changes. I also used test strips to measure nitrate, nitrite, pH etc...

What product would you recommend using after water changes and what should I use to test water chemistry? I would be willing to buy an electronic meter if one is available. I test my water often and the strips can be somewhat expensive.

 

[Fishanatic]

Hello,
I have recently gotten back into aquariums. I have a decent knowledge of biology and have had many tanks in the past but I am now to the point where I would like to be perfect (or close to it) with my water chemistry.

In the past I always used Stress Coat after water changes. I also used test strips to measure nitrate, nitrite, pH etc...

What product would you recommend using after water changes and what should I use to test water chemistry? I would be willing to buy an electronic meter if one is available. I test my water often and the strips can be somewhat expensive.

Liquid Testing is better. Goes at around 30-100$ for the master kit. Should be cheap on ebay. Also, you can use some ammonia detox, and nitrite/nitrate detox, but I would only recommend stress coat or some other tap water conditioner. An electronic meter is good, but isn't cheap.

 

[Earlybird]

What product would you recommend using after water
changes and what should I use to test water chemistry?

Seachem prime for the water changes and and an API master test kit.

 

[aqua_chem]

An API FW Master kit should only cost about $20 on Amazon.

"Perfect Chemistry" isn't really necessary really. Most fish can adapt to most circumstances. If you were wanting to breed or keep demanding species, then you can look at tweaking your chemistry. Otherwise, the test kits mostly serve to detect unhealthy conditions, ie too low pH, presence of nitrogenous waste (or excess thereof).

 

[phin]

You asked about the possibility of an electronic monitor. There are products known as pinpoint monitors. You can see them for sale here Aquarium Controllers & Monitors for Salinity, Lux, pH, Calcuim, O2, ORP, Phosphate & Nitrate