Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
When dealing with the carefully constructed micro-environment of a float tank, any tiny addition can really throw off the appearance or chemistry (just ask anyone who’s had to deal with their water turning orange or green!). The types of soaps you use in your float rooms, along with shampoos, conditioners, and lotions can and will enter your tanks, so it’s important to consider what impact they’re going to have.
Graham and Ashkahn walk through troubleshooting water chemistry problems for this question, to help solve a particular issue.
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: Today’s question is, “I have a sort of stringy white substance that’s been popping up in my float tanks. Is something gross happening? It seems too frequent for that and is in all of the tanks.” Interesting.
Ashkahn: Alright.
Graham: So first of all, we don’t know. So it’s almost hard without seeing something in person to tell what’s going on.
Ashkahn: Yeah just to hear someone describe something.
Graham: And even then it’s, there’s complicated chemistry going on with all that salt water, so you know there might not even be one set answer to this.
Ashkahn: It sounds like they’re hinting at a certain human substance.
Graham: Ejaculate. It’s okay, we can say that. We’re adults here.
Ashkahn: Yeah, well and that’s I don’t know. The way they are phrasing it, like all the tanks and frequency. That doesn’t sound right to me, like it doesn’t feel like that. All of a sudden one float center has this huge problem.
Graham: And it sounds like it doesn’t sound right to them either. You know like, yeah. Yeah.
Ashkahn: So my mind would go somewhere else I guess.
Graham: Yeah and like a couple things pop into my mind, which I guess both of them just involved something coagulating in the float tank water. Like we definitely know of some weird kind of chemical reactions that happen as the result of all the magnesium sulfate that might be happening with this case.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: And so one of those, it doesn’t sound like, kind of because of the regularity, but is worth mentioning which is we know of some enzymes, and it’s not uncommon to use enzyme cleaners to keep the float tanks hopefully a little clearer or something like that. But there are some enzymes that we’ve even tried in our float tanks at Float On, that immediately coagulate, and kind of leave this, like not a small amount of sort of white goopy substance in the tank. And that’s not as common, like I think we’ve only played with one thing that did that?
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: And the other thing that I’ve seen is, with soaps, which is maybe the more common thing that we’ve run into. So soaps kind of coagulating and in the salt water, and leaving behind a little, almost white papery sort of streaky things.
Ashkahn: Yeah I’ve heard of different soaps having a lot of different effects. Like sometimes when I hear from people having kind of almost like an oily layer or something like that, they have trouble with. My mind usually jumps to thinking about that as one thing worth changing and seeing what the effect is. Like you might just have shampoo that has something in it that’s kind of reacting strangely with the Epsom salts. Especially if it’s persistent and frequent and in all the float tanks, like that’s kind of my mind is like okay, I don’t know if it’s the answer or not or if it’s actually what’s leading to it, but it’s a real easy thing to change and test out, and then if it does go away, then I have a strong suspicion that, that’s probably what was causing it.
Graham: Yeah I mean so that’s the nice thing about starting with the soaps, it is it’s incredibly cheap and easy to run a test on seeing whether that’s the case or not. And a really easy way is just take some Dr. Bronner’s, which is not uncommon to use, kind of just a pure castile soap, and put that available in only one of the rooms, and see if that just stops the problem.
Ashkahn: ‘Cause we’ve definitely taken some soap we’ve had before and just like tried putting it into a little bit of Epsom salt, or the float water, and it just did immediately coagulate into this white kind of cloudy thing.
Graham: Yep so I guess that’s another test, one of the old bucket tests you know. Take anything that’s in the room really, your lotion, your shampoo, your conditioner, your body wash, whatever you have in there and try adding it to a bucket of saltwater, and see what the reaction is. You might again see an immediate result, that is enlightening.
Ashkahn: Yeah, so that’s definitely a great, easy, low risk place to start.
Graham: Which is not always the case with float tank tests, like lots of times, you’re like, “Wow, I have to completely redo my entire filtration system in order to figure out if this is the case.”
Ashkahn: And beyond that, it can be kinda hard to answer, you know there’s so many variables when it comes to float tank, the solution that’s in them, and what’s going on with it, from filtration to what type of sanitation method you’re using, to …
Graham: What kind of salt you’re adding.
Ashkahn: Yeah, the salt, like you know is there something in your water, if you’re not filtering your water, like there’s just so many kind of variables in there that it’s hard to pin something down very easily, but I have seen soap be a problem and create issues in people’s, soap and shampoo, stuff like that, create issues in people’s float tanks before. So it’s certainly on the list of possibilities.
Graham: Yep, and when I’ve heard this before, those are kind of the first two questions that I ask people. Probably because they are both easy to test is, are you using some kind of enzyme in the float tanks, what kind of soap are you using.
