What is this growing in my rodi container?

[Leon Gorani]

I have filled my rodi container and mixed it with salt and had the heater turned on and let it circulate for more than a week. I was unable to use the water immediately due to being sick. Now when I looked inside of it I found this brownish film along the edge and the water itself looks kinda dirty. Anyone know what this is and why it happens? Now I need to clean this container I use Red Sea coral pro slat in this mixture.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Organic Mineral from the water. What is your TDS ?

 

[Leon Gorani]

Mineral from the water. What is your TDS ?

My tds comes out 0 from my rodi.

 

[Saltyreef]

Looks like biofilm. Probably from the temp of the water and possibly leaching food source from the brute can....

 

[Leon Gorani]

Looks like biofilm. Probably from the temp of the water and possibly leaching food source from the brute can....

So what do I do to keep this from happening? Just clean the brute can more often? And use the water earlier instead of letting it sit in guessing?
And what is that food source coming from a brute can? I’ve been thinking of getting better containers but I’m not sure what to get.

 

[90's reefer]

I get that brown residue too.
I run 1/8 cup of rox carbon in a nylon bag when mixing. It floats on the surface. No residue and the brute stays clean.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My tds comes out 0 from my rodi.

Rinse out and see if such deposit returns and how soon

 

[jda]

It is probably organics or precipitate from the salt. This is common. Just remove some of it and don't worry about it. Some plastics seem to do this more than others, like brute containers or other trash cans. It is no big deal.

 

[Leon Gorani]

It is probably organics or precipitate from the salt. This is common. Just remove some of it and don't worry about it. Some plastics seem to do this more than others, like brute containers or other trash cans. It is no big deal.

So you think it is safe to use this batch of water if I just clean that residue out of it? I need to do a water change but not sure if I should toss this water

 

[crny1]

Reef Crystals?

 

[90's reefer]

So you think it is safe to use this batch of water if I just clean that residue out of it? I need to do a water change but not sure if I should toss this water

Yes its safe. Run a small bag of carbon for an hour and it will all be gone.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

So you think it is safe to use this batch of water if I just clean that residue out of it? I need to do a water change but not sure if I should toss this water

I know I have used that kind of water before. I use the same salt and it happens every time I mix. The longer I mix, the more residue that sticks to the walls of my brute.

 

[Leon Gorani]

Yes its safe. Run a small bag of carbon for an hour and it will all be gone.

Sweet thanks, I will be doing that!

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Yes its safe. Run a small bag of carbon for an hour and it will all be gone.

Thank you, I’m going to try this next time to save me the trouble of wiping down the walls after each water change

 

[Fin]

I keep a reactor running with filter floss and carbon in the bottom of my fresh and saltwater barrels and they always look like this. This is the saltwater drum and the water is several months old.

 

[ThRoewer]

There are bacteria who thrive in RO water. It's a problem medical facilities and pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers frequently have to deal with.
If you think nothing can live in RO/DI water, think again. Even if you measure 0 TDS (key here is the "DS" which stands for "dissolved solids" = salt ions) there are still plenty of things in the water that do not dissolve in water those bacteria can feast on. And then there is of course also the material of the water tank (plastic, steel) which often is itself a suitable food source for bacteria...

 

[jda]

The stuff was in the salt mix already and would have been added in many other cases. It is safe to use.

 

[ThRoewer]

BTW, the Red Sea Salt mix is quite dirty. When I was using it I had to clean the mixing container frequently.

 

[undermind]

BTW, the Red Sea Salt mix is quite dirty. When I was using it I had to clean the mixing container frequently.

Yes, this is a known thing with the Red Sea salt. I dealt with it the entire time I used Red Sea. When I researched it here on R2R, I found that it is commonly discussed.

I wouldn't quite say that it is "dirty", and I don't think there's any harm using it. There are loads of successful tanks using it. The organics likely come with the territory when using salts from natural sources like Red Sea Salt. In fact, I believe Red Sea says on their salt packaging to use the salt within 4 hours of mixing. It isn't the best choice for longer term storage.

I switched away from Red Sea because I got tired of cleaning my mixing container. And by the way, this isn't a result of your Brute trash can. I mixed mine in a glass tank and had the same issue. Synthetic salts like Tropic Marin, HW, and Brightwell do not have this issue. But probably no reason to switch unless you're like me and don't like cleaning the storage container out all the time.

BRS Investigates did TONS of videos on this topic 2 years ago.

Here are a couple:

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

I agree switch to tropic marin and see if you get same issue , bet you dont.