Holy TDS batman!

[gimme30]

This is winter water in Colorado. TDS always goes up this time of year, although we haven't had any snow or rain so it's not runoff causing the problem. Normal range is between 400-500 going up to 600+ in winter so this is unusual. This is down from an 870 reading I took a couple days ago. My fish are going to need hard hats and jackhammers.

I got rid of my RO unit a couple years back but it looks like I'm going to have to invest in another. 1:1 systems have come down in price a little from the last time I looked but they're still expensive.
What a PITA.

 

[GaryE]

Ouch.
You should get a big tank and go for walks on it.

They must have edited that awful 70s song - "Colorado rocky mountain hiiiigh tds"

 

[Magnum Man]

it’s getting into the range of my well water now..

 

[Back in the fold]

That’s high but change the batteries in your tester if it’s been awhile or run the water for awhile and test again . My irrigation well water runs about 450 and the highest I’ve ever seen in the dead of winter in the mighty Yellowstone is 275 . Don’t drink it !

 

[gimme30]

That’s high but change the batteries in your tester if it’s been awhile or run the water for awhile and test again

I didn't think about that! I use it all the time but it's been at least a year since I changed the battery. I swapped it, but unfortunately I'm still getting the same reading.
Large water changes on all 4 tanks has depleted my supply of distilled water, so it looks like I'll have to make the drive out to my favorite LFS for some RO. Man I hate lugging that stuff around. I'm on crutches so it's going to be a trick getting it all upstairs.

I need a water change butler.

 

[GaryE]

"I need a water change butler."

Alfred. Bring the bat buckets.

 

[gwand]

My RODI system is in the basement. Lugging 5 gallons of RODI upstairs is part of my exercise regiment.

 

[Magnum Man]

I use pumps, and store my RO water in a 100 gallon tank, so I can do all my water changes the same day… the pump is a diaphragm pump, that has an adjustable “stall” so I can put shut off valves on the line, and shut the water off, without turning the pump off… I have a 2nd pump, same kind, to pump out water for water changes, so I no longer lug pails around… I gravel vac water into 1 gallon jugs, for watering the house plants… I keep 4 one gallon jugs in a milk crate for storage, but usually only carry the individual jugs around…

when the 250 gallon tank is finally set up, I’ll have to change the water in that tank, on a 2nd day, with my current system…

I recently made the switch to expanded hoses, for tanks on the other side of the house, from my RO system, those shrink up to a fraction of their length, when the water is shut off… so I still have a 5 gallon bucket, but it just holds my shrunken hoses…

 

[gimme30]

@gwand I look at it the same way, good cardio so normally I don't mind it. I like Magnum Man's idea but I'd have to drill a hole in the wall to run a hose through and climbing up a ladder isn't in the cards at the moment. As it is, I'm going to have to stand at the bottom of the stairs and chuck the jugs up there and hope they don't break open.

The things we do for our fish......

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Digital testers sometimes need recalibrating. This might be the problem rather than batteries.

Calibrate a TDS pen by turning it on, submerging the probe in a known calibration solution (e.g., 342 ppm, 1000 ppm, or 1413 µS/cm) at
25C, and letting the reading stabilize. If the reading is off, use a small screwdriver to adjust the calibration screw on the back until it matches the solution, or use the "CAL" button if digital.

I use the HM TDS-3 pen which reads both TDS and temperature in C. Here are instructions for how to calibrate that. https://www.theaquariumsolution.com/calibrating-tds-3-hand-held-tds-meter

While the pen is decent, when I needed to be sure of the accuracy for my Altum tank I got a more expensive 3 way monitor. This gave a read out for either conductivity or TDS, Temperature in C or F and pH.

If you decide you want to get an RO or an RO/DI unit consider shopping here https://store.afwfilters.com/
I initially went with a portable 3 stage RO/DI unit with a 75 gpd RO membrane- Mikro Omega 3 Stage Portable Aquarium RO/DI System with 75 GPD Membrane. I used this for many years and when I decided to replace it I went with the 4 stage model- Mikro Delta 4-Stage Portable RO System PLUS DI with 75 GPD Membrane (Former Psi system). those units are found here: https://store.afwfilters.com/portable-ro-systems/

 

[anewbie]

Yea water hardness in colorado is all over the place from around 15-45 front range near the mountains to well brick at 700+; well water where i will move is 450-500.

Yea. Seattle and Oregon for softwater fish owners and well @gimme30 home for african lake fishes.

 

[gimme30]

Well.....none of my fish are hard water fish so....
I flog myself every Feb 29th and every 3rd leap year to atone for it.

@TwoTankAmin Thanks for that info, those are MUCH less expensive than the units I've been looking at. I don't really need another big under-the-sink system with the reduced number of tanks I maintain these days anyway.
Neither of the tds pens I have can be calibrated but they read the same so I assume they're in the ball park.

I wound up buying enough RO to get me through the next water change and managed to get it all upstairs without killing myself or breaking something else.
Naturally now that I've gone to the trouble when I tested the tap water again it's back down to a more manageable 362.
Hopefully this was just a one-off spike and won't happen again.

 

[anewbie]

Well.....none of my fish are hard water fish so....
I flog myself every Feb 29th and every 3rd leap year to atone for it.

@TwoTankAmin Thanks for that info, those are MUCH less expensive than the units I've been looking at. I don't really need another big under-the-sink system with the reduced number of tanks I maintain these days anyway.
Neither of the tds pens I have can be calibrated but they read the same so I assume they're in the ball park.

I wound up buying enough RO to get me through the next water change and managed to get it all upstairs without killing myself or breaking something else.
Naturally now that I've gone to the trouble when I tested the tap water again it's back down to a more manageable 362.
Hopefully this was just a one-off spike and won't happen again.

Man even 362 would make my fishes barf and flee for the high-lands. They are used to a tds of 3 to 5. You need a new water company.

 

[Back in the fold]

TDS testing thingamabobs are cheap enough that every aquarist should have one . The batteries last a very long time and are easy and cheap to replace .