Disclaimer

1. For information only

Everything on AquaCalc — calculators, guides, articles, recommendations, and any lookups, forecasts, reminders or AI-generated answers — is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not professional veterinary, biological, or scientific advice.

We put a great deal of care into the accuracy of our tools and the science behind our articles. Where possible, we reference peer-reviewed research and established aquarium chemistry. However, no calculator or article can account for every variable in every aquarium, and the hobby involves living systems that do not always behave predictably.

2. Accuracy and limitations

Our calculators use accepted formulas and real-world constants, but results are estimates, not guarantees. Factors that can affect accuracy include:

• Test kit variance — hobbyist test kits (drop and strip) have a margin of error. A calculated target of pH 6.8 does not mean your test kit will read exactly 6.8.
• Equipment differences — CO₂ diffuser efficiency, filter flow rates, and heater accuracy all vary by brand and age.
• Water source variation — tap water KH, GH, and pH vary by region and season. Our tools use the values you enter; if those values are inaccurate, the results will be too.
• Active substrates — products like ADA Amazonia and Oase Aqua Soil alter water chemistry independently. The standard CO₂/KH/pH formula may not apply when active substrate is present.
• Livestock sensitivity — individual fish, plants, and invertebrates vary in their tolerance. Species care guides describe typical ranges, not guaranteed safe limits for every specimen.
• Third-party species data — range, taxonomy and reference parameters in the fish and plant lookups are drawn from external sources including GBIF and FishBase. We present that data as supplied and do not control its accuracy or how current it is.
• Weather forecasts — the aquarium heat forecast is built on third-party forecast data. Forecasts are predictions, not facts, and become less reliable further ahead. Do not rely on one alone to protect livestock during a heatwave.
• Equipment suggestions — the tank kit builder produces a starting checklist sized from what you tell it. It is not a purchasing recommendation, and we have no commercial relationship influencing what it suggests.
• Reminders — maintenance reminder emails are a convenience, not a guarantee. Email can be delayed, filtered or fail to arrive, so do not depend on a reminder as your only prompt for essential tank care.

AI-generated content

Two features on AquaCalc use an AI model, and both can be wrong:

• Ask AquaCalc writes its answers from our own published guides and links the sources it used. It does not browse the web. Even so, it can misread or over-simplify what it retrieved — treat its answer as a pointer to the linked guide, not as a substitute for reading it.
• The Water Report Analyser uses a vision model to transcribe figures from the report you upload. It can misread a number, a unit or a decimal point, particularly on a low-quality scan or photograph. Always check the extracted figures against your own copy of the report before acting on them — a misread hardness or nitrate value will carry straight through into any dosing or water-change advice you base on it. The tool flags values that look implausible, but that check cannot catch every error.

3. Always verify with your own testing

Never rely solely on a calculated result when making changes that could affect your livestock. Always:

• Test your water with a reliable test kit before and after making changes
• Make changes gradually — particularly with CO₂, pH, hardness, and salinity
• Watch your fish and plants for signs of stress when adjusting parameters
• Allow time for new changes to stabilise before testing and adjusting further

This is especially important for CO₂ injection, RO water mixing, and any dosing or remineralisation changes — all areas where a miscalculation or equipment fault can affect livestock quickly.

4. Articles and guides

Our articles aim to explain the science behind aquarium keeping accurately and accessibly. Where we cite research, we reference it as faithfully as we can. However:

• The aquarium hobby evolves — best practice changes over time, and some articles may not reflect the most recent research
• Scientific consensus on some topics (e.g. ideal CO₂ levels, planted tank lighting) is not universal — our articles represent a well-reasoned position, not the only valid one
• Articles written for a general audience simplify complex chemistry. Specialists may find some nuance missing by design

5. No liability for livestock or equipment

AquaCalc and SaneChoice accept no responsibility or liability for any loss, harm, or damage arising from the use of our tools, calculators, or articles — including but not limited to:

• Fish, plant, invertebrate, or coral loss
• Equipment damage or failure
• Water quality problems in your aquarium
• Financial loss of any kind

By using AquaCalc you accept that you are responsible for your own aquarium, your own decisions, and the welfare of your livestock.

