adeebm
Aquarium Advice FINatic
This may sound like a really stupid question, and I'm sorry if this kinda jacks the thread. >.< But what does TDS stand for? Isn't it total dissolved stuff, or something like that? How does it affect the hardness of the water?
Yep, TDS is total dissolved solids. It's a measure of all dissolved compounds in the water. Hardness can refer to one of two things. General hardness, which is a measure of calcium and magnesium ions in the water, and carbonate hardness, which measures carbonate and bicarbonate ions. Both add towards TDS, but TDS includes many other things, such as metals, salts, and even ammonia/nitrate. GBRs originally come from environments with low TDS, which is why I mentioned it.
--Adeeb