AquaLens App Handbook

Everything you need to set up, understand, and get the most out of AquaLens — from first launch through expert-level tank management.

Welcome to AquaLens

AquaLens is your AI-powered aquarium command centre. It brings together species identification, equipment analysis, stocking intelligence, water chemistry tracking, light schedule management, growth monitoring, health diagnosis, and predictive maintenance in one place.

The app works for both freshwater and saltwater tanks — and it adapts to your setup. Freshwater and saltwater have different hardware, different chemistry, different labs, and different visual mapping tools. This guide covers both and tells you which sections apply to each.

Two ways to use this guide:

• Setting up for the first time? Follow Part 1 in order. It walks you through every step from first launch to a fully configured tank.
• Already have a tank and exploring features? Jump to Part 2 for any feature you want to understand.

Core principle: The more complete your data, the smarter every analysis. Tank specs, hardware, residents, logs, and photos all feed the AI — the value compounds every week you use it.

Part 1: Setup Journey

Follow these steps in order the first time you use AquaLens. Each step builds on the last.

Step 1 — Get Your Bearings

AquaLens has five main tabs at the bottom of the screen:

• Home — Your tank dashboard: care task reminders, journal shortcuts, predictive alerts, and your Tank Pulse widget.
• Library — Browse 280+ species with full care guides, compatibility info, and reference images.
• Camera (the AquaLens logo, centre) — Point it at anything in your tank to identify it.
• Hub — Community: shared tanks, posts, and direct messaging with other keepers.
• My Tank — Your aquarium headquarters. This is where you'll spend most of your time.

You can manage multiple tanks in AquaLens. Each gets its own complete set of views, data, and AI analysis — useful when you're running a display tank and a quarantine or breeding setup alongside it.

Part 2: Feature Reference

Use this section to go deep on any feature. Each section stands alone — jump to what you need.

The My Tank Tab — Your Aquarium Headquarters

My Tank has up to nine views organised into two rows. Saltwater tanks skip the freshwater-only Breeding view.

Primary tabs (always visible):

• Journal — Your full logbook: tests, changes, feeding, dosing, observations, and auto-logged events
• Care — All hardware specs, light schedules, and maintenance tasks
• Residents — Stock list, wishlist, compatibility tools
• Gallery — Chronological photo timeline of your tank

Secondary tabs (tap the ··· button):

• Lab — All AI analysis tools: hardware, chemistry, growth, costs
• Analytics — Parameter trend charts and stability scoring
• Health — Fish and coral diagnosis, treatment tracking, quarantine logs
• Breeding — Spawn and fry tracking for freshwater tanks
• Reef Map / Plant Map — 3D coral placement for saltwater tanks or planted layout for freshwater tanks

Setting Up Your Tank — The Details

Tank Settings

Go to My Tank → Settings (gear icon) and fill in:

• Tank name — Give it something descriptive: "Living Room 180L" or "Reef Desk"
• Water type — Freshwater, saltwater, or brackish. This is the single most important setting — it determines which hardware types, labs, chemistry parameters, and mapping tools you see.
• Tank volume — In gallons or litres
• Tank depth — Used for PAR lighting calculations
• Temperature target — Your species' ideal temperature range
• Room temperature — Used for heater wattage calculations
• Sump volume (saltwater) — Add this for accurate total system volume and turnover calculations

Set water type before adding any hardware. The app builds your entire hardware and lab experience around it.

Hardware — Freshwater

Go to My Tank → Care and add each piece of equipment. Enter make and model wherever possible — the AI recognises specific product profiles.

Filter

Enter make and model (e.g. "Fluval 307", "Oase BioMaster 350"). The Filtration Lab calculates real-world GPH accounting for head pressure and media load, turnover rate, and biological capacity against your actual bioload.

