Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I always have these installed on all my tanks. The 1-2 star reviews all say that this product does not work; I disagree. I think there is a misunderstanding of what exactly this product monitors and its intended purpose. So I will try to clarify how it works to help your purchase decision. The breakdown... If there is any ammonia in an aquarium, there are two types of ammonia...FREE Ammonia (extremely toxic) and Ammonium. Ammonium converts into FREE Ammonia at specific pH levels and temperature. The Seachem Ammonia Alert only reads FREE ammonia, while most ammonia testing kits generally test for TOTAL Ammonia ie (Free Ammonia+Ammonium) This is where the misunderstanding is. Free Ammonia in your tank can and will harm your fish very quickly and where this product comes into play. People think this doesn't work because it is showing "safe" but their testing kits are showing positive levels of ammonium. Yes! there is a form of ammonia in your tank, but not in the form of Free Ammonia...so your fish are "safe" at the moment, but close monitoring and intervention are required to keep them safe as they are not "out of the woods." The purpose of this product is to serve as a quick reference guide at that particular moment in time, NOT to replace TOTAL ammonia testing kits. Who should REALLY use these? People who have just set up a brand new tank that will undergo a nitrogen cycle or have an immature cycled tank. This will help you keep a close eye on the free ammonia present at any given moment and let you know when you need to immediately dose your tank with a conditioner like Seachem Prime to bind and neutralize the free ammonia, followed up with a substantial water change to reduce the total ammonia present. This will save you from a "new tank syndrome" disaster...where people are puzzled why their brand new tank of fully stocked fish suddenly went belly up; (free) ammonia poisoning because there is not enough "good" bacteria present yet in the tank to neutralize & clean up the waste. In a cycled tank, this (should) always read "safe" and regular testing of all your parameters with a standard testing kit is ideal. I continue to use them however, just in case an episode of "good times go bad" happen, like a biofilter crash or prolonged power outage. Hope this review helps someone out!