Wildfire smoke!

[face]

Anyone deal with it? what is the effect on the tank if any? Would it be worth it to get an air purifier or would it just get exhausted from all the smoke that comes in? I guess it would need to have a large capacity and the house hopefully airtight as possible.

 

[RedoubtReef]

Yep, we just leave the windows closed.

 

[ReefEco]

We've dealt with it quite a lot of smoke in California last couple years - even with the house sealed up, the smell and likely particulates get in. We got an Allen purifier for the first floor (and a second smaller unit for the bedroom), with the "smoke" filter which has particulate filtration and carbon. If an AQI of 300+ is not good for us, it likely isn't good for the tank either...

 

[face]

Yep, we just leave the windows closed.

We've dealt with it quite a lot of smoke in California last couple years - even with the house sealed up, the smell and likely particulates get in. We got an Allen purifier for the first floor (and a second smaller unit for the bedroom), with the "smoke" filter which has particulate filtration and carbon. If an AQI of 300+ is not good for us, it likely isn't good for the tank either...

did you notice any negative effects? the purifier did work?

 

[RedoubtReef]

not really. I don't have an air purifier. It would have to be massive since the tank is in the kitchen and it's about a 450 sq/ft room.

 

[ReefEco]

I don't think I noticed anything different, but then again the purifier was running non-stop, so I can't really say whether not having it run would have impacted that tank. However, it certainly helped the inside air quality in the house - which is the first priority. LIving in 200-300 AQI for weeks at a time is no joke, and smoke gives me headaches anyway - so, it was worth the price tag. I researched a lot of purifiers - there are certainly cheaper ones out there, but the Alen filters are large and have pounds of carbon in them, so are more substantial than many others I looked at. I think mine is rated at like 1,000 sq/ft every 30 minutes or something in that area...

 

[face]

I don't think I noticed anything different, but then again the purifier was running non-stop, so I can't really say whether not having it run would have impacted that tank. However, it certainly helped the inside air quality in the house - which is the first priority. LIving in 200-300 AQI for weeks at a time is no joke, and smoke gives me headaches anyway - so, it was worth the price tag. I researched a lot of purifiers - there are certainly cheaper ones out there, but the Alen filters are large and have pounds of carbon in them, so are more substantial than many others I looked at. I think mine is rated at like 1,000 sq/ft every 30 minutes or something in that area...

Thanks those Allen do have really good reviews. Probably worth having just for anyone!

 

[face]

not really. I don't have an air purifier. It would have to be massive since the tank is in the kitchen and it's about a 450 sq/ft room.

I think 450sf is pretty small really.

 

[o2manyfish]

I have half my system volume (750 of 1500g) outside in Los Angeles. I've had it outside for over 20 years. And in that time there has been lots of wildfires. I posted a youtube video a few years ago of the ash pouring out of the sky and into the 2 180g outdoor frag tanks - And the corals were polyped up and happy as can be. In all the years and all the wildfires we have never had any bad after effects or side effects from the smoke, smell, or ash. All our equipment is outside so the skimmer pulls the smokey air without an issue.

Dave B

 

[face]

I have half my system volume (750 of 1500g) outside in Los Angeles. I've had it outside for over 20 years. And in that time there has been lots of wildfires. I posted a youtube video a few years ago of the ash pouring out of the sky and into the 2 180g outdoor frag tanks - And the corals were polyped up and happy as can be. In all the years and all the wildfires we have never had any bad after effects or side effects from the smoke, smell, or ash. All our equipment is outside so the skimmer pulls the smokey air without an issue.

Dave B

Wow! Thanks for the info! That’s surprising I guess only CO2 would be an issue and it’s not actually changing atmospheric CO2

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I've not seen evidence that smoke is an issue, but it might be. My first concern would be similar to microplastics: clogging fine openings of filter feeders.

They are certainly able to unclog themselves from natural ocean particulates, and probably can from smoke particulates, but I've not seen any studies.

I don't think the actually dissolvable chemicals from smoke will rise to a concentration likely to become toxic, unless the fire is right outside your home and you are sucking in very smoky air to a skimmer inlet that is outside.

CO2 is not going to be appreciably higher in a home in smoky air , unless again, the fire is right outside.

 

[ryanjohn1]

When the Canada fires blasted us here in pa the tank did not suffer at all