Light

Enter make, model, and length (e.g. "Week Aqua R90 Pro", "Fluval Plant 3.0 36 inch"). The Lighting Lab calculates PAR at surface, mid-water, and substrate depths — and becomes significantly more accurate when you also set up a light schedule (see below).

Heater

Enter make, model, and wattage (e.g. "Eheim Jager 150W"). The Heater Lab calculates whether your wattage is sufficient for your room-to-tank temperature differential.

Wavemaker (if you run one)

Enter make, model, and flow rate. The app uses this to assess circulation coverage, dead spot risk, and flow compatibility with your residents.

You can add multiple units of any type — the Labs combine them. Two filters? Add both. Two heaters? Add both.

Hardware — Saltwater

Saltwater tanks run more hardware. Add every piece — each has its own Lab analysis.

• Filter / Sump — Total system volume and mechanical filtration capacity
• Protein Skimmer — Nutrient export capacity vs bioload; flags undersizing
• Return Pump — Actual sump turnover accounting for head pressure and plumbing
• Wavemaker / Powerhead — Total circulation, dead zone risk, suitability by coral type
• ATO (Auto Top-Off) — Salinity drift risk, evaporation rate, reservoir adequacy
• Heater — Wattage adequacy and redundancy
• Light — PAR by depth, spectrum, reef zone coverage
• Reactor — Media capacity, phosphate reduction, change intervals
• UV Steriliser — Contact time effectiveness, bulb lifespan tracking

Enter make and model wherever possible. For each piece, the Lab will analyse real-world performance — not the manufacturer's marketing spec.

Light Schedules

AquaLens models your daily lighting programme — not just the fixture, but exactly when it ramps up, peaks, and dims. This powers schedule-aware PAR analysis in the Lighting Lab.

Building a Schedule

1. Go to My Tank → Care → [your light] → Light Schedule
2. Tap Add Time Point
3. Set the time (e.g. 08:00) and each channel's intensity (e.g. White 60%, Blue 40%)
4. Choose the ramp to the next point: Linear (smooth fade) or Instant (hard cut)
5. Add as many points as your programme needs: sunrise ramp, peak, afternoon fade, sunset, moonlight

Manual Entry First

Screenshot scan is still being validated, so most users should enter the schedule manually. The important part is capturing the real time points, channel intensities, and ramp style from your light's app.

AI Schedule Review

Once a schedule is set, tap AI Review to get:

• Photoperiod length assessment vs your plant or coral load
• Peak intensity recommendations for your depth and species
• Algae risk warnings (excess intensity relative to CO2 or nutrients)
• Ramp timing suggestions to minimise stress

The Nitrogen Cycle Tracker (new tanks)

If your tank is new, AquaLens shows a Nitrogen Cycle tracker on your tank home screen.

It tracks you through three phases:

1. Ammonia spike — Nitrosomonas bacteria are colonising your filter media
2. Nitrite spike — Nitrospira bacteria are catching up
3. Cycle complete — Ammonia and nitrite both read zero; nitrate is detectable

Log your test results in the Journal every day. The tracker projects your completion date based on your actual bacterial conversion rate — not a generic estimate.

Alongside the tracker, AquaLens runs an AI Cycle Checkup automatically whenever something significant happens: a phase transition, a stall, unusually fast progress, or a livestock safety concern. You can also trigger it manually at any time from the tracker widget.

The checkup returns a structured analysis: where the cycle has been, where it currently is, where it's heading, up to four specific next actions, things to watch for, and a retest window. Confidence is rated high/medium/low based on how much logged test data it has to work from — another reason to log every day.

Fishless cycling with AquaLens:

• Day 1: Dose ammonia to 2–4 ppm. Log it.
• Daily: Test and log. Top up ammonia if it drops below 2 ppm.
• When nitrite appears: keep dosing, watch both readings.
• When ammonia and nitrite both crash to zero: run the 24-hour stress test — dose to 2 ppm, wait exactly 24 hours, test again. Both must read zero to pass.
• Pass: do a large water change to clear accumulated nitrate, then add livestock slowly.

