Water change water has a brown tint

[adobo]

I pre-made several weeks worth of water change water using TM classic salt. I use an ro/di filter for source water. DI side is reading 0 TDS. RO side reads about 3 TDS. I have the made saltwater stored in a 40ish gallon brute trash can in my backyard patio where it gets direct sunlight for a few hours per day. The water is being mixed constantly with a hydor powerhead. I do not heat the water as I live in northern california - outdoor temp is usually close enough to keep the water at a suitable temperature. The trash can lid is kept on pretty much at all times. The current batch was made probably 4 weeks ago and there are about 10-15 gallons left in the trash can. I haven't tested recently but I have tested in past - my made saltwater reads 0 ppm nitrate via salifert. I haven't tested phosphate but I can with a hanna checker if there is reason to.

I went to check on the water today in anticipation of doing a water change tomorrow. It looks like there is something blooming in the water as it has a brown tinge now. So, some questions:

• Any idea what is blooming in the water?
• Any idea of how long water change change water like this can sit outside before this bloom becomes likely?
• Since the water itself doesn't get any direct sunlight, I assume that whatever is blooming is not being driven by sunlight. So I further assume that storing the trash can (and its contents) inside a shed would not help. Agree?
• Any other tips or suggestions for long term storage of saltwater? I do not intend on going back to making batches of water change water every week. That just absolutely sucks the life out of me.

@Lou Ekus , I wonder if you have heard of other people running into this - either with TM salts or just in general. I am switching from classic to pro reef in the next batch but I assume whatever I am doing wrong, I will have the same problem regardless of what salt mix I use.

 

[Bleigh]

Do you have any pictures? Could it be from the sediment in your salt mix? I know TM tends to have lower levels of sediment, so maybe not.

If it's actually suspended in the water, I would guess some type of bacteria? It's hard to know if it's safe or not without a picture.

 

[adobo]

Do you have any pictures? Could it be from the sediment in your salt mix? I know TM tends to have lower levels of sediment, so maybe not.

If it's actually suspended in the water, I would guess some type of bacteria? It's hard to know if it's safe or not without a picture.

Ok, so the brown tint seems to be because there is a brown residue in my trash can. See below:



When I ran my finger across the trash can wall, this is the residue I got on my finger:



A sample of the water itself looks clear:




Thoughts?

 

[bsr2430]

Welcome to the sediment life of half of us! I run into this with Reef Crystals, it doesn’t hurt anything! Once a month I simply wash it out.
My only question, why is this expensive salt doing it? I would expect it not too? One would think?

Food for thought:
I did a test with the salt, I first did a cold mix, mix the salt in cold Ro/DI water and then heat it up.
The second test was have the heater heating the water up with mixing the salt in too.
I found there’s a lot less in the cold mix.
Maybe your water is heating up by the sun light causing this to have that slime?
Do know, you have a lot less brown slime in TM then RC! But you’re paying for that!

 

[adobo]

Welcome to the sediment life of half of us! I run into this with Reef Crystals, it doesn’t hurt anything! Once a month I simply wash it out.
My only question, why is this expensive salt doing it? I would expect it not too? One would think?

Food for thought:
I did a test with the salt, I first did a cold mix, mix the salt in cold Ro/DI water and then heat it up.
The second test was have the heater heating the water up with mixing the salt in too.
I found there’s a lot less in the cold mix.
Maybe your water is heating up by the sun light causing this to have that slime?
Do know, you have a lot less brown slime in TM then RC! But you’re paying for that!

The residue didn't appear until about 3 weeks after I made the batch. The container was clear with no residue for weeks. How long after you make your saltwater do you see the residue with your mix?

 

[bsr2430]

The residue didn't appear until about 3 weeks after I made the batch. The container was clear with no residue for weeks. How long after you make your saltwater do you see the residue with your mix?

If your batch is that old I’m sure it would eventually start to form. With have three week old saltwater mixing, you notice any of the levels getting out of wack?
I notice my brown residue after three days.

