How important is 0TDS RO/DI water for you?

[xsnys]

Curious to see what you all consider acceptable TDS. I recently realized my ro/di unit was putting out 7 TDS water and I used it to mix 45g of saltwater for my new aquarium. But I feel like it’s not a huge deal.

What are your thoughts?

 

[skrappy]

It would really depend on what those TDS were composed of. I'm not happy with mine unless its 0.

 

[dball711]

For me it must be ZERO. If you have a RO/DI unit thats not producing zero TDS then something is wrong or the DI resin I used up.

 

[billyocean]

Zero for me as well. Also, I replace the media before it even reads 1. New membrane every 6-7 months. Would rather overkill my RODI as it's as important to me as maintaining alk.

 

[myvwrock]

Should i be concerned if i replaced my filters and membrane two years ago and it still reads zero on the inline tds meter

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[enderg60]

Zero for me but if its showing 1-3 I dont really care but its time to change filters.

Should i be concerned if i replaced my filters and membrane two years ago and it still reads zero on the inline tds meter

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Na, its not based on time. Its based on usage and incoming TDS. We have pretty good water around here, I rarely see more than 40 from the tap water and I usually get around 3-4000 gallons of RO before I need to change the membrane.

 

[myvwrock]

Zero for me but if its showing 1-3 I dont really care but its time to change filters.



Na, its not based on time. Its based on usage and incoming TDS. We have pretty good water around here, I rarely see more than 40 from the tap water and I usually get around 3-4000 gallons of RO before I need to change the membrane.

I'm over here in Auburn, I've got 67 TDS coming in. I actually just looked at the meter and it said one going out but that's right after I turned it on so it might go back down. I will say the tap water around here has a literal stench to it.

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[enderg60]

That level of TDS is still very low. Not so great water is in the 1-200 range, bad water is like 500. My dads beach house with its 100 year old pipes is not kidding over 2500. Ive tested it and its nutty.

The smell will be taken out by a carbon filter (which I always recommend people install on their house, its really nice), the sediment filter will take out any particulate crap. The RO and DI are there to pull out an ions and metals and stuff like that.

There will always be a bit of TDS overage when you turn the unit on(called TDS creep), this is why its recommended to let the RO run for a while and do large batches at a time. If you hook an RO directly to a float in your tank you will get tons of high TDS water in short bursts.

Im a fan of the triple TDS meter on my RO so I can take a glance and see what the TDS is coming into the unit, out of the RO and out of the DI are. Helps figure out when its time to change what filter.

 

[xsnys]

Should i be concerned if i replaced my filters and membrane two years ago and it still reads zero on the inline tds meter

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This was my issue as well. I stepped away from the hobby for 3 years and just dusted off my old ro/di unit/filters and put it back to work without realizing the resin degrades over time.

 

[billyocean]

The money is so little to replace in comparison to everything else it's easier to always run zero. I'm gonna buy a $200 torch but lemme wait on that 80 bucks every six months to make sure it's good.

 

[Aratz26]

Not as experienced as some of these absolute hall of fame reef keepers such as @billyocean

^ this guy

I’ve been running two tds on brand new filters (wasn’t my choice)… however due to this it caused me to research… found out the “s” in TDS means total dissolved solids not total dissolved solvents, so fun fact it doesn’t check contaminants… apparently doesn’t check fluoride, dissolved gasses, and I think the way it works is just based on electro negativity and does an equation for us so how accurate can it really be…Now some TDS junkie may attack me here, I don’t think it matters all that much except what the tds is and what you got in the tank. I think it’s good to learn from your mistakes so I’ll embarass myself a little. When I first got in the hobby I used someone’s old RO device found out it was giving me water in ppm 60s my only issue was nuisance algae, somehow things were growing though. Guessing a lot of my tds was phosphate. I had euphyllia and it did fine had some chalices, however since then I’ve gotten a lot better about my RO and things now grow and do a lot better. I’d say it’s all about taking care of your animals and trying to give them the opportunity to be healthy rather than just look good so don’t skimp out on cartridges, but I think if you caught it early your Gucci mane. Just don’t let it happen again

also side note, what’s the new tank man what are the plans?

 

[xsnys]

The money is so little to replace in comparison to everything else it's easier to always run zero. I'm gonna buy a $200 torch but lemme wait on that 80 bucks every six months to make sure it's good.

Very true. Replacement cartridges and di resin on my 5 stage ro/di unit were $30. Although if I could even begin to afford a $200 coral I wouldn’t even be having this conversation

 

[xsnys]

Not as experienced as some of these absolute hall of fame reef keepers such as @billyocean

^ this guy

I’ve been running two tds on brand new filters (wasn’t my choice)… however due to this it caused me to research… found out the “s” in TDS means total dissolved solids not total dissolved solvents, so fun fact it doesn’t check contaminants… apparently doesn’t check fluoride, dissolved gasses, and I think the way it works is just based on electro negativity and does an equation for us so how accurate can it really be…Now some TDS junkie may attack me here, I don’t think it matters all that much except what the tds is and what you got in the tank. I think it’s good to learn from your mistakes so I’ll embarass myself a little. When I first got in the hobby I used someone’s old RO device found out it was giving me water in ppm 60s my only issue was nuisance algae, somehow things were growing though. Guessing a lot of my tds was phosphate. I had euphyllia and it did fine had some chalices, however since then I’ve gotten a lot better about my RO and things now grow and do a lot better. I’d say it’s all about taking care of your animals and trying to give them the opportunity to be healthy rather than just look good so don’t skimp out on cartridges, but I think if you caught it early your Gucci mane. Just don’t let it happen again

also side note, what’s the new tank man what are the plans?

Yeah before this I never even had a digital tds meter so now I check the TDS of the water my ro/di unit is producing (which thankfully is 0).

As far as my new tank, it’s a 45g Red Sea E170 I’m putting in my studio. I got it used from someone on offer up. I kinda wanna do an anemone tank but not really sure yet haha

 

[billyocean]

It's really not a big deal to go over time to time. The issue is what can build up in the tank if it's not addressed...I'm in the why risk it camp
With all the variables of what can go wrong in a tank the last thing I need to be worried about is my rodi

 

[Aratz26]

Yeah before this I never even had a digital tds meter so now I check the TDS of the water my ro/di unit is producing (which thankfully is 0).

As far as my new tank, it’s a 45g Red Sea E170 I’m putting in my studio. I got it used from someone on offer up. I kinda wanna do an anemone tank but not really sure yet haha

That would be dope bro!

 

[billyocean]

 

[Aratz26]

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It’s not a competition

 

[xsnys]

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Did you send your water to a lab for testing? Is that what this is?

 

[billyocean]

Yes. Ati icp comes with a vial to test your rodi