BACK IN BLACK

[MacZ]

I use a standard RO unit without DI stage. My water comes out with a out 10microsiemens conductivity and 5 mg/l TDS. My tank has readings of about 40 for EC and 20-25 for TDS. I do nothing to push the readings down further as I have no need. Readings like this are possible without much work and absolutely sufficient. Unless you want to try and keep/breed licorice gourami it's not worth the trouble.

The peat construction is called a peat cannon. Peat is an ion exchanger. It chemically reduces KH and GH and adds H+ ions thus making water softer and more sour. Peat can be used on RO and Rainwater and the result is pretty much blackwater. As I deem peat not sustainable I'd only use it for extremophile fish. So for most dwarf cichlids it's only a nice to have but not a must have.

The EC meters go for about 20€ in retail, they look like these cheap pH pens and measure conductivity and TDS. In contrast to the cheap pH probes these meters work just fine usually, as they simply measure current, which doesnt require special electrodes.
I'm not at home this week and only on my phone. Can't do the research for you linking to amazon or stuff. Sorry.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I guess someone once told me beneficial bacteria couldn’t survive acidic conditions, I accepted it and never bothered to research it further.

On the UKAPS forum we've spoken with a couple of the leading scientific research labs about this, and their answers are illuminating. I'll add in the threads, a lot of the journal articles (and other relevant threads) are linked in.

• <"Correspondence with Dr Ryan Newton - School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee">
• <"Correspondence with the Neufeld lab. University of Waterloo">

Edit: what @MacZ says for the rest of the answer.

I have spent some time on the search function trying to research conductivity and TDS though..

So all TDS meter are really <"conductivity meters">.

Can I achieve that low of conductivity with a basic RO unit instead of the RODI models? I don’t know if it means anything to you but the unit have is the “geekpure 3 stage aquarium” model. And it’s only RO.

A DI unit is just an RO unit with a final stage of an ion exchange unit to mop up any residual ions. You should get water at less than 10 microS conductivity from the RO unit.

Also can I ask what exactly you’re using to test your water when you say, the conductivity? I can’t seem to find a straight forward answer anywhere on here about that. Is this like the run of the mill electrical meter

You need a "low range conductivity meter" $50 should buy you an accurate one.

cheers Darrel