Understanding Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)-Tuesday Tip
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ค. 2024
- TDS is a measurement of ALL the "stuff", organic or inorganic that is contained in our water. It can effect oxygenation, growth, metabolism, breeding, health and longevity for the critters we keep in our glass boxes. This video aims to explain what it is, how to test it, and what we can do about it.
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I say this woman is the 2015 sensation for the aquarist on TH-cam .
I'll get some fishy from her . Hope others do same to support her
I know it's an old video, but I'd like to say thanks for the time making it.
My tap waters TDS is around 300 - It's quite high, I know.
Mainly, i am keeping Angelfish for a few years now and i have always struggled to keep my TDS as low as i can.
So i went on research to try to get more information about it and to better understand TDS.
Now what u mentioned > 300 being very hard water, yeah my KH/15 and GH/20 can verify it.
I've been thinking of using RO water but, 50/50 on a water change would get my TDS about to 150… would love to get it even lower, so i guess ill have to calculate a little bit.
So far i haven't gotten any problems with the angels, breeding is going wonderful, i just love them a bit too much to ignore the high TDS more.
I'm just getting into the fish hobby, and there is so much to learn. This lesson does help me out, because I was confused when some youtubers was saying hard and soft water. This cleared it up very well for me. Thank you.
Getting a TDS meter has opened my eyes to what is going on in my tank. Thanks you!!!
Thanks for doing this video. I have a TDS meter, but I understand better now what to do with it and how to use the information - a lightbulb went on over my head as I was watching this.
+Type R I am glad!
Great informational vid. Love your work. I've taken a few years off from reefing and fresh water and am just getting back in. During my fish free hiatus I dabbled a bit in hydroponics, so I have both TDS and pH meters that I used for those. Great explanation of TDS values in relation to renal function. Your fish room and videos are truly inspiring as well.
This video was super helpful! one of the most useful aquarium videos I've watched. Thank you! Please keep making more like it.
Whew woman!! Thank YOU. Empty 75 gallon and studying day in and day out everyday trying my best to absorb and learn whatever it takes so I can be successful and decide what will be excellent (not just par) in my tank. And I do mean everything, my brain is exploding. The TDS understanding is FINALLY clear thanks to you. It wasn't enough to understand that it's about the particles in water. WHAT does it do and how it relates to a fish/shrimp is how you finally nailed it home. I went face to face with a hometown pet store owner (not a huge brand name place like pet smart) and asked:
"But why is it important?"
He said " Because. "
I said "Because why?"
Dead silent stare. Yeah, won't purchase anything there!
So, huge thanks Rachel!!! :) :)
Glad I could help!
Loved this video. Just got a TDS reader like yours. You answered a lot of questions. Thank you so much for your knowledge.
Most explanations I've heard on TDS (and other subjects) are very technical in nature, and therefore, confusing to many of us. It's clear to me that you know what you're talking about, and I really like how you explain things in a more down to earth way, making it much easier to understand, and still get the point across. Thank You!
+Darrell Adams thanks for the kind words! That is my goal
I'm impressed with this play list. I'm going to have to take notes and try this out for myself.
I had no idea "the Rachael" had a TH-cam channel. Excellent scapes, knows her stuff, subscribed.
+Dylan Gibson ACK! I am "the Rachel"- that is terrifying :D Started youtube in November- it has been fun so far!
Another great, informative video Rachel.
Thank you!!
Now, I am going to test my tank water :)
Her advice and information are always easy to understand especially for those new to the hobby.
glad to hear it!
wow. thanks so much for this. i have been trying to wrap my mind around this subject and you explained it perfectly.
Thank u for sharing Rachel... the way u explain base line gave me a tds to aim for... in my indoor ponds.
Thanks Rachel. It did help me to understand stuff about TDS!
Other wise, you are very smart and I like your videos. I am still learning and you have some great insight. Thanks. Keep them coming.
you have been really helpful i must say.. subscribed in a second right after the video . awesome works!!
This is a great presentation!
Awesome explanation, best one i've seen, I dont have a TDS meter but the PH from the tap water is around 8.0, guess i really need a RO to keep the freshwater tank I want. Please keep doing this videos
Awesome informative video
Great info,especially for an oldie like me. Well explained thanks. You’ve gained a sub👍
Great vid Rachel tks
Nice video and beautifully explained thanks for your efforts.
