Saltwater storage

[rboone7992]

Hey reefers it seems everytime i store saltwater for a couple weeks it gets a funky smell? I use fritz rpm (blue box), have a heater and pump in there 24/7, also I clean my container after it's all used up everytime. What can i do to stop the funky smell?

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Maybe crack the lid? Several potential reasons for the smell, but air exchange is one place to start.

 

[Fred2482]

Welcome! Interesting, I store my water for weeks and never get any smell. I dont use a pump or heater, and its closed unless performing water changes.

 

[Saltyreef]

After it mixes clear, cap it and store it.
Dont heat it unless youre ready to use it and perform a water change.

 

[Gtinnel]

Hello and welcome to R2R. I store saltwater for a few weeks at a time and I have never noticed any smell with mine. Ironically my rodi that I keep for an equal amount of time often has a cat urine (ammonia) smell and I've never known why.

 

[rboone7992]

I was curious if it was from the heater and being closed up, once mixed also take out the pump?

 

[Saltyreef]

Hello and welcome to R2R. I store saltwater for a few weeks at a time and I have never noticed any smell with mine. Ironically my rodi that I keep for an equal amount of time often has a cat urine (ammonia) smell and I've never known

Heres a post from AZdesertrat (rodi guru) in regards to this issue.

 

[Gtinnel]

Heres a post from AZdesertrat (rodi guru) in regards to this issue.

Sorry but I'm not sure that explains why mine smells, which for what it's worth I'm not worried about. It only references the smell when reacting with carpet glue. I don't have carpet anywhere in my house.

 

[PeterC99]

Welcome to R2R!

Your saltwater aquarium and saltwater storage should have no smell.

 

[Saltyreef]

Sorry but I'm not sure that explains why mine smells, which for what it's worth I'm not worried about. It only references the smell when reacting with carpet glue. I don't have carpet anywhere in my house.

It was posted as a possibility.

Do you have cats? I guess nvm if you dont care

 

[ntableman]

I have two 40+ gal rubbermaid trash cans full of mixed salt water with no heater and only pumps to mix. They are lovely covered just to make sure nothing falls in as I wander around in my basement. The water smells salty but not much more. I also use a 6+ stage DO/RI as the base water, which is pretty clean. I dont even rinse them out between refills and I've been at it with them for nearly 5 years.

Ok silly question - are you sure it isnt something else nearby that smells

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ive had an issue with odor from fritz salt close to cat urine odor and it was a bad batch .

 

[Gtinnel]

It was posted as a possibility.

Do you have cats? I guess nvm if you dont care

I do have a cat and at first I blamed him but my mixing station is in a room that he is rarely in, plus he doesn't pee anywhere else in the house. Plus I'm not even sure he could get to where the freshwater container is.
I'm not worried about it at all, but thanks anyway.

 

[Gtinnel]

I was curious if it was from the heater and being closed up, once mixed also take out the pump?

I never heat mine, but I do keep a small pump in the container for mixing. I have my pump turn on 4 times a day for an hour each time. I have since learned that apparently that is completely unnecessary once it's mixed. I wouldn't see any reason to pull the pump out. Idk about the heater though, although I doubt that causes the smell.

 

[dwair]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Never had that issue.

 

[Saltyreef]

I do have a cat and at first I blamed him but my mixing station is in a room that he is rarely in, plus he doesn't pee anywhere else in the house. Plus I'm not even sure he could get to where the freshwater container is.
I'm not worried about it at all, but thanks anyway.

Try placing the RODI in air tight jugs after you make it.
DI water has a habit of absorbing some foul smells.
Since cat pee is much more undiluted than normal animal urine it tends to smell a lot worse and more noticable.

Sorry its hard to not give advice on a forum lol.

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[thatone08]

Welcome!

 

[Derby City Corals]

We use fritz and instant ocean at the shop and we never get a funky smell
We have a 250 gallon tall storage tank running on a dart reeflo pump for recirculation

maybe the issue your having is bacteria build up from heating the water
With it being a closed system it’s a breeding ground for bad bacteria
We also dose our new mixed fritz for coral systems to ensure the chemistry is perfect for our systems
However we don’t dose the water for the fish only systems

 

[MERKEY]

Hello and welcome to R2R!