Do not add livestock until the cycle tracker shows complete. This is the most important rule in the hobby.

The Journal — In Depth

The Journal is your evidence trail. Every parameter reading, every maintenance action, every observation creates the dataset your AI analyses are built from.

What gets auto-logged

• Resident additions and removals
• Care task completions (water changes, filter rinses, dosing)
• Transfers in and out of your tank

What you log manually

Water tests — the most important log entries:

• Freshwater: pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, GH, KH, temperature
• Saltwater adds: salinity / specific gravity, calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, phosphate

Maintenance:

• Water changes — volume, additives used (dechlorinator, salt, buffers)
• Equipment maintenance — filter media rinse, skimmer cup empty, reactor media check
• Dosing — fertiliser or supplement, dose, target parameter

Observations:

• Feeding response, behaviour changes, spawning activity
• Signs of illness or stress
• Coral colouration and polyp extension
• Anything that looked different that day

Water Story

After logging a water test, tap Water Story. Instead of reading individual numbers, you get a narrative interpretation of your full parameter panel: what the pattern means, what likely caused it, and what to do about it. It reads all parameters together as a system — not in isolation.

A pH reading of 6.8 means nothing without KH context. Water Story reads them as a pair.

Care Tasks and Custom Reminders

AquaLens tracks your maintenance schedule automatically and surfaces tasks as they come due.

Built-in tasks (auto-configured from your hardware and stocking data):

• Water change — interval based on tank volume, bioload, and your logged cadence
• Filter rinse — based on filter type and maintenance history
• Dosing — triggered by your Nutrient Lab presets and schedule
• Skimmer cup emptying (saltwater)
• UV bulb replacement (saltwater, tracked by hours of use)
• ICP test reminder (saltwater, Pro)

Creating custom reminders:

1. Go to My Tank → Care → Custom Reminders
2. Tap Add Reminder
3. Set the task name, interval in days, and optional push notification time

Good candidates for custom reminders:

• "Check CO2 cylinder pressure" — every 14 days
• "Top off kalkwasser reservoir" — every 3 days
• "Clean wavemaker impeller" — every 30 days
• "Check reactor effluent pH" — every 7 days
• "ICP test" — every 30–90 days

Completing any reminder — built-in or custom — logs it to your journal automatically.

AI Compatibility Check

The AI analyses your complete ecosystem for:

• Species compatibility — Temperament conflicts, predator-prey risk, fin-nipping, territorial aggression
• Thermal match — Flags species with non-overlapping temperature requirements
• Social requirements — Warns when schooling species are below minimum group size (6+)
• Bioload vs filtration — Your stocking density against your filter's actual biological capacity
• Wishlist analysis — Includes species on your wishlist so you can validate before buying

How to run it:

1. Go to My Tank → Residents
2. Tap Run AI Compatibility Check
3. Review: overall ecosystem score, issues ranked by severity, specific species pairs flagged, recommended changes

The AI is deliberately critical. A warning about a German Ram in the wrong community is easier to act on before you buy it than after.

The Camera — Species Identification

Tap the AquaLens logo (centre of the nav bar) to open the camera.

Identifies:

• Fish — freshwater and marine
• Corals — SPS, LPS, and soft corals
• Plants — aquatic and emergent species
• Invertebrates — shrimp, snails, crabs, urchins, starfish
• Algae — nuisance and beneficial types

What you get back:

• Top match with confidence percentage
• Alternative matches ranked by likelihood
• Full care info — parameters, diet, tank size, compatibility, difficulty
• Reference images for confirmation
• One-tap add to your tank or wishlist from the result screen

Capture tips:

• Clean the glass before shooting
• Fill the frame — get close
• Tap to focus; wait for a sharp lock before capturing
• Use your tank light; avoid camera flash

The Kitchen Lab — Scan Labels

In My Tank → Lab → Kitchen Lab, point the camera at any fertiliser bottle, supplement container, or fish food packaging.

