tds meter

[bjledbetter]

Can I order one off eBay and it be accurate enough to use on my reef or do I need to spend the $75 or so and buy a aquarium tester? I think my new ro/di unit is leaving phosphate and stuff in my water. I'm having a ha outbreak

 

[Budman's Corals]

Can I order one off eBay and it be accurate enough to use on my reef or do I need to spend the $75 or so and buy a aquarium tester? I think my new ro/di unit is leaving phosphate and stuff in my water. I'm having a ha outbreak

ive got a handheld one i used for the first 3 months till i installed a inline one..Sell it to ya for 15 bucks plus shipping..

 

[bjledbetter]

I may take you up on that. What kind is it; and how much would shipping be?

 

[Budman's Corals]

5 bucks shipping and ill send priority mail

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

 

[AZDesertRat]

Spend $20-$25 and get a brand new HM Digital TDS-3, TDS-4TM or one of their new AP-1 models. The inlines have serious drawbacks since they are not truly temperature compensated and can be significantly off unless your water and air temperature are exactly the same and they rarerly are. Handheld meters, not the TDS-EZ though, run circles around inlines any day of the week. An inline is a nice guide or litmus paper type test but lacks the accuracy and usefulness of a good handheld. The TDS-EZ is only +/-3% accurate compared to 2% for the models I mentioned, is not temperature compensated same as the inlines and does not have a built in digital thermomete function like the three I mentioned.
With an inline you arestuck with two TDS readings, normally RO only and RO/DI but you need three TDS readings to troubleshoot a RO/DI system, tap water TDS, RO only TDS and RO/DI TDS. This is where the good handheld shines, it is portable so can be used anywhere on about any water, your ATO storage, the LFS, bottled water, your RO only, your tap, the neighbors etc. The inline cannot do thatand the TDS-EZ is not accurate since it does not read temperature and compensate for it.
Be careful on ebay, there are some clone copies of the HM Digital meters that look almost identical but the price should be a clue. You can expect to bay around $20-$25 for the real thing and I have seen the knockoffs for less than $9 shipped, you get what you pay for in this case.

 

[Budman's Corals]

Spend $20-$25 and get a brand new HM Digital TDS-3, TDS-4TM or one of their new AP-1 models. The inlines have serious drawbacks since they are not truly temperature compensated and can be significantly off unless your water and air temperature are exactly the same and they rarerly are. Handheld meters, not the TDS-EZ though, run circles around inlines any day of the week. An inline is a nice guide or litmus paper type test but lacks the accuracy and usefulness of a good handheld. The TDS-EZ is only +/-3% accurate compared to 2% for the models I mentioned, is not temperature compensated same as the inlines and does not have a built in digital thermomete function like the three I mentioned.
With an inline you arestuck with two TDS readings, normally RO only and RO/DI but you need three TDS readings to troubleshoot a RO/DI system, tap water TDS, RO only TDS and RO/DI TDS. This is where the good handheld shines, it is portable so can be used anywhere on about any water, your ATO storage, the LFS, bottled water, your RO only, your tap, the neighbors etc. The inline cannot do thatand the TDS-EZ is not accurate since it does not read temperature and compensate for it.
Be careful on ebay, there are some clone copies of the HM Digital meters that look almost identical but the price should be a clue. You can expect to bay around $20-$25 for the real thing and I have seen the knockoffs for less than $9 shipped, you get what you pay for in this case.

u sound like a tds master...NOT

 

[AZDesertRat]

Not sure what you meant by that but quality costs money. Read the Specs on the inlines and the EZ then compare them to the others mentioned and you will see I know what I am talking about. Been doing water treatment for almost 4 decades and picked up a thing or two along the way.

 

[Budman's Corals]

Not sure what you meant by that but quality costs money. Read the Specs on the inlines and the EZ then compare them to the others mentioned and you will see I know what I am talking about. Been doing water treatment for almost 4 decades and picked up a thing or two along the way.

it dont matter what the water going into the tank is,I actually used water straight at a tds of 54 (which isnt bad for water from city).and my phosphates are below .03 inline -handheld whatever the unit you use it will very,thats why i always compare the 2 to see if there the same,which they are...

I agree on what u spend is what u get but if your on a budget and cant always buy the most expensive stuff then you gotta get by on what you can afford.

