Ro tds test

Theres guys who use conditioned tap water in their reef tanks with success. I think 17ppm isn\'t going to hurt anything.

 

You have no idea what that TDS is made up of, don't chance it. Tap water is not worth the risk nor is higher TDS RO or RO/DI as you have no idea if its nitrates, phosphates, silicates, etc.

 

17 parts per million....just think how small that is.

 

Not saying i\'d chance it LOL. I change my cartridges frequently.

 

17 ppm phosphates or chlorine, among many others, is very deadly. You don't know what that 17ppm is composed of, and you also don't know what isn't detected by the TDS meter due to the TDS meter's true measure being "conductivity". It can't measure some compounds and elements.

 

if you have 17ppm ammonia, livestock is pretty much dead

 

17 ppm is not small when you consider many contaminants are no regulated in the parts per billion. Many are carcenogenic or cancer causing at those levels. Copper would ecrtainly wipe your reef out at that level and nitrates at 17 could cause concern in a SPS system. 177 ppm silicates or phosphates would be bad. The idea is you just don't know since TDS is not a measurement of anything in particular only that something(s) electrically conductive is/are present at that level.

 

I dont understand the whole copper thing. ESVs Bionic contains copper and I dose that along with many other people.

 

Copper binds to some oxygen-carrying compounds in fish and inverts, which basically suffocates them. You need amounts at greater than seawater quantity to start affecting them.

I believe natural seawater copper levels are usually measured in parts per billion. It's a very small trace.

 

So do some foods, so do many salts, so does natural saltwater. It all depends on what state it's in and in what concentration.