 

[Bleigh]

Ok, so the brown tint seems to be because there is a brown residue in my trash can. See below:



When I ran my finger across the trash can wall, this is the residue I got on my finger:



A sample of the water itself looks clear:




Thoughts?

mid it’s just from the salt mix, it’s normal and the powers that be have yet to find it detrimental. Just annoying to clean. One of the reasons TM is so expensive is because there should be little to no residue. As someone else pointed out, perhaps after a certain amount of time, it still precipitates?
The fact that your water is clear seems good to me. I’d just double check all the chem levels to make sure something weird didn’t happen (like a moth flying in and Disintegrating and feeding some microscopic organisms while breaking down). Otherwise, I’d think it’s totally fine.

 

[bsr2430]

I think if I was getting any brown at all with TM I would switch. I mean we’re talking like $80 for a five gallon bucket of TM which is crazy!
I bought RC’s many months ago for like $29 a five gallon bucket. Is it my favorite salt mix? No, but it gets the job done!

 

[Lou Ekus]

@adobo In general, once Tropic Marin salt is mixed and dissolved, it will hold without any precipitate forming, as long as there is no aggressive aeration being done along with the circulation you are doing. If a precipitate forms from a mixing issue, it will almost always be in the initial mixing procedure. If the sides of your mixing container were clean when the mixture was made, and this brownish stuff showed up 3 weeks after holding, my personal opinion, is that it is almost certainly a bacterial or algae bloom, probably cyano of some kind. I wouldn't think that this is defintely not dangerous in any way. But I might think about filtering the water through a sock or micron filter for doing your water change. Just to keep any excess cyano from being added to the system.

 

[adobo]

I think if I was getting any brown at all with TM I would switch. I mean we’re talking like $80 for a five gallon bucket of TM which is crazy!
I bought RC’s many months ago for like $29 a five gallon bucket. Is it my favorite salt mix? No, but it gets the job done!

I appreciate the sentiment - this hobby is expensive and cutting expenses wherever we can is definitely helpful. But for me, that is a separate conversation. The first thing I want to get to the bottom of is, what is this residue and why is it forming? If this is a result of my "process", then I would like to modify my process so as to avoid this particular problem which would seemingly occur even if I switched salt mixes.

Currently, my trash can is kept outside and though the water itself is not exposed to direct sunlight, the trash can is. I am wondering if that "heat exposure" is fueling the formation of whatever this residue is.

 

[MamaP]

I appreciate the sentiment - this hobby is expensive and cutting expenses wherever we can is definitely helpful. But for me, that is a separate conversation. The first thing I want to get to the bottom of is, what is this residue and why is it forming? If this is a result of my "process", then I would like to modify my process so as to avoid this particular problem which would seemingly occur even if I switched salt mixes.

Currently, my trash can is kept outside and though the water itself is not exposed to direct sunlight, the trash can is. I am wondering if that "heat exposure" is fueling the formation of whatever this residue is.

Hi, @adobo . I literally just posted a question similar today, so was wondering if you ever found a way to get rid of the slime? Mine appears after a few days just above the water line. I store mine inside the house and keep 2 small pumps circulating the mixed water. I also use TM Classic salt.

 

[bsr2430]

Hi, @adobo . I literally just posted a question similar today, so was wondering if you ever found a way to get rid of the slime? Mine appears after a few days just above the water line. I store mine inside the house and keep 2 small pumps circulating the mixed water. I also use TM Classic salt.

My RC is also stored in the house. I mix the salt and after a day or two I use it usually little to no residue at that point. Longer you leave it in there, the more residue it will have. I also noticed using cold RO/DI the. Mixing, the. Heating has a better effect for not causing a crap ton of residue. Try that out once.

 

[Clownfishgang]

Its from the salt, they do there best but it’s not completely clean I’ve seen it with multiple salt I keep mine in my basement and I clean my barrel between every salt mix and a couple days later I start seeing a sediment around the edges sometimes I don’t but when my bin is empty and I rub the inside of the can it’sbrown sediment. Wouldn’t worry just through a filter sock before going in tank

 

[MamaP]

My RC is also stored in the house. I mix the salt and after a day or two I use it usually little to no residue at that point. Longer you leave it in there, the more residue it will have. I also noticed using cold RO/DI the. Mixing, the. Heating has a better effect for not causing a crap ton of residue. Try that out once.

I did do heating at first, but thought that might be what was causing the stuff, so I went to cold mixing.