# CBS tds in low tech???



## Alastair (26 Jun 2012)

Hi all, just a quickie as I'm not massively clued up on the tds and shrimp. 
My tank is a low tech, barely any water changes, top ups etc with occasional ferts added and seachem equilibrium added each week. 
I've got amanos and just recently cherrys, and am due to recieve some crystal black shrimp tonight. 
Working out from my water report my tds comes in at 88 from the tap,(conductivity 132 x 0.67 at = 88, but what effect if any would happen in my tank with not having regular water changes etc. will my tds be slightly higher with the less changes? I don't want to put my CBS in for them to just not flourish. 
Any help would be massively appreciated thanks everyone 


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## Westyggx (26 Jun 2012)

*Re: CBS tds in low tech???*

Would also like some info on the above as my TDS is 48.7 according to the calculations above and my water report.


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## sr20det (26 Jun 2012)

*Re: CBS tds in low tech???*

Lucky chaps, mine is 350 out the tap.  If it was 50-150 I would be overjoyed, lol.

My conditioner bumps up the TDS by 50, so test water after treatment.


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## Westyggx (26 Jun 2012)

*Re: CBS tds in low tech???*



			
				sr20det said:
			
		

> Lucky chaps, mine is 350 out the tap.  If it was 50-150 I would be overjoyed, lol.
> 
> My conditioner bumps up the TDS by 50, so test water after treatment.



What does that mean for us then mate, as i read that CRS need a TDS of around 200, do i buy conditioner to boost it to this total?

Cheers


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (26 Jun 2012)

Westyggx said:
			
		

> sr20det said:
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Get some mosura mineral plus mate.


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## Alastair (26 Jun 2012)

Westyggx said:
			
		

> sr20det said:
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According to shrimp keeping tds of 80 to 100 is ideal for crs. But what I wanted to know, is would tds rise in a tank that has minimal water changes and just occasional dosing. 


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## Ady34 (26 Jun 2012)

*Re: CBS tds in low tech???*

Hi,
my tds is 76ppm from the tap. I use salty shrimp bee mix gh conditioner to up the tds. easy to use stuff, but its made easier with a tds meter. you can pick them up for £15-£20 on the internet but very useful for getting things right. Check out freshwatershrimp for water conditioners if needed.
I would think tds would only go down without water changes and occasional dosing unless there is something in the tank such as seriyu stone which could increase it. If your tap water is 88ppm, then topping up with this wont increase above that. Again a tds meter is a valuable tool though  
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Alastair (26 Jun 2012)

Ady34 said:
			
		

> Hi,
> my tds is 76ppm from the tap. I use salty shrimp bee mix gh conditioner to up the tds. easy to use stuff, but its made easier with a tds meter. you can pick them up for £15-£20 on the internet but very useful for getting things right. Check out freshwatershrimp for water conditioners if needed.
> I would think tds would only go down without water changes and occasional dosing unless there is something in the tank such as seriyu stone which could increase it. If your tap water is 88ppm, then topping up with this wont increase above that. Again a tds meter is a valuable tool though
> Cheerio,
> Ady.



I'd not mentioned I dose with seachem equilibrium once a week to add minerals  to the tank. This would do similar to the shrimp gh+ wouldn't it??? 

I would have thought that the tds would rise slowly though if not getting water changes wouldn't it mate?? 


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## sr20det (26 Jun 2012)

*Re: CBS tds in low tech???*



			
				Westyggx said:
			
		

> sr20det said:
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Not much help buddy, never kept CRS so others can advise, am new to RCS as such, Agree with above, i have a TDS meter which I use to monitor at water changes, technically speaking, if you were just to top up wiith tap water the TDS would rise be it slowly as you would be losing water to evaporation and you are adding watter with minerals.  Minerals will stay behind, only pure H2O will evaporate, but it would prob takes younks to actually notice the rise I would have thought especially with your tap water.

I am the opposite with trying hard to keep my water down to 300-350 TDS though they can take up to 500 (RCS).  Would prefer the mid level range just to stay away on either end of extreams.

My water conditioner bumps up my TDS from 350 (normal tap) to 400-410 ppm so whatever treatments you add let them settle before testing.  Also test at room temp as cold out the tap registers 320 for me, but once at room temp this rises to 350 which is a massive 30ppm, solely adjustmnt on temp from cold to room temp.


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## sr20det (26 Jun 2012)

*Re: CBS tds in low tech???*



			
				Alastair said:
			
		

> Ady34 said:
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Yes it would mate, if you added/dosed once a week minerals, and only toped up water lost to evaporation then, yes, more then likely the TDS will gradually rise and rise and rise, lol.  Water changes would be required to control this.  Or something in the tank consumed the salts.


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## Westyggx (26 Jun 2012)

*Re: CBS tds in low tech???*



			
				Ady34 said:
			
		

> Hi,
> my tds is 76ppm from the tap. I use salty shrimp bee mix gh conditioner to up the tds. easy to use stuff, but its made easier with a tds meter. you can pick them up for £15-£20 on the internet but very useful for getting things right. Check out freshwatershrimp for water conditioners if needed.
> I would think tds would only go down without water changes and occasional dosing unless there is something in the tank such as seriyu stone which could increase it. If your tap water is 88ppm, then topping up with this wont increase above that. Again a tds meter is a valuable tool though
> Cheerio,
> Ady.



Thanks Ady, i just purchased http://www.thewatersite.co.uk/HM-Digita ... Meter.html and have messaged FreshwaterShrimp to see if there is anything i should be looking at purchasing.


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## Alastair (26 Jun 2012)

sr20det said:
			
		

> Alastair said:
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Thats what I was thinking, so maybe if I just do a small ten percent water change each week it'll stay at a steady level then I presume, or Atleast not rise too high. 


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## sr20det (26 Jun 2012)

*Re: CBS tds in low tech???*

it cant hurt, help with Nitrates, etc too.


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## Liam (26 Jun 2012)

*Re: CBS tds in low tech???*

You can use ‘stability’ as opposed to a shrimp specific GH booster. It is what a lot of people used before all the shrimp specific additives were available. I use an African cichlid conditioner to get the tds to about 120 it just adds GH and lasts for ages.  In general I guess the advice is to keep the bee shrimp in stable conditions so I would prefer small water changes to adding the ‘stability’ straight into the tank. The tds counts all solids in the water so without water changes I guess it would rise even as the water got mineral poor.


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