Kalk Container Smell

bsfmaximus · Mar 20, 2018

I've noticed it for a while, but figured probably best to stop ignoring it. The glass carboy I use to house my kalk water mixture emits a sort of fishy smell, especially when empty.
I've got a nice white film inside, especially on the bottom of this container. Rinsing with water does not make the smell or film go away.

Jeepguy242 · Mar 20, 2018

Rinse it with vinegar. Let it sit till the kalk scale disolves

bsfmaximus · Mar 20, 2018

Jeepguy242 said:
Rinse it with vinegar. Let it sit till the kalk scale disolves

You think the kalk scale is causing the smell? ie its probably harmless?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 20, 2018

bsfmaximus said:
You think the kalk scale is causing the smell? ie its probably harmless?

That material does not smell, but a little ammonia in the RO/DI water used to make it can cause a strong fishy/ammonia smell, which can come from chloramine in the tap water and is not held strongly by the DI.

Once I let my DI deplete a bit by mistake, and my limewater stank of ammonia,. That's because at the high pH of limewater, it is all pushed into the NH3 form, which readily enters the gas phase.

In general, I do not think it is a concern to the health of the aquarium unless ammonia is quite high. In your case, it might also just be some mildew or something like that.

bsfmaximus · Mar 20, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
That material does not smell, but a little ammonia in the RO/DI water used to make it can cause a strong fishy/ammonia smell, which can come from chloramine in the tap water and is not held strongly by the DI.

Once I let my DI deplete a bit by mistake, and my limewater stank of ammonia,. That's because at the high pH of limewater, it is all pushed into the NH3 form, which readily enters the gas phase.

In general, I do not think it is a concern to the health of the aquarium unless ammonia is quite high. In your case, it might also just be some mildew or something like that.

Thanks, Randy. That is awesomely informative. Makes sense and I will guess thats the culprit. Its been 6 months since I changed RODI media and I've been drinking a lot of it myself, so its logical it would potentially be depleted.