ash in tank from fire

[sberman]

hi i am in so.ca. in one of the fire areas i am work and just got a call that the ash from the fire is getting in the sump (which i have outside and not covered yet ) and now the tank is cloudy . anybody else had anything like this happen . my son says all the poloyps are still out and nothing is slimming yet .do u think i will have problems

thanks scott

[tanker]

Ashes are not really water soluable (spelling??). Most of the ash should float. I would get a micron filter to clean the water of "floating ash".

[sberman]

my son just covered the sump and when i get home in the morning i will change the filter sock he keeps empting the skimmer cup for me now i guess it is going nuts to

all the times to be working

[Foogoo]

Any soap makers here? If I remember correctly, doesn't water+ash=H2SO4 which is basic (raises pH)? Maybe you would want to try posting this in the chem forum.

[greenman]

Not sure, but doesn't ash lower PH ?


other then that i wouldnt be to worried if your stuff is still open and the sump is now covered..... do you expect it to get worse ?



PS i wish i could have an outside sump has to be in the 40s here....

[sberman]

my son says the ashes are comming down like it is raining feel better now that i vented and the tank is covered

i am lucky he stays up late and checks the tank while i am at work

looks like tommorrow is football and water change day

[greenman]

Ok i had it backwords "hey im dsylexic"
Looks to me like you got some free doseing for your tank!!!!!

It will Raise the ph .... being its night time you should be ok!!!

UNless it has some nasty chemical in it used to put out the fire....




For the home gardener, however, wood ash can be a valuable source of lime, potassium and trace elements.


"When wood burns, nitrogen and sulfur are lost as gases, and calcium, potassium, magnesium and trace element compounds remain. The carbonates and oxides remaining after wood burning are valuable liming agents, raising pH, thereby helping to neutralize acid soils."

"high pH materials such as wood ash"

[greenman]

maybe i should try ash!!! I cant get my dam cal up!

[sberman]

now i have been trying to lower the ph some as it has been at 8.4 to 8.6 i will have to check the meter in the morning

but also arent most coral reefs by volcanos so they would have ash in them also so it should not hurt them

maybe i will get really lucky and found something that is really good for the tank not my luck but who knows


its been about 4 hours now since this started the tank is still cloudy but the corals are all doing good so now i cant wait for my shift to end so i can go home and of course i get 1 hour added tonight becaus of the time change oh boy

[greenman]

Yea i hear you on the one hour!!!! Altho its just about used up for me I need to get to bed!


Let us know what the out come is .....

[sberman]

just noticed where you were so your time has changed already i am still waiting


will update this later today i wont be off work till 5 am so cant even check till i get home thats the hard part

[eums]

good luck with the ash, my car is covered in it and i live at the beach !! but none has made its way into my tank.

[sberman]

tank is still alittle cloudy and ph has went up to 8.7 but no ill effects on the animals or caorals so far cranked up the skimmer and will do a water change in a couple of days

[photobarry]

The only problem that I can see with the ash getting in your tank is that it contains phosphate which could fuel algae growth. Good luck!

[OnTheReef]

Ash is high in salts and akaline chemicals, such as KNO3 and KOH. Therefore, you can expect alkalinity, pH and nitrates to rise.

[sberman]

ph is up to 8.7 but that is on a monitor so it is easy to check have not tested for anything else yet

[sammystingray]

FYI.......

http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:FqIQueN_cCEJ:www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf1993/misra93a.pdf+composition+of+ash&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[sberman]

only thing is it was more about wood ash from trees i think what i am seeing is ash more from grasses so i dont think it will have the same content

thanks for the info

scott