No lab. No sponsors. Just everything, read carefully.

We do not run a testing lab. Every ranking is a synthesis of evidence that already exists, made legible and comparable in one place — four evidence streams weighted into one score.

The weighting and the keyword rubric for each category are fixed in advance and applied uniformly, so the ranking never bends to whatever we happen to link. Every buy link is price-checked before we publish it.

What we don't do

✕Run a testing lab or buy products to bench-measure them.

✕Take money to change a ranking — there are zero paid placements.

✕Give fish-health or medication advice as a recommendation.

✕Invent a precise figure where no reliable source exists.

35%

Expert reviews

Hands-on writeups from established reviewers, weighted by depth and independence.

How we weight it: Depth and independence over volume.

25%

Spec sheets

Published figures normalised so wattage, flow and capacity compare like for like.

How we weight it: Attributed to the manufacturer.

20%

Community consensus

What experienced keepers actually run long-term, across forums and clubs.

How we weight it: Paraphrased, never quoted.

20%

Owner sentiment

Aggregated retail reviews, de-duplicated and filtered for incentivised posts.

How we weight it: Structured into a comparable summary.

What the scores mean

90–100Buy itClass-leading; the one to get.

80–89Very goodA strong choice with a minor trade-off.

70–79FineWorks, but you can do better for the money.

60–69CompromisedA real flaw; buy only for a specific reason.

< 60Skip itA meaningful problem — we name it rather than hide it.

Price checking

Every buy link is price-checked before publish and re-checked on a schedule. Where we show a price, it reflects a real, recent lookup — not a number typed in once and forgotten.

Editorial independence

We earn affiliate commission when you buy through our links, but the score is set before any link is added and never changes because of one. We are not a store; we recommend the best thing, not the thing we stock.