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Is there any free and cheap DIY ways to test our tank pH, Kh and gH2007-11-24 23:37:36

By the way, the test strips I am talking about tested ph, alkilinity and hardness. I think they were about $8 a few years ago. I had to give up on fish when I went into truck driving. I couldn't really take care of them and didn't trust anyone with the tank. Fish are too expensive to just trust other people. So, I sold it all to a friend.

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If you live near any PetCo or PetSmart store, they will both check all levels from a sample of your tank water. I just take a small glass, fill it less than 1/2 full, place some kind of plastic wrap over the top to seal the water in and go to my closest PetCo store. They will test it every 3 days or so without giving you a "look" for coming in too often. If you want to test it everyday, do as stated above, but just rotate the stores you go to. There are so many PetCo and PetSmart stores around, it has never been a problem for me. As other people have mentioned, the larger the tank , the better - you will have fewer problems with the chemistry changing if you have at least a 30 to 50 gallon tank. Fresh plants and a good filter system are required to keep things in balance. Be careful, do NOT over run your tank with fish. The rule of thumb is two gallons of water per inch of fish ..(read: per inch , NOT per fish) . I currently have a 28 gallon tank and I have only 10 small freshwater fish in it . No more than that.

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Why do you want to test Kh and gH? The only things you need to be concerned about are ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. I have 22 tanks up and running right now and haven't tested for anything in about 6 months. There is no need, I do my water changes regularly.