Ashkahn: And I’ve heard it ranging, not even just from film stuff. I’ve even heard of people having like suds, little bits of suds or something.
Graham: Sure.
Ashkahn: So it can have different kind of effects.
Graham: That’s true, yeah in addition to kind of the white stringy type of soap reaction, yeah there’s like the oil on top soap reaction. There’s the sudsy soap reaction. I guess that’s it.
Ashkahn: Yeah. He missed.
Graham: I was like on a roll. there, I wanted to like go into like three more things soap can react with, you know. So, try it out, write back to us if it doesn’t solve it, and feel free to send along some photos too, and we’ll take a look, and maybe take another crack at the exact same question, you know.
Ashkahn: Alright if you guys have other questions for us, you can go to floattanksolutions.com/podcast and submit them there.
Recent Podcast Episodes
HIPAA Compliance – DSP 330
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) required the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop regulations protecting the privacy and security of certain health information. This means that most medical information recorded by healthcare providers has to be stored based on a certain standard of security.
This is only just now becoming an issue in the float industry as centers are starting to accept insurance and medical referrals. However, this is still extremely rare. If this is something that may affect you personally, definitely research additional resources to make sure you’re in compliance.
Getting High (on air) in Float Tanks – DSP 329
Graham and Ashkahn light one up to honestly answer what they think about people coming into float centers high.
The guys share their experiences having Float On share a wall with a dispensary and the number of problems (or lack thereof) that it has caused over the course of many years.
Sit back, grab some munchies, and enjoy the ride with these guys.
What you Need to Know about UV – DSP 328
Have you ever wondered why the UV light on a float tank needs to be replaced so often? If the light is glowing, doesn’t that mean it’s working?
Ashkahn and Graham tackle everything you need to know about UV light, how it works in a float tank, and most importantly, how it can go wrong. This episode is dense with information useful for anyone who uses UV in their float center.
What’s going on with the MAHC? – DSP 327
The Model Aquatic Health Code is a document released by the CDC and has made waves throughout the float industry as this year it included a section on the ideal health department code for float centers as well as pools and spas. Some folks are worried about this because it may mean more rigid and unruly regulations in certain areas.
It’s been a few months since its release, so Graham and Ashkahn give an update to how it has impacted the industry and what it means going forward. Also, Ashkahn learns to abuse the show notes.
Logo Copycats – DSP 326
If you’ve ever looked at a collection of logos from various float centers, they can start to look a little similar. How do you avoid this when designing your own float center logo? Is it a big deal?
Graham and Ashkahn dish on logo design, the importance of simplicity, and a not so subtle reminder that the “don’t be an asshole” rule exists for a reason.
Latest Blog Posts
Should I Have One or Multiple Styles of Float Tank?
If you had every model and type of float tank you’d be running the Burj Khalifa of float centers, with an estimated 38 unique float tanks, which include pods, custom open pools, cabins, vertical tanks, and inflatable or portable float devices currently on the market (not even counting old models).
This is all to say that there are a ton of options out there when considering tanks for your center.
Whether you’re opening a two-tank center, or a bajillion-tank center, do you want all the same model, or will you have some variety?
Why ROI Calculators Suck! (or at least why you should use caution)
“What is an ROI calculator?” I hear you asking. “ROI” simply stands for “Return on Investment”. An “ROI Calculator” is just a tool that outlines the cost of something and generates what your anticipated profit will be over a certain length of time. Usually annually.
We should make a distinction between a simple ROI calculator (i.e. a widget built into a website with limited inputs), and a financial plan (complete with P&L, cashflow, and balance sheets). Both are going to try and do the same thing, but one is going to be far more detailed and accurate.
Roughly what we’re going to be talking about is a return on investment for your whole business, but return on investment can (and should) be used for lots of different aspects to your business to help you determine how best to spend your company’s money. Usually, though, that’s going to require a lot of detail that a simple widget can’t provide.
How to compete on price without slashing prices
Let’s say you’re a float tank center and more centers are starting to show up in your town…
Or, maybe you are that other center starting up a town that already has float tanks…
As new centers enter the market, the typical response is to run promotions on daily deal sites, promote large specials, and/or run Facebook Ads selling floats for much less than the usual offerings.
The best case scenario is this price slashing behavior subsides shortly after the neighboring center opens.
But what if it doesn’t? What if an existing competitor decides their new price is even lower?
How do you compete with a price slashing neighbor without competing on price?
Learn a few ways to make price a non issue with your customers…
Float On’s Halloween Spooktacular!
‘Twas briny, and the epsom groves fluttered with salt-bats, a lurking fog floating atop the murky bog. From the dark maw of silence came a guttural groan, an eerie utterance akin to those of monsters. From the depths of darkness, that groan turned into what mortals...