Rachel she is the real deal. Love your video's
Great video! I use filtered rain water and my TDS is 3 and Ph is 6. I just got a new TDS meter and it wasn't the real deal and it was showing me that I have a TDS much higher than I know I have. So ordered another one and hope its the real deal this time. Remember the cheap ones are not good, go for the more mid range price and you should be alright.
Hi Rachel!
I am a newbie in the aquarium hobby. I am really confused about TDS and Conductivity. As an aquarist I want to make sure that I can make my fish the most comfortable. I believe understanding the nitrogen cycle, feeding, water changes, and all the other things involved are really important to keeping my fish healthy. But the one topic I still am confused about is TDS and Conductivity. If you could please make a video about it on your Tuesday Tips it would be great!
Keep up the GREAT videos!
Thanks Rachel!
~Brandon (EMTinHawaii) EMT as in Emergency Medical Technician
Hi Brandon - TDS pens actually MEASURE conductivity: they then estimate the Total Dissolved Solids using a built in algorithm to give the TDS read out in parts per million.
TDS in science is a measurement of the weight of all the solids dissolved in a given volume of water. This is figured out by weighing the water in a container, boiling off the water and weighing the solids left that did not evaporate.
This isn't very useful in the aquarium hobby and so the TDS pen gives a very useful approximation of how many solids are dissolved by measuring the water's conductivity, since most of it comes from dissolves salts. The problem with TDS pens is that they can't tell you WHAT is dissolved in the water.
However they are extremely useful as Rachel explained when you simply want to compare water. She compares the water out of her well and compares it to that in the aquarium. I use one daily to compare my RO water before and after I re-mineralise it and to the water in my fish tanks. This alone can give me a quick and reliable measure of when I need to do a water change.
Hope that helps.
Great top and even more important in saltwater tanks. I use simple TDS pen when I make water for my reef tanks. It's a great little tool and let's me know when my filters need changing in my RODI unit.
You crack me up! You called an alligator clip a roach clip. LOL. kind of told on yourself.
hi hope you are keeping well hard times i know feel for you . i am going over to rifts my tds is 340 from tap as usual you gave me the ans super take care
Thank you so much .so handy
I have never seen such fluent explanation.
It is important to know which minerals are in your water before TDS testing. My water is very hard, but has few other minerals. My grandfather had a small coal mine on his property and his water was loaded with sulfur. It probably had a very low PH, but a very high TDS. (We never tested it because he never kept fish.) TDS meters will tell you how much mineral is dissolved in your water, but not which minerals and how much of each mineral. If you have city water, your water company can tell you because they have to test it constantly by law, if you have well water, your county health department should be able to test it for you or at least tell you who can.
Nice info. It helped clear my mind.
Good information in simple terms.
Awesome as usual
Thanks racel, that really helped a lot. My habrosus will be much happier from now on.
Thank you best explanation so far:)
Did not know you had a TH-cam channel, seen you on Joeys channel before. I subbed!
Great video! Very educational :)
Very informational.
Great Video.
Thank you! Very informative. I never knew this was a thing. :-)
This was enlighting
Nice coming out my tap I haves tds of55 last time I checked .... I also use a rodi to make super clean water for more hard to come by fish like my Ivanacara adoketa and xiphophorus clemencia..... I like to use seachem replenish to remineralize the water
thanks Rachel I was researching this tds topic a few days ago and by far your explanation was the best! I will invest in one of those tds readers as I need to get my hands on some crs. ..I'm in Cape Town South Africa so need to find out how I can actually get my hands on some
+Yazeed Bassadien beautiful area. I hope to visit some day
Good info!
I only added water (never changed) to my 30 gallon with red cherry shrimp for about a year. My TDS out of the faucet is just over 300 PPM (just under 300 PPM if I take a shower first, old pumbing) but the high amount of plants in the tank kept the numbers down. After adding a baby pleco that kept pulling the plants up with it's pectoral fins the TDS skyrocketed to around 2100 PPM over several more months. I know that's supposed to be too high, but the only thing it seemed to do was slow down breeding for the shrimp and the over abundance of pond snails. I've been adding distilled water only for months and it's going down (about 1500 PPM now) but very slowly. I believe the algae tablets (Hikari Algae Waffers) are adding a large amount of minerals to the system. The only reason I haven't taken the pleco out and replanted is because I'm moving soon. Then hopefully things will be back to normal.
