Jump to content

EC and TDS


Sprae

Recommended Posts

Just got me 2 EC meters. I'm wondering if there's any optimal range for EC for CRS.

Current here's my tank parameters

GH = 6

pH = 6.2

TDS = 166

EC = 338us Meter A / 366us Meter B

Meter A is a combo meter and Meter B is a more sensitive EC only meter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

EC vs TDS confuses me......appreciate the diff in them (i.e. TDS & EC....salts/minerals...etc), but most meter's does a conversation...so if a formula exist between them, why is there a separate EC and TDS meter ? I think the Europeans use EC, and others use TDS ? ...just thinking out loud ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the best EC range that i have found for all crystal and Tai shrimp is around 200.

i have tried higher and lower in many tanks but always get best results for breeding and color when the EC range is around 200.

also the SaltyShrimp bee shrimp mineral GH+ recommends the same reading of 200.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey sprae what Tds and EC meters did you get?

I got these ones;

Hanna 98129 - combo meter

http://www.hannainst.com/usa/prods2.cfm?id=030&ProdCode=HI%2098129

Hanna 98303 - Low range EC meter

http://hannainst.com/usa/prods2.cfm?id=003003&ProdCode=HI%2098303

BB, What's the EC in your most stable CRS tanks? I'm totally new to the EC too but I think mineral additives like SaltyShrimps talk about EC 200 +/- 50 µS. I think my tank maybe a bit high at 366µS.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the best EC range that i have found for all crystal and Tai shrimp is around 200.

i have tried higher and lower in many tanks but always get best results for breeding and color when the EC range is around 200.

also the SaltyShrimp bee shrimp mineral GH+ recommends the same reading of 200.

Thanks for that Dean. How can I lower EC slowly? Lower EC top ups or do small water change?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

im really no help on nano tanks mate, they are to hard for me :)

i would say at a guess add less mineral with top ups and a small water change every other month would also get it down i guess.

sorry mate that's the best advice i can give on a nano tank....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

im really no help on nano tanks mate' date=' they are to hard for me :)

i would say at a guess add less mineral with top ups and a small water change every other month would also get it down i guess.

sorry mate that's the best advice i can give on a nano tank....[/quote']

All good mate :)

I'm totally challenged with this nano. Maybe Bluebolts AKA "Nano King" can help? ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Especially with Nano's, stability is EVERYTHING...whether it's TDS 150ppm or 200ppm or PH 5.5 or 6, the instability or sudden shock of different WP, affects the health of the shrimp more.

As a rule of (MY) thumb....I restrict water changes to 10% every 1/2 weeks. I use the Salty Shrimp mix, and adjust the TDS to 50% of the tanks ppm...i.e. 180ppm @ tank, RO/Salty Mix @ 90 ppm....as TDS generally increases naturally in a tank, so doing a 50% mix, seems to work well, to keeping my TDS under 200ppm. Have had no issues to date, and works 100% for me. Prior to Salty Mix, I had issues with water changes, and only did top ups !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Especially with Nano's' date=' stability is EVERYTHING...whether it's TDS 150ppm or 200ppm or PH 5.5 or 6, the instability or sudden shock of different WP, affects the health of the shrimp more.

As a rule of (MY) thumb....I restrict water changes to 10% every 1/2 weeks. I use the Salty Shrimp mix, and adjust the TDS to 50% of the tanks ppm...i.e. 180ppm @ tank, RO/Salty Mix @ 90 ppm....as TDS generally increases naturally in a tank, so doing a 50% mix, seems to work well, to keeping my TDS under 200ppm. Have had no issues to date, and works 100% for me. Prior to Salty Mix, I had issues with water changes, and only did top ups ![/quote']

Thank BB! Might do that when I clean my canister filter next week, with a 10% WC. I'll try and do the 50% change with EC instead of TDS though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

sorry to hijack your thread sprae, does any1 know how i can raise my ec from 150 to 200ppm and lower my tds from 220 to 150ish....... it seems that if i lower my tds by using less minerals, im struggling to build ec, if that makes sense

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Brado,

I don't think it's possible to increase one and decrease the other. Your TDS is calculated from your EC. If you increase one you increase the other, so if you decrease one you decrease the other.

From the little reading I have done it seems that most Digital TDS testers use one of two formulas to calculate the TDS. The first which is generally used for aquaculture is EC x 0.5 = TDS and the second which is generally used for hydroponics is EC x 0.7 = TDS.

The cheaper TDS testers that you get from eBay etc are set to one of the two but you don't know which one as they very rarely state this in the details. Testing EC is more accurate as it is a direct measurement, you only have to worry about the accuracy of your Digital tester. The lower the range and the lower the +/-% the better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most TDS/Ec pens are calculated via Ec, then converted to TDS. The US uses a 0.5 conversion, and the Europeans uses a 0.7 conversion.