The AI reads the guaranteed analysis or ingredient list and:

• Extracts nutrients and concentrations into a dosing profile
• Scores fish food quality (ingredient ranking, filler content, protein sources)
• Creates the product as a preset in your Nutrient Lab
• Registers it in your Inventory Tracker for stock level monitoring

Any bottle you scan becomes a one-tap dosing preset. No manual entry.

The Labs — Freshwater

Navigate to My Tank → Lab.

Filtration Lab

Real-world filter performance against your specific bioload.

• GPH estimate accounting for head pressure and media
• Turnover rate in tank volumes per hour
• Biological capacity vs your stocking
• Washing Machine Effect warnings (flow too high for your fish species)
• Adequacy score 1–10

Lighting Lab

Whether your light delivers usable energy where your plants actually are.

• PAR at surface, mid-water, and substrate
• Algae risk zone flags
• Watts-per-gallon and coverage
• Schedule-aware analysis when a light schedule is configured
• Adequacy score 1–10 for your plant list

Heater Lab

Whether your heater can maintain temperature against your room.

• Required vs available wattage for your differential
• Duty cycle estimate
• Redundancy score
• Heat distribution notes for larger tanks

Nutrient Lab (planted tanks)

Exact dosing calculations for any fertiliser or dry compound.

1. Enter your product (brand name or dry salt — e.g. "Tropica Specialised" or "KNO3")
2. Set your target (e.g. "raise NO3 by 10 ppm")
3. Get the exact dose in mL or grams for your tank volume
4. Save as a named preset for one-tap future use

Supported methods:

• Estimative Index (EI) — Slight overdose all week; large water change to reset
• Lean Dosing — Minimum needed; minimises algae fuel
• PPS-Pro — Daily micro-dosing for precise control
• Custom — Set your own targets

Preset ideas: "Weekly Macro" · "Iron Monday" · "Post-Trim Recovery" · "Post-Water-Change Reset"

Maintenance Health Lab

System health estimate from your logs.

• Water stability score (0–100) — calculated from your test result history
• Filter media health score (0–100) — from bioload and maintenance cadence
• Specific improvement suggestions for both

Growth Lab — Visual Comparison

Measures plant growth by comparing two photos.

1. Tap Select Photos → choose Before and After
2. Enter the subject name (e.g. "Monte Carlo carpet")
3. Tap Run Comparison

Returns: growth percentage estimate, health score with trend direction, colour analysis (chlorosis, pearling, pigmentation), growth pattern (spread, runners, branching), problem indicators (algae, holes, melting), and specific recommendations.

Weekly photos from the same angle and lighting give the highest confidence comparisons.

Ghost Growth — Live Overlay

In your Gallery, tap any photo and select Ghost Growth. A live camera view overlays on that photo so you can see exactly how much your plants have grown since it was taken — no processing, just a real-time side-by-side.

Energy Lab (OPEX)

Running cost of your complete hardware setup.

• Monthly energy cost per piece of equipment
• Total monthly and annual cost
• Breakdown by category (lighting, filtration, heating, circulation)

Inventory Tracker

Consumable stock tracking so you never run out at the wrong time.

• CO2 cylinders — remaining pressure and estimated days left at current usage
• Liquid fertilisers — bottle volume and burn rate from your dosing presets
• Dry compounds, medications, supplements
• Low-stock alerts before depletion

The Labs — Saltwater Additions

All freshwater labs apply. Saltwater adds these:

Skimmer Lab

Protein skimmer capacity vs your reef bioload.

• Nutrient export adequacy
• Cup size and air draw assessment
• Bioload headroom
• Upgrade threshold flags

Return Pump Lab

Actual sump turnover accounting for your plumbing.

