Moisture and salt

[egkid]

I went to do a water change on my tank today and when I opened the lid to my 5 gallon mixing bucket it had a brown film on the inside (almost looks like diatoms), I have a maxi jet 1200 in there to keep the water circulating.

I've been using the same batch of salt for at least three water changes and never had a problem. When I added the salt last time the lid to the container wasn't on properly allowing moisture to get in causing the salt to get hard.


Has anyone had this problem before?

 

[redfishblewfish]

I’m confused…and believe me, that’s very easy to do.

The bucket you are talking about in the first paragraph…that is liquid saltwater (you have a powerhead in there)? Where is the “brown” stuff. If it’s on the lid…where condensation (freshwater) can form, it’s probably some mold (Aspergillus niger is the common mold found in bathrooms (and everywhere else)).

Now in the second paragraph you are talking about the lid not being on properly and the salt getting hard…so now I’m guessing you are talking about your salt supply. Because of moisture, it has partially dissolved and fused, forming a solid brick.

Without a doubt you have a high humidity condition where your saltwater supply and crystaline salt is kept. In one case, you are growing mold ( I have it growing on the walls because of high humidity from the tank), and in the second case, the moisture is solidifiying your salt supply.

Vent your room where this is happening or get a dehumidifier!

 

[egkid]

Sorry,
The way I worded everything is a little confusing because at first I didn't know what was causing the problem, but as I was typing what the possible problems could be I narrowed it down to the salt getting moisture in it. So instead of deleting everything I typed I just moved some stuff around.

Just to clarify:

-I mixed a batch of saltwater on friday
-The salt that I used had gotten moisture in it causing it to become solid
-Sunday I opened the 5 gallon bucket that I had the saltwater mix in and everything that was submersed in the water was brown (sort of looked like a diatom bloom).

And yes I have a maxijet 1200 keeping the water circulated in the mixing bucket.

 

[redfishblewfish]

OK, got it!

Now I am suspect of your water and/or the brand of salt.

I can only guess that the brown is either a diatom bloom or a case of cyano.

What water do you use? If RO/DI, are your reading zero TDS? If you’re using tap water, or high TDS water, that’s the most likely cause of the diatom / cyano bloom.

Also consider your salt….what type of salt are you using? Some come with PO4 that could potentially cause a bloom. They don’t tell you that on the label, but if you measure your water (control) and than your fresh saltwater, some have found 0.5 – 1.0 PO4!

 

[egkid]

I use RO/DI water from a very reputable LFS and although I haven't asked to see a TDS reading I'm sure it's zero. I'm using instant ocean salt mix and this mixture was from the same bag that I made at leat 3 other batches with no problems from.

I dont have enough RO water to make another batch but when I do I'll test for phosphates and get back to you guys with the results.