My TDS meter is US calibrated (0.5), so with my TDS @ 220ppm, the EC conversion is 220/0.5 = 440µS

If our target is the european conversion (as salty shrimp's recommendation @ 200µS), then my Ec is really is (220ppm/0.7) = 314µS.

But really TDS & EC is the same, just looking at it from a different perspective.….although I appreciate the electrical (EC) and solids (TDS) calculation, but still there is a mathematical conversation ratio between TDS & Ec.

So I think if we're talking about EC/TDS, we need to clarify if someone is using just a EC pen, or if they are using a TDS pen, then we need to ascertain what the pen's conversion ratio is, i.e. 0.5 or 0.7.

In my research and understanding....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers Marcus,

I had done a little reading on TDS vs EC but what you said made it a lot easier to understand. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marcus, Does than mean I've been looking at my EC totally wrong? I've been trying to match my EC to the saltyshrimp recommendation of 200µS, where my US meter is telling it's 330µS. So in EU conversions it would be 237µS? If so, my parameters are closer to optimal than I've thought.

@Trav80 —I think regardless of conversions types, lowering one will lower the other.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sprae, that's what I was getting at. They are linked, you lower one and the other will drop, raise one and the other will rise. Marcus put it much better tho :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • sdlTBfanUK
      Good to have an update and good to hear you are getting shrimplets, so hopefully your colony will continue and you may not get to the point where you have to cull some to stop over population. These type of shrimp only live 12 - 18 months so the adult deaths may be natural? If you have the time I would do weekly 25% water changes, adding the new water via a drip system and do some vacuuming clean of the substrate each week, even if only a different bit each week! See if that helps in a few months and if it does then stick with that regime? It should help reduce any build-ups that may be occuring!
    • beanbag
      Hello again, much belated update: The tank still has "cycles" of 1-2 month "good streaks" where everybody seems to be doing well, and then a bad streak where the short antenna problem shows up again, and a shrimp dies once every few days.  I am not sure what causes things to go bad, but usually over the course of a few days I will start to see more shrimp quietly standing on the HMF filter, and so I know something is wrong.  Since I am not "doing anything" besides the regular 1-2 week water changes, I just assume that something bad is building up.  Here's a list of things that I've tried that are supposed to be "can't hurt" but didn't prevent the problem either: Dose every other day with Shrimp Fit (very small dose, and the shrimp seem to like it) Sotching Oxydator Seachem Purigen to keep the nitrates lower Keeping the pH below 5.5 with peat Things that I don't do often, so could possibly "reset" the tank back to a good streak, are gravel vac and plant trim, so maybe time to try those again. One other problem I used to have was that sometimes a shrimp would suddenly stop eating with a full or partially full digestive tract that doesn't clear out, and then the shrimp will die within a few days.  I suspected it was one of the foods in my rotation - Shrimp Nature Infection, which contains a bunch of herbal plant things.  I've had this in my food rotation for a few years now and generally didn't seem to cause problems, but I removed it from the rotation anyway.  I don't have a lot of adult Golden Bees at this point so I can't really tell if it worked or not. Overall the tank is not too bad - during the good streaks occasionally a shrimp will get berried and hatch babies with a 33-50% survival rate.  So while there are fewer adults now, there are also a bunch of babies roaming around.  I guess this tank will stagger on, but I really do need to take the time to start up a new tank.  (or figure out the problem)
    • jayc
      If that is the offspring, then the parents are unlikely to be PRL. I tend to agree with you. There are very few PRLs in Australia. And any that claim to be needs to show proof. PRL genes have to start as PRL. CRS that breed true after x generations doesn't turn it into a PRL. Neither can a Taiwan bee shrimp turn into a PRL despite how ever many generations. I've never seen a PRL with that sort of red colour. I have on Red Wines and Red Shadows - Taiwan bee shrimps. So somewhere down the line one of your shrimp might have been mixed with Taiwan bees and is no longer PRL. It just tanks one shrimp to mess up the genes of a whole colony. 
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Sorry, missed this one somehow! The PRL look fantastic and the odd ones look part PRL and part Red wine/Red shadow in the colour. They are still very beautiful but ideally should be seperated to help keep the PRL clean if you can do that.  Nice clear photos!
    • GtWalker97
      Hi SKF!   So I bought some PRL (or at least they were sold as such. These claims are dubious in Australia as people don't know much about the genetics, nor do they care as long as they can make a quick buck). After 8 generations of breeding true, I'm having around 1 in 200 throw a much darker red. They almost look like Red Shadows, but I don't know too much about those types of hybrid. Can anyone help with ID'ing the gene?   TIA (First 2 pics are the weird throws, second photo is their siblings and the last photo is the parents)
×
×
  • Create New...