Reading a water test without panicking
2 August 2026 · 8 min Header photo — liquid test kit vials
A liquid test kit is a set of three numbers, not a diagnosis. Ammonia and nitrite should be zero in a running tank. If either is not zero, stop feeding, change water, and do not add fish.
Nitrate is the leftover. Under 20 ppm is a comfortable freshwater target. Higher means you are overfeeding or under-changing, not that the tank is about to crash today.
Read the bottle. Match the colour in daylight. Write the numbers down. The panic comes from guessing; the action comes from a number you can check tomorrow.