Great job. And you are lucky out of tap under 110... mine is 274 out of tap but that is with all the crap my local water authority is putting in. I have a RO/DI unit from Bulk Reef Supply water out of the RO unit is at 4 and of course after DI unit at zero.
Thanks! You are awesome!
You are awesome!
Rachel, I wonder if you have any book or other resources that you would recommend to hobbiest so that we can increase our knowledge. Thank you and I am loving the videos.
Hi I have a question about well water I have super hard water that had a lot of calcium and iron I was cutting it with R/o water and everything was fine, but now my Dad installed a water softener. I tested the water and it dropped the GH by a lot and the KH by a little bit, the PH seems to be the same. I was wondering if its safe to use? should I cut it with R/O and add some calcium and Iron back in? or should I just use the R/O water? My fish are all Guppies, Platys and Pitbull Pleccos
tried shrimp- no luck got ro meter 345 reading tap water- setting up ro unit. great explanation- thanks
The water softener we had used salt. Is the sodium chloride a "chloride" or do the softeners you're referring to use a different method than mine did?
interesting! I'm going to check out these TDS pens and check all my tanks and tap ,I've been guessing my way thru fishkeeping for years and have no idea what my water parameters are!
hi my TDS is reading 5ppm I'm using my RO unit and my tank test 135 pmm is that good
Excellent video Rachel I keep discus and all you hear about is tds being low does your ph directly correlate to tds thanks very much
+walter otiepka There is not a super quick or easy answer to that question. GH is tied
to pH. GH is also tied to TDS. GENERALLY, if you have high pH, you have
high hardness, and high TDS. BUT you can have super high TDS with low
hardness, and pH. One thing a lot of discus (and apisto) keepers do to
combat all of these things is peat, which I did not mention in my video. Using peat lowers gh, kh, TDS and pH, as well as adding tannins, phenols, humic acid, etc all of which are beneficial to fish who come from a blackwater environment.
It's helps a lot mam 😊
It seems I can always count on you for an education. thank you. oddly enough I was looking at electric pH and tds meters last night. this was a combo unit. do you have a brand you recommend?
+Jef B (808fishkeeper) I don't know if I really have a brand that I recommend, I just read reviews and purchased one in my budget, which was the HM TDS-4 Pocket size pen. The TDS-4 has a stated accuracy of +/- 2% as
opposed to the +/- 3% of the TDS-EZ. The TDS-4 has ATC (Automatic
Temperature Compensation) which comes in handy since water can be
different temps. Each had the same hold and auto-off function and read
in 1 ppm for the first 999 and 10 ppm for 1000 - 9990. For me, I need an idea, not necessarily precision, of what i am working with, so for $20, this was ideal for me.
I got 2 blood parrot and they are still lil babies. Like around 1 inch or so. Our regular tap water TDS is around 118. My goal is to keep the TDS level between 200 to 300. In order to achieve this I have to do the water change daily or sometime every second day. No real or artificial plants in the tank just few hiding spots with power filter and air pump. After doing water change TDS will drop around 215 or so however in 24 hours sometimes TDS reading will be 364. Is there any reason that you can imagine why TDS is increasing so frequently. I do vacuum the gravel for any waste every time I change the water. Also my tank is like 8 days old or so.
If you're keeping Red Cherry Shrimp, how do you keep the TDS low if you need to keep the GH at 6 and KH at 4? That stuff boosts the TDS.
Thanks Rachel- interesting. penny
Thanks are those readings in ppm?
Thought I would relay a story about my tanks that relate directly to this video. For the past year I haven't done any water changes on my tanks, relying instead on the fact that I took the lids off and would just add water when it evaporated. This amount was the same as when I was doing water changes once a week. It never doned on me that I was concentrating stuff in the the water that wasn't evaporating. Then I watched this video and Rachel specifically mentions the evaporation proccess. So I ordered the tds meter and when it came in I measured my tap first then the tank water. Tap was 50, which surprised me since we are on city water. Tank tds was 450 OMG! This is probably why my plants won't grow hardly at all and new plants just die. Also I am surprised that I haven't lost all my fish. I was baffled as to why the fish and plants were dieing since every other level I my tanks were acceptable i.e. pH, nitrite, nitrate ect. So thank you Rachel for this video you have saved my fish tanks and they will probably thrive now.
