TDS Reading in Tank, but Not From RODI Unit

[cashmoney6980]

Well I recently received my purewaterclub.com RODI unit the other day, which has actually done a terrific job! Only problem with it all is I ordered a 6 stage unit, and also ordered a pressure gauge and a connector to fit the garden hose... But instead I got the pressure gauge, a 7 stage unit, and no connector. But I just went to Lowes and got one for about $4. No complaints here! The unit installed great, and after a little troubleshooting I got all the hoses and everything connected the right way, and fired it up. Ran GREAT! Not a single leak anywhere and is putting out just as much water as it should with 0ppm TDS levels.

The trouble I'm having is this is the initial fill up of my 125 gallon tank with about 90 lbs of dry aragonite sand, and about 110 lbs of caribsea, and Marco dry rock. While filling it up I'll test the water from the RODI unit, and get 0... Then I'll test the water in the tank and get ~150. My tap water reads ~300.

Am I getting higher levels in my tank just because of the dirt left in the sand and the rock? Or is this natural? I've been running one of my Eheim 2217s filled with filter floss to help filter out some of the floating dirt from the sand, which has brought down the readings a little bit, but not a lot. Should I drain some of it and just keep filling until I get 0ppm in the tank as well?

Sorry for all the questions, but when I had my smaller marine tank I just bought water cuz it was easier and I didn't have to worry about mixing it or anything, but this was the cheaper route to go with a bigger tank

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Rutrag]

Yes, any foreign material in the water is going to throw a TDS reading. If it's coming from the RODI unit at 0, you're good.

 

[Schism]

You are fine. Any dust, sand, debris, salt etc left in the tank will throw the TDS reading off. Any particle or dissolved solid is picked up by tds meter. As long as its coming out your ro unit 0 TDS then you are golden, no need to worry.

 

[cashmoney6980]

Thank you both for the replies! I been driving myself crazy debating what I should do because I didn't want to put all my salt in to get it mixed, then a couple fish and have them die because the tds readings weren't 0 inside the tank when I should've drained and refilled...cuz then it'd be w waste of salt, money, and fish! You guys eased my mind greatly! Thank you again!

 

[mfdrookie516]

0 TDS isn't for fish... it's for algae and corals... and just simply adding salt mix will give you a substantial TDS reading. You just want 0 TDS water going in so that all that's in there is h2o and whatever the salt mix adds.