• Real-world GPH at your head height and pipe configuration
• Sump turnover rate
• Circulation adequacy for reef health

Flow Lab

Total wavemaker circulation modelled for a reef context.

• Aggregate flow volume
• Dead zone risk
• Suitability by coral type — SPS needs high random flow; LPS needs gentle laminar
• Powerhead placement recommendations

ATO Lab

Whether your auto top-off keeps pace with evaporation.

• Evaporation rate estimate for your tank volume and ambient conditions
• Reservoir adequacy in days
• Salinity drift risk between top-up cycles

Reactor Lab

Reactor media performance and lifespan.

• Media capacity and estimated change interval
• Phosphate reduction adequacy
• Running cost vs two-part dosing alternatives

UV Lab

UV steriliser effectiveness validation.

• Contact time at your flow rate and bulb wattage
• Pathogen reduction estimate
• Bulb lifespan tracking and replacement reminder

ICP Analysis Lab (Pro — saltwater)

Import your ICP-OES test report from any external lab (Triton, ATI, Fauna Marin, etc.).

• Full element panel: major, minor, and trace elements
• Each element compared against ideal reef ranges
• Specific dosing or dilution recommendations per out-of-range element
• Historical ICP tracking — trend lines for each element across multiple tests

Analytics Tab

My Tank → Analytics turns your journal logs into charts.

Freshwater:

• Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate over time
• pH and KH stability trends
• Temperature consistency
• GH and trace element history
• Dosing frequency and correlation with parameter changes
• Water change interval vs nitrate accumulation rate

Saltwater adds:

• Salinity stability
• Calcium, alkalinity, magnesium trend lines
• Phosphate and nitrate balance over time
• Full element history from imported ICP tests (Pro)

What Analytics is for:

Use it to spot things you cannot see in daily readings — a nitrate baseline that's crept up 5 ppm over six weeks, an alkalinity that swings more than it should between water changes, a pH that's consistently lower than your target.

You're not looking for today's number. You're looking for the direction the trend is going.

Predictive Alerts (Pro)

Predictive Alerts go further than threshold notifications. Instead of alerting you when a parameter is at a danger level, they alert you when your trend data projects it will reach that level — giving you time to act before the problem exists.

Setting up an alert:

1. Go to My Tank → Analytics → Predictive Alerts
2. Choose a parameter and set your threshold (e.g. Nitrate: 40 ppm)
3. Set the alert type:

• Act Now — parameter has already crossed your threshold
• Act Soon — current trend projects it will cross within your chosen window

Available parameters:

• Freshwater: Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH (high/low), KH (low), GH (low), Temperature deviation
• Saltwater adds: Salinity, Calcium (low), Alkalinity (low), Magnesium (low), Phosphate (high)
• Any custom parameter you log

Alerts appear on your Home screen and as push notifications. Tap any alert to go directly to the relevant parameter chart.

Health Tab

My Tank → Health (Pro)

AI Diagnosis

Describe what you're seeing — the AI cross-references your recent water test data, stocking list, and journal history before suggesting any disease cause. Water quality accounts for the majority of fish illness; the app checks this first.

It returns likely causes ranked by probability, with treatment options, urgency level, and what to watch for next.

Treatment Tracking

• Log active medications with name, dose, tank volume, and start date
• Day-by-day dosing reminders
• Response monitoring — log observations as treatment progresses
• Auto-reminder for repeat doses

Quarantine Log

• Record fish moved to a hospital tank
• Track quarantine duration and observations
• Log prophylactic treatments — deworming, parasite prevention

Mortality Log

• Record losses with date, species, and suspected cause
• Pattern analysis — the app flags when multiple deaths share a common factor (timeline, species, treatment history)

Reef Map (Saltwater) and Plant Map (Freshwater)

My Tank → Reef Map or Plant Map (Pro)

Reef Map

Visual coral placement planning built on photos of your actual tank.

