All for reef has strong smell

[Idech]

I’ve been using All for reef (powder) for over 2 years and it never smelled much. Now this half empty batch has a strong smell.

I’m wondering if I should throw it out or maybe there is nothing in there that can go bad ?

 

[exnisstech]

@Lou Ekus may be able to help. I just sniffed my latest batch and it has no odor but is only a few days old.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Can you describe the smell? Acidifying it somehow by mistake will make it smell of formic acid, which is the smell ants sometimes give off as a defense.

 

[Idech]

Can you describe the smell? Acidifying it somehow by mistake will make it smell of formic acid, which is the smell ants sometimes give off as a defense.

I tried to think of what it smelled like before posting but couldn’t think of anything.

Now I’m thinking maybe like a small battery (9V for example) that turned bad and leaked ?

 

[Double monti 61]

Is that the same as tropic marin all for reef?

 

[Double monti 61]

Okay i see i recently started using the bottled version with good results and I have never noticed an oder

 

[Idech]

Is that the same as tropic marin all for reef?

Yes, the powder version.

 

[taricha]

Now I’m thinking maybe like a small battery (9V for example) that turned bad and leaked ?

sounds like some portion of it might be breaking down. Perhaps it got wet.
Since we know it can be broken down by microbes - that's the intended process - I'd leave it alone and go with a clean container that doesn't smell off. (if it were me)

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Does the liquid have any ... Hmm to describe it the best that makes sense. Does it look like there's like lint from a clothes dryer in it by chance, like strands of a dark fiber?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I've never smelled my bottle of liquid AFR. My guess is if the powder has a smell after a couple of years, I would be cautious about using it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Given the lack of anyone else detecting a smell, I would not use it.

 

[Idech]

Does the liquid have any ... Hmm to describe it the best that makes sense. Does it look like there's like lint from a clothes dryer in it by chance, like strands of a dark fiber?

No, I’ve had that before but not this time (it was light though, not dark).

I've never smelled my bottle of liquid AFR. My guess is if the powder has a smell after a couple of years, I would be cautious about using it.

This container is only a few months old.

Given the lack of anyone else detecting a smell, I would not use it.

I’ve discarded the smelly batch and made a new one. The new one has absolutely no smell. I must have squirted liquid from the seringe I use after washing it with tap water.