i recently starting using photographers formulary T5 fixer and i tray develop my 4x5 film. Everything is fine with it, but i left the fix in the tray for about 2 days and there is now a coarse deposit, like salt was glued to the bottom of the tray and its extremely difficult to remove! the photo i have attached shows my fingernails trying to scratch through it. This is NOT your usual fixer stains. In the decades i have been a darkroom photographer i have never seen this before. Any ideas?
As for the stains, I've never see anything like you describe. Calling them would be a good idea, maybe they know something. When I've called them in the past they were very helpful.
Ive used tf4 for years, if left in open trays for awhile, it will start to form “crystals” or “salt deposits”, really not sure what they are. After about a week in the open tray most is crystalized with very little liquid left, hot water cleans it up. Tf4 is by far my favorite fixer.