Tds Meter For Ro System

[elisew]

I bought an RO system yesterday after having lost yet another Apisto (previously lost 3 Rams too) and have had some advice already from BigC (thank you). Using a TDS Meter has been suggested and I`d like to ask for advice on which meter would be most compatible, best and easier to use?

One of these:
http/www.theaquariumsolution.com/tds-meter-and-digital-thermometer


Or one of these:
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220656304766#ht_1592wt_907

Thanks in advance

 

[OldMan47]

The TDS that I use is more like the first one. It is used and then allowed to dry and is put away until the next time I use it. The main benefit that I see of one over the other is that an in-line meter means it is only able to be used in one place. When I am setting up a tank and want to figure out the tap / RO ratio for the tank, I measure both sources, do a trial mix and once I know the mix that I need I never use the meter unless I suspect that I have a problem with my RO or need to set up a new mix in a new tank.

 

[elisew]

Thanks very much for your reply OM.


As I`m looking to start introducing RO water to my 360ltr tank, could I please ask what ratio you think would be best? I`ve spoken to the guys at MA about the need to use RO after having had a lot of problems with keeping Rams and Apisto`s in my community tank. My ph is at 7.6 and although not 'high' they think the water needs to be much softer than it is and they suggested slowly adding the RO water until I reach a rough ratio of 75% RO water:25% tap water.
Is there a specific value I need to be looking at?

Sorry for the questions, I`d just like to understand the RO system and requirements better

 

[BigC]

Hi Elise,
As per your last thread concerning th RO unit itself.
You can get an In-Line TDS meter for your unit by again going to RO-Man
But this will ony test your water going through your system.
If you are looking to test the water after you have decided on the permutation or ratio you are going to use
then purchase a good one from Hanna Instruments
I have this one it includes Conductivity and pH as well as TDS
http/www.hannainst.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=1265_1296_2019&products_id=2503
TDS
17.9ppm = 1 degree dKH which is very soft.
Water from your system should come out between 0 and 4 depending on you water supply.
This is fine. It is pretty unusual to achieve zero unless you add a DI (De-ionising) pod to your system.
You can then mix with tap or otherwise to achieve your desired parameters.
N.B. If you use salt then the TDS meter will not read correctly

Regards
C

 

[OldMan47]

The way I do things is to research the fish I want to keep. Once I find that their natural water has a specific mineral concentration, I try to match that with a mix of RO and tap water. My RO produces water at about 1 degree of hardness, 18 ppm of TDS. If I had an RO/DI instead, it should produce water at less than 4 ppm, but who needs a DI when you are going to add the tap water back in. My tap water is about 325 ppm of TDS. If I want to get to say 80 ppm, I need to add enough RO to dilute the tap water down that far. So I mix about 1 part of tap with 4 parts of RO to get around 79 ppm of mix. Rather than simply believe the math, I then measure the mix. For 100 ppm I would mix 3 parts RO to 1 part tap and expect to get about 95 ppm, which would be close enough. Again, check the mix and compare it to your desired values.

 

[anon02]

Hi Elise,

You must really love Rams and apistos to go to all this trouble to be able to keep them

Good on yer !!!

ps you should have been a nurse lol

 

[elisew]

Thanks again OM and BigC

I`m just now waiting for the TDS meter to arrive, unfortunately I can`t justify the price of the one you have BigC so I`ve ordered the one in the top link and hope that will be enough to get me on my way. When I have the meter I`ll start to work out the best mix of RO and tap water and fingers crossed my fish will be happier as a result.

lol@anon02, I do love my fish and the Rams and Apistos are my favourites if I`m honest, so the effort is worth it to me. By coincidence I used to be a Carer for the Elderley and Disabled so I guess doing the right thing for and by others is a bit of an occupation for me, even if that does expand into looking after my fish!!

 

[elisew]

Received the TDS Meter this morning, the results of the RO water is 009ppm and tap water is 282ppm which by my calculations the tap water is 31X the ppm of the RO water

Obviously I need to start introducing the RO slowly over a period of time but I`ll be looking at the final ration of 3:1 (RO:Tap) which will hopefully be the correct ratio for the fish, especially the Rams and Apistos. Hopefully it`ll be ok for the other fish too, I should think so as they seem to be pretty hardy fish.

