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The largest factor in successful fish keeping is managing ammonia. To manage it, you'll typically need to know where you're at with it. Most of you don't need to worry about pH, Nitrite, or Nitrate. If you know where you're at with ammonia, you'll be all right.
First - what is ammonia? Ammonia, most commonly comes from fish waste and uneaten fish food. It's bad news in an aquarium. Ammonia will damage fish gills and deprive your fish of oxygen. Without getting real picky, you want zero ammonia in your tank.
There are several test kits commercially available. Most of them are under $20, easy to use, and accurate enough to let you know when there is a problem. If your test kit is more than a year old, time to start thinking about a new one. I recommend the Ammonia Alert. It stays in your tank so you can instantly see if your ammonia is creeping up. The Ammonia Alert will last a year inside your tank.
What to do about ammonia? Water changes. You should never change more that 50% of your water though. You can change it for multiple days in a row if you're really having a bad experience. There are also products to jumpstart your biological filter and products that will quell your ammonia siege to help you gain a foothold on it. Either way, come by and talk with us about your problem so we can help you design a solution.
What about those other test kits? Nitrite, nitrate, pH, phosphate, silcate, KH, etc. are all important at very small points of your hobby. Nitrite and nitrate are really not a huge issue if you manage your ammonia and do regular water changes. pH is not worth worrying about - it's high, it's hard to bring down. The other stuff is important to a smaller number of people - chances are its not you. Do I want to sell you some other test kit - yes. If you need them, please by them from me. However, I don't want to end my day by selling you something you don't need. Don't let your opinion be bought and sold by some wacko internet blogger - ask why. We're here to help you with that.
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