• Map your rockwork and assign each coral a placement zone: sandbed, low, mid, high
• The AI flags placement conflicts — SPS placed too close to an LPS that sweeper tentacles will reach, or a coral in a flow zone incompatible with its requirements
• PAR and flow zone overlay — see which areas of your reef get adequate light and circulation
• Bleaching and stress risk prediction based on each coral's position
• Before/after placement snapshots for tracking aquascape changes over time

Plant Map (freshwater)

Visual layout tool for planned aquascapes.

• Map foreground, midground, and background plant placement
• Assign plant roles: carpet, rhizome epiphyte, stem plant, floating, background wall
• AI placement review — flags shade conflicts, flow dead zones, and nutrient competition between species
• Rescaping planner — try a new layout before uprooting anything

Breeding Tab (Freshwater, Pro)

My Tank → Breeding

• Log spawn events with date, parent pair, trigger conditions (temperature, diet, water change protocol used)
• Track fry count at hatch, at 2 weeks, and at 6 weeks
• Fry survival rate charts per batch
• Growth log per brood
• Parent lineage — link parents to offspring for bloodline tracking across multiple generations
• Condition notes — record what worked to trigger a spawn

AquaGuide — AI Chat

Tap the chat bubble icon (top right of your tank home screen) to open AquaGuide.

AquaGuide knows your tank: specs, hardware, residents, recent journal entries, and logged test results. Every answer is calibrated to your specific setup — not generic internet advice.

Examples of what to ask:

Freshwater:

• "Why do I have black beard algae on my filter outlet?"
• "My ammonia spiked to 0.5 ppm after a water change — what happened?"
• "What's the right CO2 bubble rate for Monte Carlo at 30cm depth?"
• "Is my Fluval 307 sufficient for 20 neon tetras and 8 corydoras?"

Saltwater / Reef:

• "My torch coral is receding — what should I check first?"
• "Is my skimmer undersized for this bioload?"
• "My alkalinity dropped 0.5 dKH between yesterday and today — is that normal?"
• "Which of my corals is most sensitive to the phosphate level I logged?"

AquaGuide is your first port of call when something looks off. It doesn't replace testing and observation, but it's the fastest way to make sense of what you're seeing.

The Library — Species Reference

Browse 280+ species entries across freshwater and marine systems.

• Freshwater fish — Community species through advanced cichlids and discus
• Saltwater fish — Reef-safe and FOWLR species
• Corals — SPS, LPS, and soft corals with reef compatibility indicators
• Plants — Low-tech and high-tech planted species with CO2 and light requirements
• Invertebrates — Shrimp, snails, crabs, urchins, starfish, and more
• Algae — Nuisance species with identification and targeted management

Each entry includes: name, images, parameter ranges, diet, compatibility, care difficulty, minimum tank size, and reef safety where applicable.

Search by name or keyword. Filter by type, difficulty, or water type. Add to your tank or wishlist directly from the species page.

Guides — Expert Knowledge Base

In-depth technical guides, organised by category:

• Start Here — This guide, First 90 Days roadmap, ecosystem fundamentals
• Emergency — First 60-minute incident response protocol
• Chemistry & Testing — Water test interpretation, fishless cycling, pH / KH / GH explained
• Equipment — Filters, lighting physics, CO2 injection
• Plant Care — Deficiency visual diagnosis atlas, planted tank mastery
• Fish & Stocking — Species selection, acclimatisation protocols, feeding science
• Maintenance — Algae management, water change science, feeding protocols
• Health — Quarantine theory, disease identification, treatment protocols
• Operations — Logging best practices for better AI analysis

You can also write custom guides — personal protocols, breeding notes, tank-specific routines. They live alongside the expert guides at the top of this tab.

Tank Pulse Widget

Add the Tank Pulse widget to your phone's home screen for an at-a-glance tank check without opening the app.

The widget shows your tank's hero photo, the next care task due, and a key metrics summary.

