Using 60+ TDS straight from the tap

[samnaz]

I use 60-80 TDS straight from the tap. I have been doing so for about 2 years.

RODI at Zero TDS is the goal a lot of you strive for. Even 2 TDS is unacceptable cause it can trigger algae outbreaks, apparently.

Yet here I am with 60 TDS, no outbreaks, no deaths, healthy growing corals...

What am I missing here?

 

[P-Dub]

Missing nothing. Whatever you got going on there it is not negatively affecting the overall chemistry or is able to handle it. Show us a pic!

 

[Lasse]

TDS is a fruit parameter - you now how many kilo of fruit you have - but not how much of different fruits like bananas, apples, grapes and so on. TDS measurements is nothing else than conductive measurements - it saying nothing else than how man ions you have in the water. You can have a lot of harmless ions (like Na and Cl) given your reading of 50 - 80 ppm but in an other water - the conductivity is caused by metal ions - and in that case - very low ppm reading can be harmful.

By the way - there I live - the tap water is of very good quality - I have use tap water for more than 10 years now. TDS? - I have not a clue

Sincerely Lasse

 

[40B Knasty]

I have .048 out of the tap. Drilled a hole in a 5 gallon bucket. Aquarium sealed a Zerowater 6 cup pitcher filter to the bottom. Now I have .000TDS. I get algae, because I feed 2-3x a day. I also have moderate flow so a lot will settle. Softies and zoas don't like the flow to heavy.

 

[JCM]

Lasse is totally right. 50ppm of some things is perfectly fine. 50ppm of others could be deadly. Tds is incapable of measuring what the 50ppm is comprised of.

 

[samnaz]

Got it! Thanks guys.

We get yearly water reports and have very clean tap water here. Some of the cleanest in Michigan. Lucky me!

 

[graffitireef]

Got it! Thanks guys.

We get yearly water reports and have very clean tap water here. Some of the cleanest in Michigan. Lucky me!

This is true. I'm near Detroit and I used to use tap water and had zero water issues. I'll probably be using ro/di for my next build because I plan on keeping some very challenging corals/sea fans once things are established. I had actually spoken with Dick Perrin of Tropicorium who had told me that he has used tap water all his life without any problems. Some cities in Michigan have very high quality tap water.

 

[Lasse]

Since I wrote my post 3 a year ago - I have change to RO/DI. The reason is that I want to see if it did any changes to my system - the answer is - probably no. But now, because I have run more than 10 months with RODI and do not do any WC at all - I keep on with it. And I know my TDS in the tap water - it is around 150 ppm - before - I run with tapwater in different tanks for + 10 years.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Cory]

Interesting. Id guess a lot of minerals would be consumed by algae.