TDS 34 ppm is it bad ?

[chathurai]

im from srilanka its really hard to find ro/di water from LFS here.today i tested my tap water , reading was 34ppm , is it ok to start my new tank setup with these TDS reading ?

 

 

chathura

 

[Tamberav]

Yikes, I would not. Can you buy gallons of distilled water?

[Butchy21]

I agree- don't use it!  I had my RODI filters get exhausted so I was running at 8ppm and I started to get way more algae build-up, which then just takes a good amount of time to rectify.

[Clown79]

Isn't the limit 1 or 2 tds?

 

 

[samnaz]

I've tested TDS twice, range was between 83-90 and all my corals are alive and growing, only have lost a couple and have added dozens over the past 2 years so I'd say... maybe 34 is bad, but it's not bad enough to kill most corals? at least in my experience. 

[Tamberav]

When I hit 1 to 2 TDS I got a nice diatom bloom. Not worth the uglies. Some people have tap water tanks that don't look bad... Most people can't get away with that. 

[Clown79]

5 hours ago, Tamberav said:

When I hit 1 to 2 TDS I got a nice diatom bloom. Not worth the uglies. Some people have tap water tanks that don't look bad... Most people can't get away with that. 

I definitely wouldn't recommend any tds in the water.

 

My water going into the rodi is 450+, coming out is 0.

 

I saw only 1 tds just before I changed my di. I did have an algae bloom but I was also feeding the tank more so not sure which is was. 

 

 

[Kwaters240]

Is this what you guys consider RODI? I’ve installed these in peoples houses but not sure if this is exactly it

[Muffin87]

My water going into the rodi is 230+, coming out is 2-4 . I get 1 only if I let it run for hours. Let's hope for the best!

 

Isn't the calibration of the TDS meter gonna make a difference though?
I've heard people saying a minimal difference in the results of different TDS meters is in order.

 

What about people that use ro without deionisation for their tanks then?

[HarryPotter]

On 3/1/2018 at 2:18 AM, Clown79 said:

Isn't the limit 1 or 2 tds?

 

 

 

I am happy with anything under ten. Replacing DI would be too expensive otherwise  

On 3/1/2018 at 2:49 AM, Tamberav said:

When I hit 1 to 2 TDS I got a nice diatom bloom. Not worth the uglies. Some people have tap water tanks that don't look bad... Most people can't get away with that. 

 

May be correlational though; you get a diatom bloom and are looking for an explanation and doing increased maintenance to get rid of it. It could absolutely be the TDS getting through, but without testing that water its hard to say for certain. 

[HarryPotter]

On 3/1/2018 at 2:30 AM, samnaz said:

I've tested TDS twice, range was between 83-90 and all my corals are alive and growing, only have lost a couple and have added dozens over the past 2 years so I'd say... maybe 34 is bad, but it's not bad enough to kill most corals? at least in my experience. 

 

I agree, on my 45 I used our home RO which spits out TDS in the 40's. Sometimes I think I got better colors from that than from my current RODI

[Cintax]

I run two stages of DI resin, it's like $25 every six months. 

 

I wouldn't worry about TDS readings of your tank just the RO/DI water.

[Tamberav]

4 hours ago, HarryPotter said:

 

I am happy with anything under ten. Replacing DI would be too expensive otherwise  

 

May be correlational though; you get a diatom bloom and are looking for an explanation and doing increased maintenance to get rid of it. It could absolutely be the TDS getting through, but without testing that water its hard to say for certain. 

 

I would kill for some Nitrates so I am assuming the water had silicates in it.

[HarryPotter]

7 hours ago, Cintax said:

I run two stages of DI resin, it's like $25 every six months. 

 

I wouldn't worry about TDS readings of your tank just the RO/DI water.

 

I dont think you can take a meaningful TDS reading from your tank, never tried though! I would think the amount of dissolved solids would be off the charts. 

[Cintax]

1 hour ago, HarryPotter said:

 

I dont think you can take a meaningful TDS reading from your tank, never tried though! I would think the amount of dissolved solids would be off the charts. 

Exactly. It would mean absolutely nothing to take a reading from the tank.

[HarryPotter]

14 minutes ago, Cintax said:

Exactly. It would mean absolutely nothing to take a reading from the tank.

 

Would it even "work" as in the meter would give you value? Or would you get an error reading? Now I am curious. Unfortunately I cant try that;  I just have an inline TDS meters my RODI system, not a handheld unit! Someone try it haha, but make sure to rinse the meter in RODI after. 

[Tamberav]

It reads saltwater... just very high from the dissolved salts. 

[HarryPotter]

Just now, Tamberav said:

It reads saltwater... just very high from the dissolved salts. 

 

Are ions in solution considered/read as solids?  Would the amount in a reef tank overload the typical cheap TDS meter and get an error reading? If its reading dissolved salts, how does that correlate with salinity? I guess this is getting off topic but to me it opens up a whole new can of worms 

[Tamberav]

Oh I'm not sure how accurate it is but I have done it out of curiosity and it will read. 

[Cintax]

TDS meters read the conductivity of the fluid they are in. Pure water doesn't conduct electricity very well or at all so you get a low reading. The more dissolved minerals, solids, etc.,  the more conducive the water becomes and the higher the reading. 

[ajmckay]

On ‎3‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 12:37 PM, Kwaters240 said:

Is this what you guys consider RODI? I’ve installed these in peoples houses but not sure if this is exactly it

Definitely not what's meant by RODI (Reverse Osmosis De-Ionization).  That looks like a sediment/carbon block filter. 

 

A RODI filter would start with a sediment filter and then 1 or 2 carbon block filters.  From there it will go through a reverse osmosis membrane.  Finally if you have it the water goes through a de-ionizing media for a final scrub/purification.  

[luckie1966]

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 1:56 AM, chathurai said:

im from srilanka its really hard to find ro/di water from LFS here.today i tested my tap water , reading was 34ppm , is it ok to start my new tank setup with these TDS reading ?

 

 

chathura

 

It all depends what the 34 ppm are ?  If there calcium and mag. etc. not a problem but if there iron, heavy metals etc then yea it's a problem.   Too get rid of phosphorus and nitrates you could do it natural way. Set up fresh water tank in sun when it turns green give it couple days no more ph, nitrates... etc.

[chathurai]

On 3/9/2018 at 2:59 AM, luckie1966 said:

It all depends what the 34 ppm are ?  If there calcium and mag. etc. not a problem but if there iron, heavy metals etc then yea it's a problem.   Too get rid of phosphorus and nitrates you could do it natural way. Set up fresh water tank in sun when it turns green give it couple days no more ph, nitrates... etc.

will that works ? is it ok to mix salt with green color water ? 

[chathurai]

thanks for all the replys,at  the moment my tank doing really well, i have skipped synthatic seasalt and went with natural seawater collect by nearby beach, but  for top off i still use tap water . here is the video of my tank

 

 

[luckie1966]

17 hours ago, chathurai said:

will that works ? is it ok to mix salt with green color water ? 

You would want to use it after it when from green to clear.    And it would only use up nutrients in water after it turned clear. it would be a interesting experiment. Not on corals though. P:) Distilled water the best for top off.  But just do more water changes can't ask for better way to get rid of nutrients.  It must be awesome to access to natural sea water.