Problem family
Aquatics
Green water, cloudy water, algae on the glass, and fish gasping at the surface: nearly all of it is water chemistry wearing a costume. Test first where the guides say test first.
An aquarium is a small body of water you are responsible for, and nearly every visible problem in one announces itself through the water first: green water is algae feeding on light and nutrients, white cloudiness is bacteria blooming, and fish gasping at the surface is chemistry, not mood. This family starts where the hobby's own first rule starts: test the water before you touch anything else.
Every guide here runs the same order: read the numbers, fix the free cause first (light, feeding, stocking, time), then the tool or treatment that earns its place, with its limits printed beside it. The test kit page is the family's front door for a reason: it sends each symptom to the page that matches it.
Every problem in this family
- I Don't Know My Aquarium Water NumbersFix: API Freshwater Master Test Kit
- Aquarium Water Changes Without Hauling BucketsFix: Python No Spill Clean & Fill System (25-ft)
- Green Water in the AquariumFix: AA Aquarium Green Killing Machine Internal UV System
- Algae All Over the Aquarium GlassFix: Aqueon Algae Cleaning Magnet
- Cloudy Fish Tank Water: Which Cloud Is It?Fix: API Accu-Clear
- The Aquarium Heater Stuck On and Cooked the TankFix: Inkbird ITC-306A Wi-Fi temperature controller
What this family does not cover
What this family leaves out: fish disease diagnosis and medication (a sick fish needs a quarantine tank and a keeper who can see it, not a product page), saltwater reef chemistry, and pond-scale problems. Sick fish, like sick pets, start with a specialist.
How we check a product before we name it: our editorial standards.
The Fix JournalAquatics