Tds........meter read 896

MY TANK WATER JUST READ 896 ON MY TDS METER WHAT CAN BE WRONG HOW DO I LOWER THIS, MY RO/DI READS 14 ON TDS METER I AM LOOSING CONTROL OF MY SYSTEMHELP ME PLEASE ANYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

how long have you had the ro/di system? if the output water is reading 14 then it sounds like dirty filters or membrane.

 

well i have had for about 6 months and i did just put some kent marine superbuffer--dkh, and should i be using this stuff, before i checked tds

 

nope you should be checking the tds after it comes out of the ro/di unit.
I have 2 tds meters on mine one after the filters(before the ro membrane)so I can tell when the filters need to be changed and one on the output after the di. it should read 0 coming out of the di.
as far as reading your tank water with a tds it will be high because of the salts,fish waste ,cal, mag ,trace elements and such.

 

I seen those on ebay for about 15 dollars i need to get one cause mine are hand held

 

yeh the inline ones are nice to have as it makes it easier to know when each of the filters needs to be changed.

 

If you are reading that TDS out of your display tank, that is perfectly normal from what I understand. It will read all of the dissolved organics and salt to show a high reading. If your purified source water out of the RO/DI system (before you add it into your tank) is reading that high, then you want to recalibrate your meter, then go off that reading to determine if you need to change the filters. Hope this helps.

 

If your TDS meter could measure it, you'd find the salt water (in your aquarium) would read somewhere between 35,000 and 45,000 ppm.

TDS meters used in this hobby typically can't read over 9,999 ppm.

If your DI water reads 14 you are long overdue for a resin change.

From our FAQ's:

In this hobby we measure Total Dissolved Solids in parts per million, or "ppm." We often try to measure TDS down near 0 ppm. Because this TDS level is so low, we have to keep in mind the sensitivity of the meter used to measure it, and the technique used to measure the tds.

Nearly any contamination in the sample container will cause an erroneous TDS measurement. Some plastic containers are difficult to get absolutely clean, and although they appear clean, they are not. An easy standard approach is to use a drinking glass as a sample container - use one right out of the dishwasher. Obviously, keep your fingers away from the inside surface of the glass.

Calibrate your meter. Use a calibration fluid generally in the range of the tds measurements you'll be taking. Some meters require a specific tds calibration fluid (e.g., 800 ppm), regardless of the tds levels in your samples.

Be careful with how you take your samples. Let's say you intend to measure the TDS in your 1) DI water, 2) RO water, and 3) tap water. Start with the cleanest of the three - the DI water. After letting the system run for a sufficient period of time that you are sure the tds levels have stabilized (to assure you are not measuring tds creep water), rinse the sample container two or three times with the water you intend to sample, and then fill the sample container with sufficient DI water to take a reading.

Now on to the RO water. The water we are interested in here is the permeate – i.e., the water that has been purified by the RO membrane – not the waste water. Make sure you understand which is which before taking the sample. Most RODI systems other than Buckeye Systems are not plumbed to facilitate taking a sample of the permeate. If that is the case, you’ll need to unhook some tubing – likely where the tubing attaches to the “in” port on the DI housing in order to take this sample. This is inconvenient for many people, and we find that people never do it. They report only the tap water TDS and the DI water TDS. Contact Buckeye if you need guidance regarding installing a couple of extra fittings and tubing to facilitate measuring the TDS of the RO water (permeate). When you take the sample, follow the same procedure described above – use a clean sample container, assure you are not measuring TDS creep water, rinse with the permeate several times before taking the sample, and use a calibrated meter.

Use the same approach to collect and measure your tap water as well.

Russ