What are the effects of high TDS on Coral, algae, dinoflaggelates, and Cyano?

Cahooligan · 05/14/2011, 04:28 PM

ive had my reef for over a year, and had never changed any of the cartidges or the membrane on my RO/DI unit before. for the last 2-3 weeks, all of my acans had been closed up along with my star polyps and a favia. ive checked all of my params, and they are all fine, and i just couldnt figure out what was going on with these certain corals...so i tested my TDS and it was well over 100 coming out of the RO/DI unit!
today i changes all of the filters, and its coming out with 2 TDS(much better). i will be changing the membrane within a week to hopefully knockdown the last 2. I get my water from a VERY nutrient rich well, and ill be sure to change the filters much more frequently from now on.

ill be doing a handful of water changes on my tanks within the next two weeks to help with my in-tank TDS, and my questions are:

1. What differences will i see in the tank after such a big change in the TDS?

2. Would high amounts of TDS cause corals to close?

3. Will Lower TDS reduce the amount of algae and Cyano growth in the tank?

4. And lastly, i have dinoflaggelates in another tank due to some bad Live rock... Will lower TDS reading help in my fight against them?

Im hoping to see my acans open up again, because i really dont want them to die.
Thank you very much for any answers and help. i appreciate it.

Randy Holmes-Farley · 05/14/2011, 04:30 PM

High TDS is meaningless without knowing what is in the water. TDS is just a total summary of all ions in the water. A little copper would be a big problem and a ton of sodium chloride is not.

Randy Holmes-Farley · 05/14/2011, 04:34 PM

To follow up...

There are some ways that the water you get from Ro/DI could be worse than the input water, but in general, the considerations are the same, and I discuss those here:

Tap Water in Reef Aquaria
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2004/chem.htm

I discuss what TDS is here:

What is TDS?
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.htm

and I discuss why it is useful for monitoring RO/DI here:

Reverse Osmosis/Deionization Systems to Purify Tap Water for Reef Aquaria
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rhf/index.htm

Cahooligan · 05/14/2011, 04:50 PM

ok thank you.. ill read all of that...

Randy Holmes-Farley · 05/14/2011, 06:19 PM

Happy Reefing.

05/14/2011, 04:28 PM	#1
Cahooligan Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Jersey Posts: 339	What are the effects of high TDS on Coral, algae, dinoflaggelates, and Cyano? ive had my reef for over a year, and had never changed any of the cartidges or the membrane on my RO/DI unit before. for the last 2-3 weeks, all of my acans had been closed up along with my star polyps and a favia. ive checked all of my params, and they are all fine, and i just couldnt figure out what was going on with these certain corals...so i tested my TDS and it was well over 100 coming out of the RO/DI unit! today i changes all of the filters, and its coming out with 2 TDS(much better). i will be changing the membrane within a week to hopefully knockdown the last 2. I get my water from a VERY nutrient rich well, and ill be sure to change the filters much more frequently from now on. ill be doing a handful of water changes on my tanks within the next two weeks to help with my in-tank TDS, and my questions are: 1. What differences will i see in the tank after such a big change in the TDS? 2. Would high amounts of TDS cause corals to close? 3. Will Lower TDS reduce the amount of algae and Cyano growth in the tank? 4. And lastly, i have dinoflaggelates in another tank due to some bad Live rock... Will lower TDS reading help in my fight against them? Im hoping to see my acans open up again, because i really dont want them to die. Thank you very much for any answers and help. i appreciate it.

05/14/2011, 04:30 PM	#2
Randy Holmes-Farley Reef Chemist Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 86,233	High TDS is meaningless without knowing what is in the water. TDS is just a total summary of all ions in the water. A little copper would be a big problem and a ton of sodium chloride is not. __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

05/14/2011, 04:34 PM	#3
Randy Holmes-Farley Reef Chemist Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 86,233	To follow up... There are some ways that the water you get from Ro/DI could be worse than the input water, but in general, the considerations are the same, and I discuss those here: Tap Water in Reef Aquaria http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2004/chem.htm I discuss what TDS is here: What is TDS? http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.htm and I discuss why it is useful for monitoring RO/DI here: Reverse Osmosis/Deionization Systems to Purify Tap Water for Reef Aquaria http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rhf/index.htm __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

05/14/2011, 06:19 PM	#5
Randy Holmes-Farley Reef Chemist Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 86,233	Happy Reefing. __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

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05/14/2011, 04:50 PM	#4
Cahooligan Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Jersey Posts: 339	ok thank you.. ill read all of that...