Stored saltwater - Brute trash bin - horrible smell?

[vetteguy53081]

1st saltwater tank. 1st batch of saltwater stored in 44g brute trash bin. Bin is new, I rinsed it out when I bought them but didn't scrub or use soap out of fear of leaving some contaminants. HW-Marinemix Reefer Salt Mix. Current batch has been in the bin ~8 days. When I open the lid, there is a bad smell, not room clearing but noticeable bad, I don't know what to relate it to. Any one else experience this? Anything to fear, toss the water? Did I miss some prep step for those bins?

Something about them when they get wet. About three years ago I but a pair of them and filled one with RO water. I went to start batch of seawater in the other and called my daughter and told her to clean her litter box as there was a strong smell of cat urine in the room. She stated she cleaned it last night but would do it again. I started to fill the other brute and the smell of urine was horrid.
I opened the lid of the one filled already and holy dear J*s*s. . . . it was the Brute can water. I immediately added bleach to it and wheeled it onto the deck and later poured it out. Still til today - Smell is gone.

 

[Spare time]

Only keep the heater on when ready to use. Don't keep it on all the time.

 

[bill.mccrary42]

I mix up 40g of regular IO once a month in a 44g Brute. I keep it covered (lid) with a powerhead running 24/7 and only heat it up right before water changes. I’ve never had an issue with smell. IMO it’s the salt brand or something else going on.

That brand of salt is supposed to be awesome - BRS used it in their 160 in the 52 week series that's sort of why I defaulted to it. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hw-marinemix-reefer-salt-mix.html?qty=1

 

[bill.mccrary42]

Only keep the heater on when ready to use. Don't keep it on all the time.

10-4

 

[DivingTheWorld]

That brand of salt is supposed to be awesome - BRS used it in their 160 in the 52 week series that's sort of why I defaulted to it. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hw-marinemix-reefer-salt-mix.html?qty=1

It may be awesome, I’m not saying it’s not. But a couple things to keep in mind. First I love BRS, but you need to understand everything BRS showcases is to sell products. Second, some salts have specific mixing requirements concerning whether heat can be used and when, how long they need to mix for before use, or how long they can be stored for.

 

[bill.mccrary42]

It may be awesome, I’m not saying it’s not. But a couple things to keep in mind. First I love BRS, but you need to understand everything BRS showcases is to sell products. Second, some salts have specific mixing requirements concerning whether heat can be used and when, how long they need to mix for before use, or how long they can be stored for.

I get it, its business. I gotta trust someone so I picked them, which also led me here. Love that sites like this exist to double check things. This salt is supposed to be synthetic from a german lab so no natural gunk in there, and I can say the first several days I checked in on the water and it was fine. No special mixing or storage instructions on the box. Just sometime between the 3rd/4th day and yesterday something went afoul.

I feel like my mistake was A) closing the lid + B) running the heater - something about raised temps, no air flow, etc. I have the lid open, heater off, and am gonna let it run a day or two. If it still stinks I'll dump it all, do a vinegar rinse like someone said, and remix the water and see. I'll report back.

 

[TheDuude]

Are you on well or city water? I have been using the same brute cans for years now and I do get a bit of ammonia smell if I leave mixed salt water in the bins. I noticed this did not start happening until I moved and started using well water. My makeup water TDS is zero but assuming some type of organics are making past RODI and I to my mix. Also as Brandon has stated if left uncovered I never get any smell.
I have used full batches of smelly water with no apparent effect on my mixed reef

 

[bill.mccrary42]

Are you on well or city water? I have been using the same brute cans for years now and I do get a bit of ammonia smell if I leave mixed salt water in the bins. I noticed this did not start happening until I moved and started using well water. My makeup water TDS is zero but assuming some type of organics are making past RODI and I to my mix. Also as Brandon has stated if left uncovered I never get any smell.
I have used full batches of smelly water with no apparent effect on my mixed reef

City water. This info is helpful thank you, it stinks so bad I may dump it for my own sake.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I mix up 40g of regular IO once a month in a 44g Brute. I keep it covered (lid) with a powerhead running 24/7 and only heat it up right before water changes. I’ve never had an issue with smell. IMO it’s the salt brand or something else going on.

I experienced the same as you. No smell in 20 years without stirring or heating using normal IO.

The smell in the case of the OP may be mildew.

 

[Graemesreef]

I experienced the same as you. No smell in 20 years without stirring or heating using normal IO.

The smell in the case of the OP may be mildew.

Well if mildew is making him choke wait till he cleans his skimmer the first time. Who farted?

 

[bill.mccrary42]

Well if mildew is making him choke wait till he cleans his skimmer the first time. Who farted?

As I understand it smelling skimmate is a sort of right-of-passage in this hobby =)

 

[nuxx]

I kept fresh saltwater in white food grade 50 gallon drums with a top for years for my automatic water changes.

RODI water with reef crystals and a low placed powerhead.

Never really had a small or any sludge. I don't think I ever rinsed it out. Then water was turned over every 10 days though.

 

[bill.mccrary42]

Just a follow up in case someone has this issue in the future. The stink never went away on it's own so I had to toss the batch. I probably went overboard on these next steps but it worked:

• Scrubbed inside w/ 50/50 bleach & hot water - this was in case it was indeed mold, which I suspect it was...
• Rinsed very very well with tap water
• Scrubbed inside again with 50/50 vinegar & hot water - this removed the bleach smell and more or less made the inside odorless
• Rinsed very very well with tap water
• Scrubbed inside one last time with RO/DI water, just in case...
• Rinsed very very well with RO/DI water
• Made another batch with the same HW reefer salt, only made sure not to seal the bin, and this time the odor was gone

I want to note again that the RO/DI bin was sealed the whole time, and had zero odor. I never scrubbed the bins, just sprayed them down with water from the hose before 1st use. So my assumption is that the sealed, dark, heated seawater tub did indeed grow mold, I'm a dummy for not thinking about it and now I know!

 

[brandon429]

Unsealing the mixed saltwater stops the rot agreed, my two change bottles are sitting uncapped and stilled and no heat in the pantry as of now. When it’s time to use one I’ll top it off + proceed to use

even if the container is as clean, they rarely are, the organics + bacterial complexes (best causative I can muster considering the controls we use to reverse it) in the water of a clean container still causes the rot issue for some


*I get that rot smell in capped blue drinking water vessels it’s not just trash bins