Smoke and algae
has the smoke affected anyones tanks? it seems like i have a huge algae outbreak since i've been gone. with no one touching my tank it is quite furry and the only things that have really changed is the smoke, and all my lights have been on timers. maybe the wifey over fed while i was gone but i doubt it, she knows better. anyways, am I alone?

I am constantly changing my tank so I can't atribute any slight changes to one single thing. The green film that I have to clean off of the glass every once in a while does seem to have more "fur" to it then it used to. "am I alone?"-I thought you were always in your own little world. :D

Nothing that I can attribute to smoke or any one thing either. Honestly, I can't wait until my salt arrives today so I can do a water change!!! I have had cyano outbreaks like crazy lately.... actually, for quite a while now. At least it seems the cyano is keeping back the other algaes. I too still have to clean the brown film off my glass every couple of days but I think everything is fine. Hope all goes well mitigating your issues Josh.

Ugg. Just checked its still in Sac and scheduled for delivery tomorrow. I've already got 20 gals filtered and waiting to mix!!!

Could have something to do with depressed PH levels due to low oxygen in your home. During summer months (or smokey days) we lose a lot of the oxygen source in our homes due to all the windows and doors being shut tight. This causes low PH and could be causing an algae outbreak as well. Could be overfeeding as well.

Low Ph would make sense the house was closed up and it was so smoky that there wasnt a lot of oxygen to begin with.

I too like the 'closed house -> more people stuck inside consuming O2 & exhaling CO2 -> more CO2 dissolved in your tanks water to lower your pH' theory... Has any actually done or seen the calcs to determine the what the increased CO2 levels in a home would have to be to drop the pH in a tank say 0.5 to 1.0 points? Just curious.... How does the smoke itself lower the oxygen levels? Or are you assuming that the nearby fires consumed local ambient oxygen and subsequently lowered the oxygen in the tanks vicinity? Or is it the people in a shut up house sucking up the O2? I was under the impression that CO2 dissolved in water affects pH but I don't know how varying levels of dissolved oxygen affect pH without some other catalyst to affect the Hydrogen acid base. Would someone help me out here? Not trying to say anyone is wrong or right just clarity. Thanks in Advance!!!

You are correct Chris. The house being shut causes a loss of Air flow (oxygen) thus increasing the CO2 levels in our homes. Increased CO2 levels can cause PH drops. I guess I should splain myself better hahahaha I try not to be too "geeky" or detailed sometimes to help folks understand and not scare them away from the hobby :)

No worries because I do have a tendancy to geek things out. So forgive me if I misunderstand some intent when all you were trying to do was keep it real and down tone. Noted. Peace out.