How do I reduce TDS in FRESH water?

[Magnus]

I bought one of those quick testers that shows how many parts per million of disolved solids are in the water. My freshwater tank had something like 192 x 10 which is a lot...

I am filling it with water from my home R/O system which only has about 18-19 ppm in it.

How can I decrease the TDS of my fresh water? Better filtration?

It's about a 45 gallon tank...about 6 fish in it.

 

[jglover]

Standard Filtration will not reduce dissolved solids. You'll have to use an RO system or distillation to remove any dissolved solids. If you already have an RO system then just dilute the freshwater source with the RO water.

 

[George9]

You're not really going to be able to keep it low. Everything you add to the tank will add to the TDS. Water conditioner, fish poop, fish food, plant fertilizers. I wouldn't worry about it too much in freshwater tank.
Some of the elements in the tap water are good for live plants, like phosphate and nitrate.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

TDS isn't a real big deal in freshwater except for certain species. Kh is a better thing to check to ensure your water has enough buffering capacity, but past that most fish aren't particularly sensitive to it as long as it's stable.

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[Caliban07]

I've started a thread on this in the off topic section if you want to follow or add thoughts.

I feel that alterations to TDS should be done very slowly for the same reasons we acclimate fish to new water before we release them.