To set your hero photo: Open your Gallery, tap any photo, and select Use for Widget. It updates immediately.

Tapping the widget opens directly to your journal or care task list, depending on the quick action you choose.

The Hub — Community

The Hub tab connects you with other AquaLens keepers:

• Browse shared tanks and aquascapes from the community
• Post your own photos and milestones
• Contribute to species and equipment knowledge
• Direct message other keepers
• Ask questions and get answers from experienced hobbyists

Part 3: Ongoing Use

Suggested Routine — Freshwater

Daily (2 min):

• Check fish behaviour and feeding response
• Glance at Tank Pulse widget — any tasks due today?
• Log anything unusual

2–3× weekly (5 min):

• Complete care reminders as they appear
• Dose nutrients using your Nutrient Lab preset — one tap per dose
• Log any top-offs or observations

Weekly (15–20 min):

• Run a full water test (pH, NH3, NO2, NO3, GH, KH) and log everything
• Tap Water Story to read the AI interpretation of your parameter panel
• Check Maintenance Health Lab scores — water stability and filter health
• Take one standardised tank photo from the same position and angle

Monthly (20–30 min):

• Run Growth Lab comparison on your featured plant or subject
• Use Ghost Growth on a few gallery photos to visualise overall progress
• Re-run AI Compatibility if you've added or removed any livestock
• Run Filtration, Lighting, and Heater Labs to catch any equipment drift
• Open Analytics — look for any slow trends in nitrate, pH, or KH
• Check Inventory Tracker — CO2 cylinder pressure, fertiliser bottle levels

Suggested Routine — Saltwater / Reef

Daily (5 min):

• Visual check: coral polyp extension, colouration, any recession or bleaching
• Confirm ATO is running and reservoir level is adequate
• Glance at care reminders
• Log any observations — colouration changes are worth noting even if minor

2–3× weekly (10 min):

• Test alkalinity and log it — this is the single most important reef parameter to track frequently
• Dose two-part or check reactor effluent; log every dose
• Check skimmer collection cup level — empty and log if full

Weekly (20–30 min):

• Full parameter test: pH, NH3, NO2, NO3, calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, phosphate, salinity
• Log all values — tap Water Story for the AI's interpretation of the full panel
• Clean skimmer neck; log the clean
• Take one standardised tank photo
• Run Return Pump and Flow Labs if anything has changed in your equipment or flow patterns

Monthly (30–45 min):

• Submit water for ICP testing and import the report into the ICP Lab (Pro)
• Run Growth Lab comparisons on key corals and frags
• Re-run AI Compatibility after any additions
• Open Analytics — review alkalinity and calcium stability over 30 days
• Check Inventory Tracker: UV bulb lifespan, reactor media schedule, supplement bottle levels
• Review Energy Lab (OPEX) — check if running costs have changed

Pro Features

AquaLens is free for core logging, identification, and basic analysis. Pro unlocks the advanced layer.

Free includes:

• Journal logging (water tests, changes, observations, dosing)
• Basic resident list and manual compatibility notes
• Photo gallery
• Species library browsing
• Basic care task reminders
• Onboarding and cycle tracking
• Limited species identification scans

Pro unlocks:

• Full hardware Labs with detailed scoring and AI analysis
• Health tab — full diagnosis, treatment tracking, quarantine and mortality logging
• Breeding tab
• Reef Map / Plant Map with multi-angle support and placement snapshots
• Analytics tab — full trend charts, stability scoring, water-change impact analysis
• Predictive Alerts — drift forecasting for any parameter
• Custom reminders tied to your journal
• ICP analysis import and element tracking (saltwater)
• Unlimited species identification scans
• Energy Lab (OPEX) running cost analysis
• Holistic ecosystem health checks across chemistry, hardware, and residents

You can trial Pro free. Pro features are clearly labelled throughout the app.