If I have the ratio/calculations wrong then please feel free to kick me up the backside and tell me

 

[waterdrop]

elisew, OM47, BigC et.al.,

Please stop me if I add too much clutter to this thread but it seems an interesting place to perhaps add a related question or two! I still find I have many curiosities regarding the mineral content of water and how it relates to our hobby.

Q1: What does a DI Pod (de-ionizing add-on to RO) look like.. what are its functional parts and how does it work? Where to we find it best and most properly used in the hobby(perhaps on the marine side)?

Q2: I wonder sometimes about the accuracy/inaccuracy level of my simplified mental picture of what a typical undstanding of tap water mineral content should be. My own picture is that typically Calcium, followed by Magnesium are by far the most prevalent minerals, followed by calcium carbonates and sulfates. I've always imagined then a "tailing" of all the other metals (minerals?) in various mixes. It not being related to my field and having no other references, I look at the wikipedia and it mentions iron, aluminium and manganese as possible metals that may be present in elevated amounts. I can't help but wonder whether fish might be sensitive to the -relative- mix of the exact different dissolved substances but I wonder whether this is simply to complex for hobbyists to ever worry about or whether this might indeed be an area that some breeders explore but that I am just ignorant of? (guys, please just suggest we move this somewhere else if it clutters elise's more practical thread need here!)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[elisew]

Hi waterdrop, please clutter away if it helps you to

Earlier on I filled my quarantine tank with 3 parts RO and 1 part Tap water and the TDS is at approx 118ppm which is a big difference from tap water only which produced 282ppm. I tested the ph of the mix which resulted in a ph of 6.8, normally the ph tests at 7.6 so obviously a big difference there as well.

I have a proven pair of breeding Rams that I took delivery of this morning who are currently being acclimatised so hopefully the RO/Tap mix and the resulting ph will be much better for them than my standard ph reading in my community tank.
I will begin to replace my current tank water with the RO mix slowly over the coming days and will hopefully be able to repot that all is ok. Fingers crossed and a huge thanks to all so far who have helped

 

[anon02]

Will you be trying to acclimatise some of the fry back to your local water so that you can sell them ? If so it would be an interesting project to keep a journal type thread

 

[elisew]

Will you be trying to acclimatise some of the fry back to your local water so that you can sell them ? If so it would be an interesting project to keep a journal type thread

If this pair does breed for me then yes I would like to see if I can slowly acclimatise any fry slowly with dechlorinated tap water. From what I`ve read about Rams the majority seem to be bred in softer water and there`s not many apparently that can survive in harder water over a longer period of time. Time will tell though
The new pair seem to be doing well in the Quarantine tank so far, they`re swimming around as if they`ve always been in there which is good and indicates to me that they`re happy with the water quality......fingers crossed it continues

 

[anon02]

Do you know if the breeding pair were tank bred or imported ?

 

[OldMan47]

Back to WD's questions.
I find that I do not really care, nor do my fish, what the specific ions in the water may be. I use my TDS meter to achieve the nominal mineral content that is appropriate to my desired fish. They seem to ignore pH, as has often been the subject of our posts. Mineral content seems to be a far more important factor for most fish.
For Elise W, please make sure that you understand the mineral content preference of your rams. If you can replicate that with your mix of RO and tap water, you can reasonably expect to have success with your rams. I am not a ram breeder by any stretch but really like the look of them. I wish you all the best in your endeavor.

 

[waterdrop]

Back to WD's questions.
I find that I do not really care, nor do my fish, what the specific ions in the water may be. I use my TDS meter to achieve the nominal mineral content that is appropriate to my desired fish. They seem to ignore pH, as has often been the subject of our posts. Mineral content seems to be a far more important factor for most fish.
<...>

Yes, I agree and feel quite confident that the observation that TDS is the basic parameter of importance (strengthened in no small part by your own good comments in the discussions we've participated in over in the beginners section the last few years, and many thanks for those) is a good observation. Its just that I sometimes wonder whether somewhere out there is perhaps an ichthyologist who might have a feeling about whether varying mixes of the ions in differing amounts might actually play a subtle role in some way or whether indeed it all matters not to the fish and is handled in stride. ah well, I'm sure we'll never know.

Hey OM, here's a evening's read for you sometime: Bio of a rasbora fellow

WD