TDS Meter Readings

[Jon]

I just bought my first TDS meter and I checked out the levels on my RO water. It gave me a reading of 22. Is that good? What are the paremeters we would like the levels to fall between?
Jon

 

[justchad]

I just bought my first TDS meter and I checked out the levels on my RO water. It gave me a reading of 22. Is that good? What are the paremeters we would like the levels to fall between?
Jon

I am learning about tds because i had a problem with rtn of my corals.. All the params were good. but the ro water I bought was reading 108 on the meter. I got my own rodi and installed a B/A TDS meter.. the before(tap) is reading 067 and the after (RODI) is now reading 000. I was told tds should be 000-005.I changed to tropic marin pro salt and just did my first waterchange with my rodi unit... Time will tell!

 

[Jon]

Chad, thanks for the info. I actually read my TDS incorrectly. I forgot to calibrate it before I did the test. It now reads 4 which means it maybe time to change my filters soon.

 

[Hawkeye]

4 is great for RO water reading. Or is that RODI?

 

[justchad]

4 is great for RO water reading. Or is that RODI?

what tds do you have phil?

 

[Jon]

That is an RO water reading. I have the Coralife 3 stage pureflo 50 gpd unit. The membranes are 7 months old which is why I began testing the water.

 

[Aceswild]

I would get a DI attachment that would give you your 000 reading

 

[anothermineral]

Most of the cheaper TDS meters on the market(< $40)will have an error range of ~ +/- 1.0 at best, so I'm not sure how anal you need to be with achieving a zero reading. I normally wait until my DI water reads 2 and then I replace my resin. My nitrates are undetectable and my phosphates max out at ~.03 (Hanna) when I finally replace my resin. With new resin, my phosphates run b/t .01 & .02.