mixing soda ash smell

jake koppen · 05/04/2012, 01:04 AM

Just mixed up my first diy brs 2 part batch. Is the alk part (soda ash) supposed to sink? Smells fishy., also tip to others doing it for the first time, don't mix it around with your bare hand cause it burns lol

ianjirka · 05/04/2012, 01:21 AM

My guess is the two are related

Mine has never had a noticible smell, though I mix it in a gallon jug (see the instructions on their website)

I have pair of chemical gloves (and goggles after I started with Kalk) for handling the various tools of the trade.

Randy Holmes-Farley · 05/04/2012, 07:29 AM

Sodium carbonate itself has no smell. Contaminants might, however.

Did the dry powder smell?

What sort of water did you use to make it? The pH is high, so any ammonia in the water will be converted more to the free ammonia form and be easier to smell. Ammonia may come from chloramine in tap water, for example, or RO/DI where the DI is just being depleted.

jake koppen · 05/04/2012, 03:29 PM

the dry soda ash has a slight smell to it but my mixed solution smells fishy still. i used rodi water that is reading 8 ppm after di (prob needs changed). there may be some other small contaminates, my mixing buckets are pretty clean (not perfectly sterile) and maybe some floaters from lint (mixed in laundry room). I don't think that it's anything really notable tho. Should i have any concern using this batch? i only dose 80ml per day so any contamination would be minimal to my 65 gal water volume correct?

Randy Holmes-Farley · 05/04/2012, 05:17 PM

OK, so I'll bet you have ammonia in the RO/DI.

If you have chloramine in the tap water, ammonia is a big part of what the DI catches, and when the DI first depletes, you can have a lot more ammonia in the effluent from the DI than is incoming to it since it is weakly held, and all the other ions coming in to the DI will potentially bump off ammonium ions to be released.

At 80 mL per day, it is probably not a concern, but I would not sue that same water for top off, which is substantially more volume, at least before you did an ammonia test on it.

jake koppen · 05/04/2012, 06:10 PM

Thanks. I'm going to test and replace di resin

05/04/2012, 01:04 AM	#1
jake koppen Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: lakewood Posts: 549	mixing soda ash smell Just mixed up my first diy brs 2 part batch. Is the alk part (soda ash) supposed to sink? Smells fishy., also tip to others doing it for the first time, don't mix it around with your bare hand cause it burns lol

05/04/2012, 01:21 AM	#2
ianjirka Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Issaquah, WA Posts: 153	My guess is the two are related Mine has never had a noticible smell, though I mix it in a gallon jug (see the instructions on their website) I have pair of chemical gloves (and goggles after I started with Kalk) for handling the various tools of the trade. Last edited by ianjirka; 05/04/2012 at 01:23 AM. Reason: 'so' --> 'I'

05/04/2012, 07:29 AM	#3
Randy Holmes-Farley Reef Chemist Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 81,937	Sodium carbonate itself has no smell. Contaminants might, however. Did the dry powder smell? What sort of water did you use to make it? The pH is high, so any ammonia in the water will be converted more to the free ammonia form and be easier to smell. Ammonia may come from chloramine in tap water, for example, or RO/DI where the DI is just being depleted. __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Club 65535 Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

05/04/2012, 05:17 PM	#5
Randy Holmes-Farley Reef Chemist Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 81,937	OK, so I'll bet you have ammonia in the RO/DI. If you have chloramine in the tap water, ammonia is a big part of what the DI catches, and when the DI first depletes, you can have a lot more ammonia in the effluent from the DI than is incoming to it since it is weakly held, and all the other ions coming in to the DI will potentially bump off ammonium ions to be released. At 80 mL per day, it is probably not a concern, but I would not sue that same water for top off, which is substantially more volume, at least before you did an ammonia test on it. __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Club 65535 Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

05/04/2012, 03:29 PM	#4
jake koppen Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: lakewood Posts: 549	the dry soda ash has a slight smell to it but my mixed solution smells fishy still. i used rodi water that is reading 8 ppm after di (prob needs changed). there may be some other small contaminates, my mixing buckets are pretty clean (not perfectly sterile) and maybe some floaters from lint (mixed in laundry room). I don't think that it's anything really notable tho. Should i have any concern using this batch? i only dose 80ml per day so any contamination would be minimal to my 65 gal water volume correct?

05/04/2012, 06:10 PM	#6
jake koppen Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: lakewood Posts: 549	Thanks. I'm going to test and replace di resin