diatomic bloom! / tds?

[totalnewb]

My first tank (29G) finally cycled despite an array of problems and all 11 fishes lived! now I have identified a diatomic bloom. It's a pretty good one as I refused to deal with 'whatever it was' until all levels had been holding steady for a little while. Did a pretty good cleaning today.
The guy at LFS wouldn't sell me any of his ottos as he said they weren't doing well. I came home with 3 tiger snails. Am having a hard time finding info on them, as I assume they're not the 'giant' variety. Any help???

Also, sorry, but I have to use RO water as my tap contains very high ammonia and ph. So I've been adding Kent liquid RO rite. (thank you librarygirl!) Problem: I don't know what my tds readings should be.

29G planted, 6 leopard danios, 5 cardinal tetras, 3 tiger snails.. community still under construction.

Nitrite, ammonia at 0. Ph 6. (under 7... just did a change with RO at 6.6) Nitrates 5.0, tds 80...

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[jlk]

I cant help with the tiger snails but you may want to add a piece of cuttlebone for some extra calcium for them.

In respect to the tds, do you also have tests for KH/GH? Tds is something fw people rarely check for and Ill be honest, I dont either. That said, tds ranges kind fall in the following ranges to give you a better idea. The EPA sets a max of 500 for drinkiing water supplies though I believe WHO has limit of twice this. Generally, fw tanks @400 or less are considered acceptable. I believe the hard, higher ph tanks such as certain cichlids are in the 300-400 range, general in 100-300 range and soft, acidic water fish such as discus are 75 or less. Dont quote me on this though! I think your borderline soft water but if your ph is falling to 6 regularly, you may need to add a buffer to your tank to help keep the ph stable. Hope this helps a bit!