I ran into something strange the other day and I couldn't make much of it then I finally figured it out. Just wanted to share the info to anyone who was having the same issue.
I mix at home with a 20g brute and return pump. I'm currently using Red Sea blue bucket, which I consider to be one of the best quality salt on the market today. Anyways, I made large batch of new salt water a few days ago but, unfortunately, I ran out time to reef so I waited til the next day to get things started. That's when I noticed the new salt water looking really foggy. I've had this happen a few times in the very beginning which I think was due to user error but aside from those days, of all the times I've mixed salt since then, this was something strange I thought. It was crystal clear the night before when I mixed it then less than 24hours later (about 12 hours), it became foggy. I couldn't see the bottom. My concern was that the water was not safe to use. I'm looking at it thinking, "wtf? Seriously, what is going on here?" I couldn't think of any reason why the water would look so bad. This happened once last week as well.
Well, it turns out that this was a result of me not cleaning the brute after use and mixing new salt water again. I normally take a acrylic scubber pad to lightly scrub the inner walls while rinsing in water after each use. and give a good rinse a few more times before air drying. I did, however, skip this step a few times last week and a few more times again before I mixed this new batch of saltwater. I did talk to an LFS owner about this and his response was the new water was somehow contaminated.
I mixed a new batch after cleaning the brute then waited a full 24hours, we're good! I'm convinced it was because I didn't clean after each use. First I thought maybe it's the salt or my return pump. I even thought there was something wrong with the brute, lol. It looks like it was user error again.
If you're not already doing so, I strongly recommend that you lightly scrub the mixing bucket after each use to get the best new saltwater to your tank. If anyone has any feedback, whether you agree or disagree, would be much appreciated. Have a great day everyone!
I mix at home with a 20g brute and return pump. I'm currently using Red Sea blue bucket, which I consider to be one of the best quality salt on the market today. Anyways, I made large batch of new salt water a few days ago but, unfortunately, I ran out time to reef so I waited til the next day to get things started. That's when I noticed the new salt water looking really foggy. I've had this happen a few times in the very beginning which I think was due to user error but aside from those days, of all the times I've mixed salt since then, this was something strange I thought. It was crystal clear the night before when I mixed it then less than 24hours later (about 12 hours), it became foggy. I couldn't see the bottom. My concern was that the water was not safe to use. I'm looking at it thinking, "wtf? Seriously, what is going on here?" I couldn't think of any reason why the water would look so bad. This happened once last week as well.
Well, it turns out that this was a result of me not cleaning the brute after use and mixing new salt water again. I normally take a acrylic scubber pad to lightly scrub the inner walls while rinsing in water after each use. and give a good rinse a few more times before air drying. I did, however, skip this step a few times last week and a few more times again before I mixed this new batch of saltwater. I did talk to an LFS owner about this and his response was the new water was somehow contaminated.
I mixed a new batch after cleaning the brute then waited a full 24hours, we're good! I'm convinced it was because I didn't clean after each use. First I thought maybe it's the salt or my return pump. I even thought there was something wrong with the brute, lol. It looks like it was user error again.
If you're not already doing so, I strongly recommend that you lightly scrub the mixing bucket after each use to get the best new saltwater to your tank. If anyone has any feedback, whether you agree or disagree, would be much appreciated. Have a great day everyone!
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