You may want to do very small frequent changes for the first couple weeks, then establish a new schedule. Glad it helped!!
+Rachel O'leary I did a 50% change immediately and had planned on waiting a couple days then doing another 50% percent change. But do think a should cut back the amount of water changed I will and only do like 10% every other day till I get the tds down to 100. After the 50% change it is at 225.
As long as the critters are ok have at it, I think if it was going to be problematic that first change would have been the one
+Rachel O'leary 👌👍
I want to know which BRAND I should buy. HM TDS 3 or HM TDS 4 ?
Yay! More science!
+Catfish Cave I have always love animals, and always loved science. For me- fish keeping is an incredible meld of two of my biggest interests. I can get my geek on in two ways at once!
Here's a question which still confuses me but I understand reasons why. In the wild and outdoor fish farms etc., a lot of the water is just regular water from nearby rivers streams and runoff and same with rain water that gets into theses farms and in the wild is that a lot of these locations DO NOT have declorinators in some aspect so why do we need to buy and put in theses things into our tanks I know for the chlorine and similar things.
hello, nice video - my question is does plants need high TDS? does it affect their growth? thanks
+asvin2011 Some plants do, for sure. I actually had to pull out most of the ferns as they didn't like the low TDS. THe mosses and the fissidens and buces are going gangbusters though.
My Goldfish Aquarium water TDS level is 480. Is this okay or not?
Rachel! so my tap water comes out at 600+ tds... what range do I need to keep my neocaridina at??
Too high for them. Get a RO unit.
I'm assuming aquaponics (or growing plants like pothos) will lower TDS.
the test kits, when they measure general hardness is this the same or include TDS?
+missesraisin general hardness is the measure of all the dissolved minerals, TDS is those, but also any inorganics dissolved in the water
My water is 134 , I'm raising guppies I think it calls for above 300 how do I raise it up and is that a good idea, thank you
Thanks for the video. Very informative. I have to increase my TDS to 350 to 400 as I have Australian Red Claw Crayfish. But my water is only 120. How can I increase it?
Wonder Shell. This product slowly releases calcium, which will benefit your crayfish immediately.
crushed coral has some carbonates or bi-carbonates readily available.
Your Gh and Kh measurements are important here. Another test, but helpful information... Kh will give you an indication of a future pH swing... Gh is the ability for the water to buffer against oxidation/reduction. Search redox for aquariums. It’s very enlightening..
What is the best amount of tds for adult discus? And kh ,gh ??? Thanks dear 😘😘😘🌹🌹🌹
I have really hard water here with a Kh of 200ppm and Gh of 350ppm. I have always struggled to keep fish alive to their full lifespan. I guess this could be a reason why? The pH of my tap water is really high 8.0. TDS of my tap water is around 400 - 450
Great info. Thanks. But I am confused... I'm new to this, so perhaps someone can help. My tap water TDS is 45ppm (I have a 3-stage whole house filter) and KH & GH are about 2. When I add Equilibrium and API aquarium salt, the GH goes to 6 and TDS to 448. The KH is still at 2, so I need to keep adding stuff to get it to 6. So, I don't see how it is possible to have KH and GH both at 6 and keep the TDS around 100. Or am I missing something.
Salt raises TDS dramatically. Why are you adding it? What kind of fish are you keeping? The only way you can get a TDS of 100 is to not to use salt. It is not needed unless you are trying to keep brackish fish and even some of those can be kept in fresh water as well.
Hi, and thanks for your reply. I am using salt because it had been sold to me in the store and when I read the package it says that it is needed to provide essential electrolytes and whatnot. I guess API are phrasing their info in a misleading way. The fish I am keeping are one male betta and 4 cory cats, in a 10 gallon. I am about to hook up a 5 gal sump to that tank and when I resolve some furniture issues I will be moving those fish into a 20 gal (which I already have) with a sump. Someone else also told me salt was a bad idea so I have been diluting the water gradually through water changes. Also, I never use any water conditioner, since my water comes from a 3 stage house filter that removes chlorine. But someone told me it would be better to use unfiltered water (that contains chlorine) and just use water conditioner. I'm not sure if I should take that advice, as I also want to add shrimp and all my house pipes are copper. As the tank grown I would also like to add neon tetras and one dwarf sucker fish, and stop at that. I also want o add more plants. At this time there is only one sword, a few marimo balls, a few floater plants and a small pothos plant. The substrate is pool filter sand. The fish are not overfed. Thanks...
