Keeping Mixed and RO Water How To..

[horstman2]

Hey folks I find that if I premake my salt water it smells like cat urine after a few days. I use a 44Gal Brute from Home Depot and use to run a powerhead and airstone 24/7 while I stored it. i then read somewhere to just seal the lid and let it stand.....What is the best method for both Premade Salt and RO(20 gal brute from Home Depot). Thank you

[shanersnyder]

I store my RODI water in a 35 gal BRUTE with the lid on and my salt water in a 18 gal Rubbermaid with the lid on. In the 18 gal, I have a heater and a powerhead.

[drummereef]

What salt mix do you use?

[horstman2]

Thank you for the replies. I use Red Sea Salt..

[Joshjohnson]

Funny, mine does the same thing, starts to smell, but i have tested it and it allways test fine so i use it and not had any problems

[Scooter12ga]

Interesting, I posted something similar a few days ago and nobody seemed to mention smelly water was a common thing. I use IO and mine starts to smell musty or sour after a few days of sitting. I just aerate and heat it before a water change and the smell seems to go away.

[Nano Chris]

I use IO i have a 20 gal utility tub for the RO/DI and a 20 gal utility tub for the saltwater with a heater and power head in it.

[horstman2]

All sounds good. It never went bad on me just reminded me of why I don't have cats!!! Thanks

[rooroo]

I have that problem with my fresh water as I don't aerate that water. My saltwater has never had that problem as I use an air pump to mix and aerate the water. But yes, it is kind of common because of the containers. Best to clean it out pretty good with some bleach and you may notice the smell goes away for a bit.

[bertoni]

I've kept RO-DI and saltwater for weeks with no odor problems. Perhaps that container is leaching something.

[Jon Evans]

Careful with leaching containers. I poisoned an entire 75 gallon reef tank using water from a newer plastic garbage can.

[horstman2]

I have used the container for 3 months now. It just seems to happen if I DON"T keep a powerhead in there....

[NickBee]

is a 5 gallon water cooler bottle good for storing fresh RO/DI water? I was thinking I could seal the top with plastic wrap and a rubber band...

[rooroo]

My container is a 22 gallon brute trash can. Everyone else has used these with no problems. It's very strange that only some people have stinky water, which leads me to think its either the water or a less efficient RO/DI. Which is strange because my TDS are 0 in the filtered water.

[bertoni]

The water cooler bottles are fine for storing water, in my experience.

[NickBee]

how long can fresh RO/DI water be kept if it's in the propper container...

[pcurry18]

Here is my set up and i have no problems as of yet. I will have a powerhead heater and auto shutoff installed today.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1014582

[bertoni]

RO-DI should be fine until it evaporates. :) I store it for numerous weeks on occasion.

[fsn77]

I re-use the buckets the salt mix comes in to store saltwater. I close them up and they sit for up to 2 weeks before they get used for a water change. I've never had any problems with funky smells.

As for fw RO/DI, I use 7g drinking water containers that you can buy just about anywhere that sells campling supplies. It usually doesn't sit around as long as mixed sw, as I pull top-off water out of them as needed, so I'm not sure how the water would be after 2, 3, or 4 weeks.

[NickBee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8945759#post8945759 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pcurry18
Here is my set up and i have no problems as of yet. I will have a powerhead heater and auto shutoff installed today.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1014582

What did you use for auto shut off?

[MC Lighting]

funny my brute smells like cats also when i am just adding the freshwater from the r/o to it until it is full then I add the salt the smell seems to go away but i only keep a powerhead in there as heating it seems wastful and the condensation is really bad so i heat right before adding... I hope the smell is not an idication of a problem but seems everyone that has it is not having any issues...

[horstman2]

I think the smell is nothing to worry about. Thank you all for the replies and have a good day.