Lowering TDS

[Sparrow]

I'm sorry to keep asking all these questions, but I'm new to shrimp and just want to do it correctly. my tap water is awful and when I check the TDS it's always very high (last check today was 523) I bought distilled water and Red Wizard remineralizer  but I'm not sure how to go about lowering the TDS and changing over to distilled water. Do i just add straight distilled water? can someone advice what to do next? thanks!

[Rivergardennursery]

I add straight Distilled for topping off.  If you want to lower your TDS, first make sure the water your adding is lower than the water you are replacing.  Test the water you are going to replace with the pen and do a small water change and see what your new value is.  What kind of shrimp are you keeping?

[Sparrow]

I have 10 RCS and 10 yellow neos and 10 blue velvet. I tested the distilled bottled water from Walmart and it was 1. I'm just got three 3 gallon cube tanks that I'm going to cycle and use only distilled water and transfer each different color neos into their own smaller tanks. the tank they're all in now is 6.5 gallons but I used tap water. I want to change that larger tank over to distilled water only after I move the shrimp to the smaller tanks, but until those tanks cycle I need to safely lower the TDS in the tank they're in now. how often can I safely do a water change to get the TDS down quickly and safely? I tested for GH and couldn't even get a reading it was so far off the chart  (26 drops and still no hint of green).

[chappy6107]

do small but frequent water changes with the distilled water.  make sure to add the appropriate dose of remineralizer too.

[Sparrow]

Thank you!