Mixing salt for water change made the water cloudy with residue

[dgtron]

I use Brightwell Salt & last night I was preparing for water change & the water turned out to be very very cloudy.
I add salt into 55G Brut can with RO water, have a Mag 18, a heater & an air pump on for 24 hours.
It is still very cloudy & I ended up emptying the container to find a lot of white slimy residue in the Brut can. I have been using this container for a while now & this is the second time I'm seeing residue like this (the previous time was like 6 months ago).

What could be the problem here? Please suggest.

[Pufferpunk]

Have you used this salt before too?

[dgtron]

Yes I have used this salt before.

[glazer]

sorry if I don't get the technicals right... still working on my correct coffee dosage. Your saltwater precipitated (think that's the right word). There is only a certain amount of calcium carbonate that water can hold at a given temp/pH, and if you pour in too much salt too fast some of it precipitates out. Even if you add more water the CaCO3 will not readily dissolve again.
You can add a cup or two of plain soda water which will lower the pH enough to dissolve the cloudy stuff (CaCO3) and then let it sit with a pump or air stone for a day and the pH should stabilize back to 8.3 or whatever your mix usually ends up at. Or, toss the water, clean the container and start over.

Steve

[Killershrimp]

I have had the same issue in the past. I always wondered if it was the salt? But now I have a reasonable explanation. Thanks for the lesson glazer

[dgtron]

Originally Posted by glazer

sorry if I don't get the technicals right... still working on my correct coffee dosage. Your saltwater precipitated (think that's the right word). There is only a certain amount of calcium carbonate that water can hold at a given temp/pH, and if you pour in too much salt too fast some of it precipitates out. Even if you add more water the CaCO3 will not readily dissolve again.
You can add a cup or two of plain soda water which will lower the pH enough to dissolve the cloudy stuff (CaCO3) and then let it sit with a pump or air stone for a day and the pH should stabilize back to 8.3 or whatever your mix usually ends up at. Or, toss the water, clean the container and start over.

Steve

Steve, I think you got the technicality perfect here. When I tested the PH of the cloudy water it was 7.9
When you say add a cup of Soda water, do you mean baking soda dissolved in water to raise PH?
I did end up emptying the water & starting off again, but I want to try to avoid this problem in the future.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge on this.

[glazer]

Sorry... got busy/involved, snails and hermits showed up

When I was saying soda water I meant like soda water...lol Seltzer water, club soda, whatever you want to call it. Just make sure to use the plain stuff, not flavored. It's nothing more than purified water with CO2 in it... just look at the label to make sure no additives. This will lower the pH and enable the calcium carbonate to dissolve. It's nothing more than the basics of what a calcium reactor is doing. It's a quick fix and doesn't mess with the chemistry of the water.

(alright, gotta do some more dripping, the hermits are "smelling freedom" and trying to form a living pyramid to climb out of the container....lol)


Steve