6. External links and the shops map

Some articles link to external websites for further reading or product examples. These links are provided for convenience — we do not endorse, control, or take responsibility for the content of any external site. Linked content may change or become inaccurate after the time of writing.

The UK shops map is a community-maintained directory. Listings are recommendations shared by hobbyists (originally gathered by the UK Aquatic Plant Society), not endorsements by AquaCalc, and we do not verify, control or take responsibility for any listed business, its stock, pricing, opening hours or continued existence. Details change and shops close — always confirm directly with a shop before travelling or making a purchase. We moderate submissions but cannot guarantee any listing is accurate or current.

The UK plant price comparison, and the price summary shown on a plant profile, both report prices and stock read automatically from retailers' own websites. Please read them for what they are: a snapshot taken on a schedule, not a live feed and not a quote. Prices change, stock sells out, listings are withdrawn, and our matching of a shop's product to a species — and to a particular format, such as a tissue-culture cup rather than a potted plant — can be imperfect. The date each shop was last read is shown on the comparison page. Always confirm on the retailer's own page before ordering.

We are not affiliated with any shop shown, receive no commission, affiliate income or payment of any kind, and no retailer can pay for placement, ranking or inclusion. Any purchase you make is a contract between you and that retailer alone. Outbound links carry a plain referral tag so the shop can see the visit came from AquaCalc — it identifies us as the referrer and carries nothing at all about you: no identifier, no session and no click ID.

The same page also compares substrate, rock and wood, read from the same shops in the same way, and the three are not equally comparable — the page says so where you use it and we repeat it here. Substrate is branded and sold in stated sizes, so a match is exact. Loose stone is compared by weight: that is a fair rate to compare, but it is not a promise that two shops’ dragon stone looks alike, and trade names such as “seiryu” are used loosely across the trade. Wood is not price-compared at all — every shop grades it into its own size bands and no two pieces are the same, so it is listed to show you who stocks what, not to rank it. We also mark rows where the only two shops quoting a price are Aquascaping Express and Pro Shrimp, which are one company operating two shopfronts, because two prices from one business is not an independent comparison.

It also compares filtration — filters, media and spares — from six shops. Five are the plant shops above that also sell filtration; the sixth, Charterhouse Aquatics, sells no plants and so appears on that tab only. Because Charterhouse is a general aquatics retailer with a large marine side, we read only the freshwater ranges it has itself scoped as such. Filters match more exactly than plants or stone, because a filter is a model number and the shops print it.

One thing on that tab does not come from a retailer. Where we have researched a model, the row shows its flow rate and rated tank size from our own file: the manufacturer’s figures, measured with no media in the filter and no head height, there to rank filters against each other rather than to predict what you will get in your tank. A smaller number of rows instead show a rating the shop itself states in its product title, and those are marked differently on the page, because that is the retailer’s claim rather than a figure we checked against the manufacturer. Where we have neither, we show nothing rather than an estimate.

The comparison tool does rank by price — that is what it is for — and it can sort by cheapest, highlight a lowest price and suggest which combination of shops would cost least. Those calculations are estimates based on the prices we last recorded plus delivery terms we maintain by hand, and they cover standard UK mainland delivery only. Delivery costs are checked periodically rather than read live, one retailer does not publish its rate at all, and surcharges for remote areas, next-day services and any minimum order are not included. Treat the totals as a guide to which option is worth pricing up properly, not as a final cost. Where we do not know a shop's postage we say so rather than assuming it is free.

7. Errors and updates

We take accuracy seriously and correct errors promptly when they are identified. If you believe something on AquaCalc is incorrect, misleading, or out of date, please let us know via the feedback form — we genuinely appreciate it.

Content on AquaCalc is updated periodically. The version of a page you are reading may not reflect the most recent changes — check the "Last updated" date on articles for guidance.

8. Changes to this disclaimer

We may update this disclaimer from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes. Continued use of AquaCalc after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated disclaimer.

9. Contact

If you have any questions about this disclaimer, please use the feedback form. We are a small team and respond to all genuine enquiries.