Fried Fish

[reefer_head]

While sitting at home yesterday the lights on my tank went off. No biggie power on here power off there must have tripped a breaker. Sure enough breaker was tripped at the panel, so naturally I turned it back on. As Soon as I did the kid starts yelling "there's smoke coming out of the fish tank." I turned the breaker back off, and the location of the smoke was where the heater sits. I didn't think much of it I just pulled the heater out and determined that it was a piece of crap heater that only last about a year. I turned the breaker back on and started looking at the fish. Wow there usually swimming around this time a day. Instead they were all hiding where they normally sleep. I put two and two together and determined that when I turned the breaker on before the smoke the heater had shorted out and must have sent a dose of electricity through the tank. I only have three fish in my tank. A Tomato Clown, a Royal Gramma, and a Six Line Wrasse. At this point only time will tell how bad of a shock they got. This morning when I turned on the light I saw the clown swimming around, but not to far from it's bed. The Gramma made a quick get away to a spot under a rock, and the six line is still near m.i.a (meaning I saw the tail getting sucked up further into a rock.) I take that back. Six line is now swimming around the tank, and clown is chasing him. Gramma on the other hand still seems very stressed and is hiding, but is alive. I hope they'll be alright. After all I had these little guys in my tank now for four years now, and would hate to lose them all at the same time due to faulty equipment. In case your wondering what type a heater I wont be buying again it was a Visi-Therm Stealth.

 

[yote]

Hopefully your gramma will be alright.
My biggest fear with this hobby,is something shorting out and frying my livestock.

 

[dcantucson]

I definitely have a lot of fear surrounding heaters. Sometimes I think I'm going to zap myself when I stick my arm into the tank.

 

[wontonflip]

I had a scare the other night when I was pulling out my powerhead for cleaning...I forget how I was holding the light, but one end of the light housing fell into the water. Luckily, I had the power strip turned off. Still scary. Hope your li'l guys are ok, reefer.

 

[Smitty]

Hope they make it through...you may have cut it off just in time to prevent long term injury.

 

[Bifferwine]

Well the good news is that if they survived the initial jolt, they will probably be okay from then on out. I've been the victim of stray electricity in my tank and have had my share of shocks, and it sucks. It's definitely something that all of us need to be very careful about.

 

[reefer_head]

Just to let everyone know all bodies accounted for and doing well.

 

[yote]

Thats good to hear.

 

[project5k]

good, glad to hear that they are surviving

you know i keep wondering about a ground rod, and if i should find one, just sounds like a better and better idea... what exactly are they and how does one use it, i'm picturing a stainless steel rod a few inches long that you dangle in your tank and that has a wire on it that you put into the ground lug of the outlet, or maybe ground it to that screw that holds on the face plate... anyone got a picture?

i would also think that i could put it in the sump, cause there is a water column between the tank and the sump, so i wonder if that would count as a good enough connection.. hmm

 

[dcantucson]

Good to hear reefer_head!

 

[yote]

good, glad to hear that they are surviving

you know i keep wondering about a ground rod, and if i should find one, just sounds like a better and better idea... what exactly are they and how does one use it, i'm picturing a stainless steel rod a few inches long that you dangle in your tank and that has a wire on it that you put into the ground lug of the outlet, or maybe ground it to that screw that holds on the face plate... anyone got a picture?

i would also think that i could put it in the sump, cause there is a water column between the tank and the sump, so i wonder if that would count as a good enough connection.. hmm

Well,A grounding rod is a solid piece of steel rod about 6ft long that you drive in the ground beside the meter box and weatherhead.:D

A ground probe on the other hand is basically a piece of stainless steel thats got a 3 prong plug on the other end,with just one wire running to the ground lug.You plug it into an outlet.:D
Titanium Grounding Probe - AquaCave

 

[project5k]

Well,A grounding rod is a solid piece of steel rod about 6ft long that you drive in the ground beside the meter box and weatherhead.:D and is normally copper clad(yea i know, i'm a liscensed radio operator) smart-a$$ :D

A ground probe on the other hand is basically a piece of stainless steel (oh really) thats got a 3 prong plug on the other end,with just one wire running to the ground lug.You plug it into an outlet.:D
Titanium Grounding Probe - AquaCave

maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, dosent that say titanium and not stainless? :mrgreen:

ok, cool, so now, that pigtail that they have pictured there, the one comming out of the 3 prong, i'm guessing thats what you use if you dont have a grounded outlet to just plug it into, or do you have to use that as well, cause i'm looking and it looks like the blades of that plug are plastic...

 

[dcantucson]

except the ground one!

 

[project5k]

ok, i'm hoping that you're saying that from experience and not that picture, cause i honestly cant see that there even is a ground lug, of any material in that picture...

 

[yote]

maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, dosent that say titanium and not stainless? :mrgreen:
Yeah I posted it without looking :D

ok, cool, so now, that pigtail that they have pictured there, the one comming out of the 3 prong, i'm guessing thats what you use if you dont have a grounded outlet to just plug it into, or do you have to use that as well, cause i'm looking and it looks like the blades of that plug are plastic...

But yes,it has to be plugged into a grounded outlet,and the blades are plastic:Cheers:
The ground plug on it is metal,just like on any electrical cord.It just dont have the hot wires.
We carry them at the store.

 

[dcantucson]

Yes, I have one and the ground part of the plug is real.
Can you imagine if they used real plugs by mistake though and all the newbies got fried!

 

[project5k]

ahh ok, so the pigtail is just there incase you cant actually plug it into a grounded outlet.. ok,

so.. can it go in the sump, and still be considered to be protecting the DT? i would think that wtih all the plumbing and water moving that there would be a good enough connection through the water... or do i have to put it in the DT?

or maybe i should get one for the sump and one for the DT?
thier cheap enough....

 

[yote]

With saltwater,just putting it in the sump will take care of it.Saltwater has enough conductivity that any electricity anywhere the system will through the entire system.

 

[project5k]

thats what i was thinking... and i thought about it on the way home, and the sump would be a fine place to put it, so long as the return pump is running, if for some reason that pump were to stop, then i don't think that the DT would be protected cause there'd no longer be a solid path of water for the electricity to follow, the overflow will go dry and so would the return plumbing...

 

[yote]

Thats true.But it'll still let you that somethings not right so you'll know to start looking.