TDS in LFS water

[knee]

I just bought some sparkling gouramis from one of my go to LFS and while I was preparing them for quarantine I tested the TDS of their water. I was shocked because it came out to 1000+ and when I added some of my tank water it brought it down to 500's.

Is that normal for their water to have that much TDS? Has anyone measured the water from their LFS?

This is just from one LFS, and I do trust them because they also quarantine their stock and I rarely get any deaths from the fish that they sold to me.  But part of me can't believe that they stay in that kind of water the whole time they're in the store.

[nabokovfan87]

What is the GH and KH and PH? I'd be real curious to see what that meter does in a calibration test.

Very interesting!

Given location, I can say it might actually be normal. Especially if they came from a tank with a lot of rock that was dumping in minerals or some other situation incidentally led to OTS buildup in their system.

[knee]

On 2/5/2023 at 3:44 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

What is the GH and KH and PH? I'd be real curious to see what that meter does in a calibration test.

Very interesting!

Given location, I can say it might actually be normal. Especially if they came from a tank with a lot of rock that was dumping in minerals or some other situation incidentally led to OTS buildup in their system.

I did not test and I should've. I'll definitely remember when I purchase from them again. 

Their tanks are run separately with sponge filters and gravel substrate so it got me thinking if they're changing the water or just topping off. 

[TOtrees]

Ask them if they added salt to their tank(s). It totally messes with tds measurements in freshwater. 

[Rschneeberg]

Can someone explain why GH says soft on test strips but my TDS stick says 295

Is 295 Soft water, thought it was hard?

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/23/2023 at 4:50 PM, Rschneeberg said:

Can someone explain why GH says soft on test strips but my TDS stick says 295

Is 295 Soft water, thought it was hard?

 

[knee]

On 2/23/2023 at 4:50 PM, Rschneeberg said:

Can someone explain why GH says soft on test strips but my TDS stick says 295

Is 295 Soft water, thought it was hard?

Maybe there's other stuff in the water like ferts or aquarium salt? 

GH test measures the calcium and magnesium in the water 

[Guppysnail]

Wrong thread sorry

Edited February 24, 2023 by Guppysnail

[Chris]

This is actually a pretty great example of why TDS meters can be spectacularly unhelpful at times. They only tell us that there's stuff in the water - not what kind of stuff, and if it's harmful. Just how much.

May be a bit of an unpopular opinion in some circles, but I'm pretty well convinced that most fish and even inverts don't care too much what PH, KH, and GH they're kept at - as long as the number isn't an extreme and is relatively stable. The vast majority of freshwater fish will do just fine at 7.0 PH IME. I'd also wager that most would do fine at 6.5, and most would do well at 8.0. The key is stability. There are obvious examples of fish that may prefer softer, acidic water or harder, alkaline water, but I've seen people keep a huge variety of fish in parameters that are way off of what they live in in the wild with no obvious adverse effects.

TL;DR - TDS meters give us food for thought, but IMO and IME they're pretty much a niche tool and the info it gives us should probably be taken with a hefty portion of ACO aquarium salt.

[Sleepy]

On 2/24/2023 at 8:30 AM, Chris said:

This is actually a pretty great example of why TDS meters can be spectacularly unhelpful at times. They only tell us that there's stuff in the water - not what kind of stuff, and if it's harmful. Just how much.

May be a bit of an unpopular opinion in some circles, but I'm pretty well convinced that most fish and even inverts don't care too much what PH, KH, and GH they're kept at - as long as the number isn't an extreme and is relatively stable. The vast majority of freshwater fish will do just fine at 7.0 PH IME. I'd also wager that most would do fine at 6.5, and most would do well at 8.0. The key is stability. There are obvious examples of fish that may prefer softer, acidic water or harder, alkaline water, but I've seen people keep a huge variety of fish in parameters that are way off of what they live in in the wild with no obvious adverse effects.

TL;DR - TDS meters give us food for thought, but IMO and IME they're pretty much a niche tool and the info it gives us should probably be taken with a hefty portion of ACO aquarium salt.

This. I believe the only other time it really matters is for breeding.

[Biotope Biologist]

We use TDS meters to test with conjunction to several other meters and tests for water quality. The TDS meter allows us to know what’s background and what’s accurate with our meters. 
 

I have always found it weird that they have become so prevalent in the hobby in recent years as it just confuses the heck out of most people who use them. TDS meters were never meant to be standalone testers!