question about water conditioners

honor · 05-09-2008, 06:23 PM

so the ppm out of the tap at my house is around 100 but when i put my water conditioner it jumps to around 500!!

i know ppm isnt an exact measure of hardness but wow, that's alot of stuff in the conditioner, im using this

i got the pond one cause i figure more bang for the buck. but my bottle smells kinda funny, like sulfur, i was wondering if the conditioner can go bad? so far my fish seems to be doing ok, but im a little concerned as i've never smelled anything like this before from the conditioner.

anyone know got any advice?

Darkblade48 · 05-09-2008, 07:16 PM

Are you talking about TDS? I'm not sure what you are measuring, since you just say you measured 100 ppm before the conditioner, and 500 ppm afterwards.

Also, I think Prime also smells like sulfur; this is OK, it is due to the sodium thiosulfate that is in the conditioner to neutralize the chlorine.

honor · 05-09-2008, 07:20 PM

yeah, ppm is a measure of tds

Darkblade48 · 05-10-2008, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honor

yeah, ppm is a measure of tds

What I meant was that "ppm" by itself is not a measure of anything; it is simply a unit of measurement. You can use ppm to measure things like nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, etc.

honor · 05-12-2008, 03:09 PM

well, an semi-indication of hardness tho right? well, i guess i forgot to tell you i have an EC style ppm meter and im guessing it's giving me the TDS in ppm.

honor · 05-14-2008, 02:23 AM

say i have alot of calcium carbonate in my tank and i wana make my waters soft, can i just add aquaruim salt. i know this will affect the TDS, how high can teh tds go before it's bad for the tank?

honor · 05-14-2008, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Most aquatic ecosystems involving mixed fish fauna can tolerate TDS levels of 1000 mg/l.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids

hmm.

Darkblade48 · 05-14-2008, 05:33 AM

I don't see how adding aquarium salt will make your water softer. "Softness" is defined as the absence of magnesium and/or calcium cations.

As for the TDS, it's generally better to keep it lower. Just because an organism can tolerate it, doesn't necessarily mean it's healthy. An analogy: your boss at work gives you a big project, that is due by the end of the week. You tolerate the stress, but wouldn't it be much healthier if you didn't have stress in the first place?

honor · 05-14-2008, 05:20 PM

ok, i see. i got confused because household water softners use salt in an ionic exchage to remove minerals so yeah.. haha i guess it has to go thru some kinda mechnical process. i guess im just gona buy a ro/di unit.

Darkblade48 · 05-14-2008, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honor

ok, i see. i got confused because household water softners use salt in an ionic exchage to remove minerals so yeah.. haha i guess it has to go thru some kinda mechnical process. i guess im just gona buy a ro/di unit.

A household water softener uses an cationic exchange to replace the cations contributing to hardness (calcium and magnesium) with another cation which does not contribute to hardness (sodium). Since the definition of "hardness" is the presence of calcium and magnesium cations, when they are absent, the water is called "soft" (at least to humans).

For fish however, the presence of other cations (i.e. namely sodium, in this case) will increase the TDS.

05-09-2008, 06:23 PM	#1 (permalink)
honor Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4) Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Los Angeles California Posts: 379	question about water conditioners so the ppm out of the tap at my house is around 100 but when i put my water conditioner it jumps to around 500!! i know ppm isnt an exact measure of hardness but wow, that's alot of stuff in the conditioner, im using this i got the pond one cause i figure more bang for the buck. but my bottle smells kinda funny, like sulfur, i was wondering if the conditioner can go bad? so far my fish seems to be doing ok, but im a little concerned as i've never smelled anything like this before from the conditioner. anyone know got any advice?

05-09-2008, 07:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
Darkblade48 Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 164	Are you talking about TDS? I'm not sure what you are measuring, since you just say you measured 100 ppm before the conditioner, and 500 ppm afterwards. Also, I think Prime also smells like sulfur; this is OK, it is due to the sodium thiosulfate that is in the conditioner to neutralize the chlorine. __________________ Anthony If you find my advice helpful, be sure to click the reputation button (it's on the left, and they look like a pair of scales)

05-14-2008, 05:33 AM	#8 (permalink)
Darkblade48 Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 164	I don't see how adding aquarium salt will make your water softer. "Softness" is defined as the absence of magnesium and/or calcium cations. As for the TDS, it's generally better to keep it lower. Just because an organism can tolerate it, doesn't necessarily mean it's healthy. An analogy: your boss at work gives you a big project, that is due by the end of the week. You tolerate the stress, but wouldn't it be much healthier if you didn't have stress in the first place? __________________ Anthony If you find my advice helpful, be sure to click the reputation button (it's on the left, and they look like a pair of scales)

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05-09-2008, 07:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
honor Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4) Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Los Angeles California Posts: 379	yeah, ppm is a measure of tds

05-12-2008, 03:09 PM	#5 (permalink)
honor Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4) Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Los Angeles California Posts: 379	well, an semi-indication of hardness tho right? well, i guess i forgot to tell you i have an EC style ppm meter and im guessing it's giving me the TDS in ppm.

05-14-2008, 02:23 AM	#6 (permalink)
honor Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4) Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Los Angeles California Posts: 379	say i have alot of calcium carbonate in my tank and i wana make my waters soft, can i just add aquaruim salt. i know this will affect the TDS, how high can teh tds go before it's bad for the tank?

05-14-2008, 05:20 PM	#9 (permalink)
honor Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4) Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Los Angeles California Posts: 379	ok, i see. i got confused because household water softners use salt in an ionic exchage to remove minerals so yeah.. haha i guess it has to go thru some kinda mechnical process. i guess im just gona buy a ro/di unit.

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