Editorial policy

1. Every figure is sourced or computed

A number on this site is either read from a named published document with a link to it, or computed from such numbers with the arithmetic shown. There is no third category.

Where a manufacturer does not publish a figure, the page says that rather than supplying a plausible-looking substitute. In this category that happens constantly - almost no nano filter publishes a flow rate, no nano light publishes PAR - and recording the absence is more useful than filling it.

2. No testing claims

We have not tested these products. No page will say we did, and no page will imply it through phrasing like “in our experience with this unit”.

Nor will any page claim a credential we do not hold, or tenure in the hobby. Our method is published in full so that it can substitute for the testing we have not done.

3. No customer quotes, because we have none

This site publishes no customer reviews, no testimonials and no star ratings of its own. We have no customers to quote, so quoting any would be fabrication.

Where a product carries an editorial score, that score is ours and judgmental, it is labeled as such, and it never enters the site’s structured data. Publishing an editorial score as machine-readable review markup would tell search engines we had tested something we have not, which would contradict the page it sits on. The visible number stays; the markup carries Product and Offer nodes only.

4. Every product carries a reason not to buy it

Every entry in our product registry has a “skip this if” line, and it is a required field rather than a nicety. A roundup where every option is recommended is a catalog.

The same applies at page level. Several pages here conclude that the right answer is to buy something cheaper, or to buy nothing: a betta needs no tank mates, the cheapest filter is usually the right one, and feeding less costs nothing.

5. Commercial links are always marked

Every affiliate link carries rel="sponsored nofollow", an #ad marker, and a link to the disclosure page. Every commercial page carries a disclosure above its first link. No exceptions, including on pages where the disclosure looks repetitive.

6. We do not diagnose

This site will not tell you what is wrong with a sick fish. Diagnosis from a description or a photograph is unreliable, and we hold no qualification that would make the attempt responsible.

Where a symptom has a clear environmental cause - and with bettas it very often does - we say so, because fixing the temperature or the ammonia is not treatment, it is removing the cause. Where it needs a diagnosis, we say that instead of selling a bottle.

We do now cover the treatments, under stricter rules than anything else on this site. This is a change from an earlier version of this policy, which said we would not mention them at all. Not mentioning them did not stop anyone buying them; it only meant the pages people read on the subject were written by whoever was selling. So the symptom pages exist, and these four rules govern every one of them:

• Only what the manufacturer prints. No dose, indication or claim appears unless it is on the maker’s own published page, cited.
• Absences are recorded as absences. Two of the three products on our fin rot page publish no active ingredient at all, and the pages say so. Most aquarium medications still carry no dosing data for a four-gallon volume, and we print that rather than filling the gap.
• The free step is ranked above the purchased one. On every one of these pages, clean water comes first and a bottle comes third.
• There is still no “best betta medication” roundup here, and there will not be. The pages are organized by condition, not by product, and where a maker publishes no evidence for a popular remedy we rank it last and say why.

7. No livestock links

We link to equipment. We do not link to live animals, for the reasons set out in the disclosure. Buy fish, shrimp and snails from somewhere you can look at them first.

8. Corrections are dated and visible

If we get something wrong we fix it, and we say that we fixed it. A corrected page carries a dated note describing what changed; it is not silently edited.

The distinction we hold to: a correction is a fact that was wrong, and gets a note. An update is new information or a changed price, and gets a revised “last updated” date. Both are visible on the page.

To report an error: info@glassandgravel.com or the contact form. Point at the page and the number.

9. Written by a person

Every page here is written and edited by Scooter M., whose byline appears on it and whose background is stated plainly, including what it does not include. The byline and the structured data on each page name the same person, because a page whose visible author and machine-readable author disagree is not being honest with either audience.

10. Pages are kept current, or dated

Every page carries a published date and, where it has changed, a last updated date. Those come from the content itself rather than from the build, so a redeploy does not silently re-date the whole site.

Products get discontinued and specifications change. If you find a page referring to something no longer sold, tell us - that is a correction and it will be treated as one.

Who is responsible

Glass & Gravel is written by Scooter M. and published by Slate Mill Group. Editorial decisions are ours; no advertiser, manufacturer or affiliate network has any input into what appears here.