smell

[Abynum1]

I've got base rock that I bought from ReefRocks (the man made stuff.)
It looks great,but when I put it in my tank and started filling it with ro/di water,the rocks started to stink a little.
Not real bad,and you have to basically have your head in the tank to smell it.
The rock sit out in the gulf for 3 months after they were made so I'm assuming the slight "fishy" smell I've got is a result of that.
Will running a canister filter with charcoal or some other type of filter get rid of the smell or will my skimmer take care of it once I get it in?
I'm not putting anything alive in it until I get my live rock and cycle the tank.
Also my TDS reading was 0 out of the unit but after being in the tank for 2 days its 93??
The water in the fuge (pump not running yet) is still 0.
So it has to be the rock or the substrate that changed my tds reading.
I've got Carib aragonite for the substrate.
110 g tank by the way.
Thanks!

[Abynum1]

I forgot to mention the tank is only about 1/3 (if that) full of water.
I'm running the ro unit every night for a 5 or 6 hours until it gets full.
Maybe more water will help dilute the smell and lower the tds reading?

[toddc76]

I would think this is coming from normal die-off due to transportation. My liverock is pretty smelly during the early part of the curing process.

[Abynum1]

Its not live rock, its base rock.
But I guess it could be die off from the stuff that was on it while it was in the gulf.
I think it had to soak in the gulf for a few months to lower the ph?
Does that sound right?
Remember, its the DIY rocks.

[Abynum1]

I think I figured out why I have a jump in the tds reading;
I read thru some posts by AZdesertrat, and he stated that saltwater has a much higher tds reading than fresh.
(I didn't know that,but makes perfect sense.)
As my live rock was in the gulf to lower the ph, this is probably just residual salt that was on the rocks.
My water leaving the ro/di unit is reading 0,so this has to be the reason huh?

[Icefire]

Well you are killing everything in it.
It got life from the gulf and you put them in RO/DI?

They'll smell for a while (die-off)

[Abynum1]

There isn't anything on it to kill.
Its been sitting in his carport in boxes for weeks and its been on my front porch for the last two weeks.
This is just base rock (I realize now, I accidently said live rock in my last post, but if you read the thread all the way through you will understand.)
He made the stuff,then put it in the gulf for 3 months to lower the ph.
He has to take it to the gulf (a spot he leases) because he does tons of this stuff and doesn't have room to do it all at home.
Once the ph levels are safe,he then brings it home and sells it.
The smell is die off from whatever organisms took home in it during the curing phase.
I'm assuming the raise in tds is from the salt that's still in/on the rock.
So no, I'm not killing anything unless there is an organism that can go without water (as in bone dry) for almost 2 months.
Anything that tough can certainly handle a little ro/di water.
Also, since when is ro/di a bad thing?

[Paintbug]

they put it in the ocean to cure, which is basically leeching off the chemicals. i think has nothing to really do with pH. put putting in ro/di water is not a good idea. you need to fill the tank, mix in some salt, then add the rock. ro/di water is a bad then when it comes to trying to balance itself. the water wants to have minerals in it, and it will break down the rock until theres a certain amount of solids in it. calcium carbonate will break down in the low pH of ro/di water as well. this is the basics of how a calcium reactor works. TDS of saltwater is around 36500ppm, i think. so yes its a little higher. most TDS meters that are seen in the hobby wont measure that high. the smell is probably from die off. theres going to be some bacteria, and other small animals that were dried on there if the rocks were in the ocean.

[Abynum1]

Paintbug, I'm going to run the ro/di all night tonight and the tank should be full by in the morning.
At that point I was planning on adding the salt.
This would make a grand total of 3 days that the rock would be in there without the salt.
Would it do any damage in that short of a period?

[barbra]

Anything that is alive on the rocks will not survive 3 days in fresh water, so all will be lost in that respect. But it will turn "live" again when it builds up it's bacteria coat in the salt water.

[Paintbug]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9369072#post9369072 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Abynum1
Paintbug, I'm going to run the ro/di all night tonight and the tank should be full by in the morning.
At that point I was planning on adding the salt.
This would make a grand total of 3 days that the rock would be in there without the salt.
Would it do any damage in that short of a period?

it may make it a little soft to real soft. how much damage if any i couldnt tell you, or how long it would take. but probably not a lot of damage. the DIY rock i have in my tank is pretty brittle, i imagine it would only get worst if i dunked it in ro/di water for a few days. i would pick up a small piece and see how it is. if its mushy then you have a problem. if its still hard then your fine. :) i would put in a cup or to of salt just to buffer the water, and be safe.

[Abynum1]

barbra,
I understand nothing on the rock will live.
Again, there is nothing on it to live.
It was dry base rock.
What I am asking is if the damage paintbug is referring to will occur in only 3 days.
I understand what paintbug is saying and it makes sense to me, however it does confuse me on another level:
I've read to put the rock in before the sand so the rock wont shift.
Well, how can I put the water in,then the rock,then the sand, without causing a huge sand storm?
I've also read to put a plate on top of the sand and let the water flow onto the plate. This would seem to indicate that sand is before water.
So, if they say rock before sand,sand before water,then rock would have to before water huh?
Now I'm confused :(

[Abynum1]

Paintbug, I just got home and checked it.
It seems fine. I pulled out a piece of rubble from the fuge (also IN ro/di) tried to break it in half and had to really apply pressure to do it.
I'll have the salt in there asap just to make sure.
Thanks for the info.
Anyway, anyone got an answer for my original question:
Is the old salt leeching off the rock the cause for the tds reading?

[Paintbug]

the TDS is going up because its pulling elements from the rock, even from the air, basically. its shouldnt be anything to worry about. if you put ro water in a glass and leave it sitting in the open the TDS will rise. thats nothing to worry about. once you put salt in dont even worry about testing the TDS.

[mikeandjenn99]

The only time to worry about your TDS reading is right out of the ro/di hose. Once you put the water in a container, especially one with rocks in it, you'll get a different reading. Toss in some salt and go ahead and put the TDS meter in the cupboard for a while. Have fun!

[Abynum1]

Thanks for all the help guys!