Pro Tips

• Complete your setup first. Tank specs, all hardware, and residents. Every Lab analysis builds on this foundation — an incomplete profile gives you incomplete analysis.
• Set up your light schedule. The Lighting Lab becomes significantly more useful when it knows your actual photoperiod and channel intensities, not just the fixture model.
• Add your wavemaker. Flow affects compatibility, dead spots, algae risk, and coral health — all Labs account for it.
• Scan every bottle with the Kitchen Lab. Ten seconds per product. Every bottle you scan becomes a one-tap Nutrient Lab preset and shows up in your Inventory Tracker.
• Set Predictive Alerts early. Set your nitrate alert at 30 ppm, not 80 ppm. The point is to catch the trend before it becomes urgent.
• Log consistently, even briefly. A one-word observation ("looking pale") logged daily creates a timeline. Three weeks of silence followed by a crisis tells you nothing.
• Use AquaGuide when something looks off. Describe what you see in plain language. It knows your tank and will ask the right follow-up questions.
• Run Labs before making changes, not after. Check compatibility before you buy. Analyse lighting before adding demanding plants or corals.
• Trust trends over single readings. One ammonia test at 0.25 ppm might be a kit error. Four in a row at 0.25 ppm is a bioload problem. Analytics makes the difference visible.
• Change one variable at a time. Adjust something, wait one week, observe, then decide. Changing multiple things simultaneously makes the outcome uninterpretable.
• Keep photos consistent. Same angle, same position, same time of day and light setting. Ghost Growth and Growth Lab both reward the discipline.

Safety Notes

AquaLens is a decision-support tool — it augments your judgement, it doesn't replace it:

• Verify AI recommendations against your own test results and direct observation
• Health diagnoses are triage assessments — consult a specialist for complex or unresponsive disease
• Always quarantine new arrivals and sick livestock before introducing them to your display tank
• Never skip water changes based solely on AI predictions
• Predictive Alerts are trend-based estimates derived from your logged data — they are not real-time sensors

Setup Checklist — Freshwater

Follow these steps in order on your first session:

1. ✅ Enter tank specs: volume, depth, water type, temperature target, room temperature
2. ✅ Add hardware: filter, light, heater — and wavemaker if you run one
3. ✅ Set up your light schedule manually from your light's app
4. ✅ Add your residents with accurate quantities
5. ✅ Create your baseline journal entry — first water test of the tank
6. ✅ Run AI Compatibility Check
7. ✅ Scan your fertiliser bottles in the Kitchen Lab and save dosing presets
8. ✅ Set up at least one Predictive Alert (Nitrate, at your personal warning threshold)
9. ✅ Create any custom reminders your routine needs (CO2 check, plant trim, etc.)
10. ✅ Take your first tank photo and tap Use for Widget
11. ✅ Add the Tank Pulse widget to your home screen

Setup Checklist — Saltwater / Reef

1. ✅ Enter tank specs: volume, depth, sump volume, water type, temperature, room temperature
2. ✅ Add all hardware: sump/filter, protein skimmer, return pump, wavemaker(s), ATO, heater, light, reactor, UV steriliser
3. ✅ Set up your light schedule manually from your light's app
4. ✅ Add all livestock: fish, corals, and invertebrates with accurate quantities
5. ✅ Create your baseline journal entry — full parameter test: pH, NH3, NO2, NO3, salinity, Ca, Alk, Mg, PO4
6. ✅ Run AI Compatibility Check
7. ✅ Scan supplement and food bottles in the Kitchen Lab
8. ✅ Set up Predictive Alerts: Alkalinity (low), Nitrate (high), Phosphate (high)
9. ✅ Set up custom reminders: ICP test interval, reactor media check, UV bulb lifespan, wavemaker clean
10. ✅ Take your first tank photo and tap Use for Widget
11. ✅ Add the Tank Pulse widget to your home screen
12. ✅ Open Reef Map and start planning your coral placement

Welcome to smarter fishkeeping.