 

[AZDesertRat]

The two could very well read the same but since neither is temperature compensated they acn both be wrong. Compare either or both to an ATC instrument and you will probably see a difference unless the wate rand air temperature are exactly the same. If you cut the probe on an inline apart you will see a little metal pin inside that small window you see in the fat part of the probe. That is monitoring air temperature not water temperature so can be off as much as 2% for every degree C the air and water differ. $20-$25 is not expensive for a quality TDS meter.

 

[GHill762]

the one I use came with a zero-water filter.. it's HMD brand.. dunno if that's good or bad, doesn't really bother me either way.. I think I remember that standing for HM Digital though..

 

[Reefing Madness]

u sound like a tds master...NOT

Theres one thing that I've learned out here on the Reefing Sites, when this guy AZDesertRat talks about water and what you should be using, I'd listen to the guy. He really is, what you snickered at, a Master at it.

 

[WillKatt]

I personally would spend more and get a quality Handheld with temp compensation. I recently learned how much temperature can effect the reading. I was suddenly having hair algae issues with no apparent cause. My TDS was reading zero but was also in my basement where its a consistent 55-60 degrees. When I brought my non temp compensating hand held up to 72 degrees along with the RO/DI sample it was reading 5ppm.

 

[WillKatt]

Theres one thing that I've learned out here on the Reefing Sites, when this guy AZDesertRat talks about water and what you should be using, I'd listen to the guy. He really is, what you snickered at, a Master at it.

+1 you should listen to this man

 

[AZDesertRat]

HM makes a whole range of meters from mediocre to very good.
WATER TESTING INSTRUMENTS - HM Digital

I have two of the DM-1 dual inlines I use for quick checks and a very good COM-100 that I rely on for accuracy. Great products really.

 

[Budman's Corals]

I personally would spend more and get a quality Handheld with temp compensation. I recently learned how much temperature can effect the reading. I was suddenly having hair algae issues with no apparent cause. My TDS was reading zero but was also in my basement where its a consistent 55-60 degrees. When I brought my non temp compensating hand held up to 72 degrees along with the RO/DI sample it was reading 5ppm.

So what your saying is the water and the air temp needs to be exact for a tester(like mine) to read correctly?

Well Im listening to him..

but even if only 5ppm was going into the tank i wouldn't think that was bad,or is it?

 

[AZDesertRat]

Yes. Research electrical conductivity and you see why temperature comes into play and why it is important. TDS is a simple measurement of electrical conductivity with some math and conversions thrown in to make it simple for us to use and understand. If it does not read temperature it must make assumptions which are not always correct. The TDS-3, TDS-4TM, COM-100 and those newer meters all have a built in temperature probe so don't have to guess or assume anything. The nice thing with the COM-100 and the new meters is they can do electrical conductivity as well as TDS so are even more sensitive and accurate, the COM-100 reads down to tenths of a TDS and isn't that much more expensive.

 

[Budman's Corals]

Yes. Research electrical conductivity and you see why temperature comes into play and why it is important. TDS is a simple measurement of electrical conductivity with some math and conversions thrown in to make it simple for us to use and understand. If it does not read temperature it must make assumptions which are not always correct. The TDS-3, TDS-4TM, COM-100 and those newer meters all have a built in temperature probe so don't have to guess or assume anything. The nice thing with the COM-100 and the new meters is they can do electrical conductivity as well as TDS so are even more sensitive and accurate, the COM-100 reads down to tenths of a TDS and isn't that much more expensive.

Well thanks for all the info. Anyone want a free tds meter

Im gonna buy one of those today Com-100

 

[Budman's Corals]

those are around 60 bucks though,dont see them for 20-25

 

[GHill762]

Theres one thing that I've learned out here on the Reefing Sites, when this guy AZDesertRat talks about water and what you should be using, I'd listen to the guy. He really is, what you snickered at, a Master at it.

lol, +1, AZ is the master.. he's reminds me of the waterboy "now THAT's some high quality H2O!!"

 

[WillKatt]

First let me say I AM NOT an expert on this so take what I say as face value.

My understanding is that most basic TDS meters that do not compensate for temperature are designed to be used at "room temperature" which I found on line usually means ~72 degrees and yes the air and RO sample should both be at "room temperature". I personally think anything above 2ppm is a problem.