PPM For Water

[AwesomeHermit]

What should be a good PPM for water quality?

[wodesorel]

PPM just means "parts per million" and is a standard way of measuring a substance in water. That can be ammonia, dissolved solids, nitrate, etc.

Which are you wondering about?

[AwesomeHermit]

Just looked it up, total dissolved solids.

[wodesorel]

I realize I am answering a question with more questions, but it comes down to what exactly those solids are. They can be calcium, metals, salts, gypsum, flouride, etc. Metals would be bad for hermits, but calcium would be good for them. You may be able to find a mineral breakdown of what is in your water by contacting your water company if you wanted to know.

In humans the recommended limit is 500 ppm, but that also takes into account that high calcium levels can cause stones and crystals in the urinary tract, and that salts kill our kidneys. Those things do not apply to hermits.

Still, for freshwater, honestly anything between 10 and 500 should be fine. Treat with a water conditioner that covers heavy metals and everything left should be crab safe. I am quite happy we have a lot of TDS in our water as it supplies extra calcium.

Saltwater will have sky high readings because it is all dissolved solids that are making it salty!

[AwesomeHermit]

Yea, I got a prime water conditioner and it went from 64 ppm to 30, and I was wondering if thirty was too high. I used Poland Spring