As for storing stones, I only keep the biggest and impressive ones. I keep them frozen. They melt and smell if it is warm. They smell anyway :(
One more thing. I made this mistake during my first flush. Don't wash your stones with hot or warm water. They melt. I started to wash mine with cold water, but they would keep the colour, they were brownish and I could not believe myself that these were stones, I took them for pieces of... So I started to wash them with hot water and ended up with small emeralds.