White speks in water?

[9supratt4]

In all the years i have been doing this...I have never seen anything lile this.

I'm in the middle of a water change. I mixed up the new water just like I always do...I emptied the tank and when I walked back over to the bucket of new water it has white speks floating on the surface of the water as well as in the water column.

Only difference is this time...the humidity must have gotten to the salt so it had some "rocks" in it. I broken them down and used the salt.

Anyone know what is going on? Is this water safe to use? I have no other water. I would have to use tap water.

 

[9supratt4]

After further examination I noticed the bag that the salt was in has a yellowish hue to it where the salt was touching. Did the humidity cause an imbalance in the salt? Should I use tap water with the new salt I have here?

 

[Trio91]

Tap is the enemy, if you absolutely have to use water, I'd do distilled/bottle water. The good stuff in the salt may have precipitated out from the humidity. So worse case, u may need to chuck it. Paul @redfishbluefish can chime in with his expertise

I could be wrong though as I am not expert

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

It sounds like the salt precipitated. I would test alk, calcium and go from there.

 

[redfishbluefish]

First off, I would never use tap water......RO/DI or purchase water if need be.

The "snow" you are seeing is precipitated carbonate that will not go back into solution. Moisture must have gotten to the salt. I have seen yellow bags with RC that has been exposed to moisture....but you also usually see crusting or actual "rocks" of salt from the introduction of moisture. It is safe to use, but your alk and calc numbers will not be up there, so you might need to adjust to maintain proper alk and calc numbers.

 

[9supratt4]

First off, I would never use tap water......RO/DI or purchase water if need be.

The "snow" you are seeing is precipitated carbonate that will not go back into solution. Moisture must have gotten to the salt. I have seen yellow bags with RC that has been exposed to moisture....but you also usually see crusting or actual "rocks" of salt from the introduction of moisture. It is safe to use, but your alk and calc numbers will not be up there, so you might need to adjust to maintain proper alk and calc numbers.

Thanks Paul (@redfishbluefish)!

First off....I NEVER use tap water, but in a situation like that, I wouldn't have had another choice as everywhere was closed by then. I didn't see your response in time, so I ran the water that I removed from the tank through a very fine sock and put it back in the tank until I was able to make up new water. Not the best idea, but that's all I had.

And yes....moisture definitely got to the salt. The bad was yellowed, and their were "rocks" of salt in the bag. I broke them up, but I guess the humidity did a number on the salt.

I will get new water made up with a new bag of salt. Lesson learned on not storing salt in the garage

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

@9supratt4 I use RC and I have their bucket. I make sure I keep the lid close when put away. Before I went to their bucket and was using their "bag" I dumped the salt into a 5gal bucket with lid that I picked up from Lowes. I keep mine in my laundry/utility room (live in an apartment) and *knock on wood* had no issues of moisture yet. Might be wroth looking into to see if it help prevent your salt from going bad due to moisture.

 

[9supratt4]

Thanks @njtiger24 aquariums....I have been keeping my salt in the garage since December...I guess the humidity the last couple weeks was too much to handle. I probably have a bucket around somewhere....good idea!

I started buying the RC in the 200 gallon boxes since they are better value.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

Thanks @njtiger24 aquariums....I have been keeping my salt in the garage since December...I guess the humidity the last couple weeks was too much to handle. I probably have a bucket around somewhere....good idea!

I started buying the RC in the 200 gallon boxes since they are better value.

I think once I get one more bucket of the RC I am going to switch to the box. This way I have extra buckets to dump the salt into.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I have had issues with buckets, even with the lid clicked all the way closed.....that's why I prefer the bags in the 200 gallon boxes. Even resealing the bucket, I've had a crust form on the surface when humidity was high. So here's what I do with the bags. I roll/fold the bag closed, eliminating as much air as I can. I then wrap the bag with two large rubber bands. This closed bag now goes into a salt bucket with the lid tightly closed. This has eliminated any crusting from moisture for me.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

I have had issues with buckets, even with the lid clicked all the way closed.....that's why I prefer the bags in the 200 gallon boxes. Even resealing the bucket, I've had a crust form on the surface when humidity was high. So here's what I do with the bags. I roll/fold the bag closed, eliminating as much air as I can. I then wrap the bag with two large rubber bands. This closed bag now goes into a salt bucket with the lid tightly closed. This has eliminated any crusting from moisture for me.

I do agree I can see issues with using a bucket but lucky *knock on wood* I have not yet. I do know when I close the lid, before I do the last snap I push down on the lid to help expel some of the extra air. Now a bag and bucket like you are talking about sounds even better.