TDS

[MrMatt]

I purchased an inexpensive TDS meter today to double check the water I'm using to top off my nano.

 

I keep 10 gallons of RO/DI on hand in 5 gallon jugs, I then transfer a gallon at a time into a one gallon distilled water jug and that's what I use to fill up my ATO reservoir (a 1+ gallon food grade plastic storage container). The water is purchased from my LFS.

 

The two 5gallon jugs read 2ppm, the gallon jug that I fill the ATO with jumps to 75ppm and my ATO reservoir jumps to an insane 175 ppm! It's definitely time to replace the on gallon jug, but do you think its something leeching from the plastic jug causing that spike? Also with the ATO reservoir do you think I just need to give it a good rinsing with RO/DI water and redeploy or does it sound more like the container, or possibly the ATO pump is leeching something? I can't imagine the water stays long enough in the reservoir to concentrate the 75 from the gallon just but I suppose its possible since I haven't rinsed it recently.

 

Thanks

[Murphs_Reef]

That sounds like a lot of work of im honest! Personally I get my RO from the LFS in 5 gallon containers (1 a week) to top up my ato reservoir twice a week... I measure TDS every so often at 2.... Why do you have so many steps in moving water around? Make it easy for yourself...

 

How big is your tank to need 10 gal of RO? Mine is 92 gallons and I use 5 or less a week for top offs and small water changes....

[MrMatt]

43 minutes ago, Murphych said:

That sounds like a lot of work of im honest! Personally I get my RO from the LFS in 5 gallon containers (1 a week) to top up my ato reservoir twice a week... I measure TDS every so often at 2.... Why do you have so many steps in moving water around? Make it easy for yourself...

 

How big is your tank to need 10 gal of RO? Mine is 92 gallons and I use 5 or less a week for top offs and small water changes....

My ATO reservoir is placed in such a location that filling it with a 5 gallon jug would be very difficult if not impossible hence the mediary... Don't worry I am a fan of simplicity.

 

I could get away with just 5 gallons but I like having two so I have a decent amount of time to fill the jug when its empty, the second is a backup of sorts.

 

I live in New Mexico and the summer temp have been getting over 100f and my house can be as warm as 85f+ with almost non-existent humidity. My cooling is controlled through evaporation and a small thermo-electric cooler, those methods are effective at keeping the temps between 78-79.5 so I'm happy with that. The downside is I go through about 4 gallons of water with the ATO per week.

 

[Chris's Fishes]

I'd think it's just the jug decaying over time. I've seen it happen with gallon jugs I bought DI water in from Walmart - they begin to get soft over time, and I'd imagine they'd leech stuff eventually. I'd replace the jug, rinse everything off, and retest in a few days to see if you've still got some issues.

 

Honestly, though, I wouldn't be too concerned. The thing about TDS is that it doesn't tell you what the solids you're reading are. It could be something terribly toxic, like heavy metals, or it could be something completely inert. You don't necessarily want crazy-high TDS water going into your tank, but I wouldn't be doing massive water changes and panicking, either.