TDS in RODI - need urgent advice

[Brav403]

I have made a mistake and have not been checking my TDS in my RODI as much as I should have. As a result my filters have needed changing and have produced water with 26TDS which I have been topping off with for over a week.

I have corrected this now and my ATO is back using 0 TDS. Corals and tank inhabitants seem fine other than I've been experiencing Cyano & Hair Algae blooms which makes sense to me now given the TDS in the top off.

Will my tank recover from this? Do I need to do massive water changes or just carry on as normal?

 

[Garf]

I have made a mistake and have not been checking my TDS in my RODI as much as I should have. As a result my filters have needed changing and have produced water with 26TDS which I have been topping off with for over a week.

I have corrected this now and my ATO is back using 0 TDS. Corals and tank inhabitants seem fine other than I've been experiencing Cyano & Hair Algae blooms which makes sense to me now given the TDS in the top off.

Will my tank recover from this? Do I need to do massive water changes or just carry on as normal?

I'd carry on as normal with the exception of monitoring the RODI more closely :)
I expect the algae situations are just a new tank thing.

 

[Brav403]

I'd carry on as normal with the exception of monitoring the RODI more closely :)
I expect the algae situations are just a new tank thing.

Tank is 10 months old so I guess could still be going through the algae as normal. Thanks for chilling me out :)

 

[AmazingYocool]

I have made a mistake and have not been checking my TDS in my RODI as much as I should have. As a result my filters have needed changing and have produced water with 26TDS which I have been topping off with for over a week.

I have corrected this now and my ATO is back using 0 TDS. Corals and tank inhabitants seem fine other than I've been experiencing Cyano & Hair Algae blooms which makes sense to me now given the TDS in the top off.

Will my tank recover from this? Do I need to do massive water changes or just carry on as normal?

you will be ok, the phosphates will go down over time and with water changes. :D

 

[Sweet Reef Corals Verified Sponsor]

Tank is 10 months old so I guess could still be going through the algae as normal. Thanks for chilling me out :)

The dirty RODI will feed some uglies for a while but once the bad elements are consumed by those uglies, you’ll get back to normal. If you want to nip that process in the bud you could do a 50% WC or more to dilute those pollutants quicker.

The solution to pollution is dilution;)

 

[GARRIGA]

That TDS can be copper or could be mostly nitrates or something else such as phosphates that will solve itself. Easy enough to test copper, nitrates and phosphates to determine those levels then take action, if needed.

Not all TDS detrimental because not all tap the same. Have copper pipes? That would of greater concern. Drawing well water with who knows what pesticides or other farm runoff and that would be a concern. Did your municipality decide to increase chlorine to flush their system? That would be a concern although still likely that has already dissipated if no signs of stress seen.

This madness with zero TDS in a hobby where nothing added that can't be tested probably induces more stress then necessary. At the same time without knowing there's also the possibility something slipped by not wanted. Why I say test the display including the eye test for distress before making massive water changes although won't hurt assuming parameters within proper range to avoid causing man made concerns from fixing what wasn't broke. Just because there's smoke doesn't necessarily mean there's a five alarm fire. Check first before waking our first responders :cool:

 

[Crestline]

well, I've just discovered i made the same mistake.

Got too comfortable and stopped monitoring my RODI.

I've been doing water changes with 200+ TDS water for roughly 3-4 months.

Right around the time all my SPS died. For some reason I just sort of shrugged it off and attributed it to new tank woes and figure I wasn't ready for SPS even though they had been doing well for a few months prior. Never even considered my source water.

I plan to do some larger water changes for the next 3-4 weeks then proceeding as normal.

Lesson learned.

 

[BryanM]

As long as the tank inhabitants look good I would just do normal maintenance.

 

[Tamberav]

For about $25, you can add an in line TDS meter, a 3 line one would tell you TDS before membrane, after membrane and after RODI. It an easy way to see when you need to replace the DI vs the membrane since you could easily calculate rejection rate from those numbers. I change the pre filters every 6 months unless they actually look filthy earlier.

Since it’s just the push of a button right there on the unit, it keeps me from being lazy about checking it.