Raindrop Services ...you are on the right track. Keep using your filtered tap water.
The less chemicals you have to use, generally saves money and is healthier for fish. There are many public water systems that do not produce quality tap water. Most have detectable levels of lead, arsenic, petroleum byproducts, etc... not to mention chlorine, chloramines, and hexofluorocillica acid. You are smart enough to have a house filter installed for your family, share it with your fish 👌🏻
Your plant selection sounds nice. I’ve always found that aquarium water parameters were more stable and easier to obtain when the tank had established plants. Another ‘old school’ tip, toss in a Wonder Shell. This product is one that actually gives the hobbyist what they are looking for, a slow release of calcium. This will help you dial in on yourTDS, Gh, and Kh numbers
Good luck.
Thank you, HCS, for your reply. I keep testing the water and the usual 3 suspects are always on zero. So, I end up doing very small water changes, usually just picking up waste. It is pretty stable, now, I think. I see some videos of people doing no water changes, but I actually don't believe that's good. With time air deposits dust particles in the water, through the air pump and through regular cycling. Although the levels might test OK dust will still accumulate in the tank.
Yes, I will add a wonder shell, especially now that we added a dwarf crayfish and a snail. Those guys will need the calcium.
Another thing that I will do is a sump with a refugium. This is just a 10 gallon tank, but I will make a 10 galon sump for it. There's room for it and it can't possibly hurt.
Can you do a video on your air system around the fishroom
+Luke Andrews Sure, but it will be loud, lol
u have good tap water mine was 300-350, I got a RO unit w/a piggyback design for double the output, RO units waste alot of water
Rachel, are Tilapia considered African Cichlids, and therefore preferring very hard water?
Fish from Africa inhabit a WIDE range of parameters- western fishes come
from very soft water, so it depends on which type and their distribution. Oreochromis for instance, can take
from 6-8pH, and even brackish waters.
Hmm, unfortunately I don't know exactly what I have, I got them off Kijiji from another Aquaponics hobbyist, who was selling brood stock he didn't have room to grow out. They seem to be 2 different breeds... (2 widely different colour patterns.)
Charcoal and poly filter can help reduce TDS
how can I lower my TDs?right now I have 60g tank,and 126 TDs.i want it drop to 50 TDs.
dzulima55@gmail.com Ahmad Ahmad ro or rain water mix
Can someone help.. are tap water is 130 fresh , tank is at 500 !! Guppy’s live in these TDS levels butt is my water content ok? I mean it’s 130 fresh
Hi Rachel... I am currently moving to a new apartment... there the water hardness level is above 250 and where I'm staying right now is around 120. After I move, how do I match up to reduce the hardness by 50%...?
+Mohammed Taher Whether or not you even need to, really depends on what you are keeping. Otherwise, mix your tap water with either RO or Rainwater to cut the TDS.
Rachel O'leary Thanks for your inputs... I keep tetras and rasboras. I have 5 planted tanks. I think I'll go with the ro water mix...
+Gabor P Sure I'll decide once I shift... Thanks for your inputs...
My TDS is high. Source water from suppliers it self high. It is 500+. Kindly suggest
Usually residential softeners do change Ca and Mg cations for Na, not carbonates for chlorides. NaCl is used for regeneration of ion resin. So the result is, TDS doesn't change, but you get a lot of Na instead of Ca and Mg, and this is absolutely not good for aquarium water. Also KH rises much with softener
Interesting, TDS means something completely different now....
do guppy eat there fry?
I wish my water was as soft as yours, its 550ppm after going through a softener
Don’t think tds meter reads suspended solids.
um ok, now u have 1 on the other eye.
My mother has a high case of TDS and she suffers from deep deppression, hope he doesnt get reelcted in 2024!
Hahahahaha