new tank + STRONG salt smell?

[segraves1]

New to salt water (have hadfresh watersince I was 3). I mixed up some water about a week ago (Instant Ocean salt + distilled H20) and let it sit. Today I filled up the tank (10 gal....starting small) and the "salt smell" is so strong it's making my eyes water.
Now just basic logic makes me want to say "new water......needs to sit a little longer" but a week should have been good right? I know there is going to be SOME salt smell but even the salt water fish store that I go to (with its 50000000000000gals of salt water) does not smell even the least bit "salty". So........any input?
Anyways......hoping for the best.......once the tank sits for a few more days I'll add some live rock and go from there........
thanks :)

[dakar]

What did you use to measure the salinity of the water? How much salt mix did you add per gallon of water?

There really shouldn't be any salt smell.

And BTW allowing the saltwater to age a week or so is a good thing, however you'll want to add a powerhead or at least an airstone to the container to keep the water in motion as it ages. Also keep the container as sealed as possible.

[segraves1]

I'm using an hydrometer (the kind with the "arm" that will "swing" up to a level based on the specific gravity of the water). The water was initially a tad under 1.016 so I added another half-cup of salt to the tank (nothing is in it) as the directions on the salt bag say "for small quantities of water, use a half-cup of salt per gal of water. When you say the water "ages," what do you mean? I didn't have anything in the water to keep it moving but I had it sealed tight in a 5gal paint bucket (never been used of course ;) ).

[Tom McKenna]

You may have not let it vent enough and water got stale since no air and gas realesed

[segraves1]

stale as in "stagnant nasty smell"..........
well, it sure isn't that smell......the smell waslike I stuck my head in the salt bag...LOL

edit/update: well the smell seems to be going away..........my only guess is that it was the initial dumping of water into the tank....perhaps it got spray in the air or something (I'm at a loss) because I am slowly raising the salinity (up to 1.018 now) and the smell seems much calmer now.....

next question: the black mollies in my fresh water tank had 9 babies a month ago (all survived in the same tank)....I have heard of people using mollies to break in a salt water tank (that they can go fresh/brackish/salt) and since they are free, how would I go about acclimating them over (free = good price on my current budget ;) )? I was going to put them in a big bowel of fresh water and slowly raise the salinity but the question is "how slow do I need to go?"