Tds

[Arron]

Is tds important for shrimp? How do I do a water change and ensure that tds remains the same, what product can buffer this?

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[Y3H]

Generally speaking, shrimp that are more concerned with TDS are the more expensive ones like CRS.

RCS and their variants can adapt to various TDS, but it is good to keep them from skyrocketing.

I believe nothing can buffer TDS except for water changes. If you do want to closely monitor TDS, a TDS pen could probably help you out.


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[Urban Aquaria]

Is tds important for shrimp? How do I do a water change and ensure that tds remains the same, what product can buffer this?

TDS is basically an indication of the total dissolved solids in the water. Usually people get worried when TDS keeps creeping upwards because it indicates a build up of too much of certain things in the water (ie. due to rocks leaching minerals or ferts accumulating or too much waste and lack of water changes)... what you'd want ideally is stable TDS levels which contain all the good minerals and elements (rather than containing accumulated toxic waste and chemicals).

A TDS pen helps alot, get one (quite cheap, can order from Amazon for around $20+) and measure the TDS in your tank water, then measure the TDS in your tap water (after adding in de-chlorinator, as that also increases TDS slightly), from thereon its all about dilution. For example as a simple calculation, if your tank currently has 300 TDS, and your dechlorinated tap water is 100 TDS, if you do a 50% water change with it, your tank water will become 200 TDS.

What people usually do is take a series of tank water TDS measurements to see how much their tank's TDS increase daily, then work out the amount and frequency of water changes to keep the TDS within a certain range.

If you are keeping shrimps or fishes which are sensitive to TDS levels and need specific mineral content, use distilled water or get an RO unit to filter the water first (the distilled/RO water will have 0 TDS), then add in beneficial mineral/element solutions to re-balance the water to your exact requirements and TDS levels.