now I'm mad

[MrMatthew]

First, forgive me it's 0430 my time and I'm grumpy and on my way to drunk.

I decided to clean out my skimmer this evening and as I reached my hand in to the sump I was suprised by a sudden stinging, shock. I instantly withdrew my hand and began looking for the culprit... I expected to see a stray fire coral, anemone, or some other irrate critter but saw nothing but the rush of water instead. Thinking I knocked loose whatever had it out for me I reached back in, and just as quick removed my hand. Then it hit me that shock was just that, a shock. Enough of one to have me seriously worried. To make a four and a half hour story short I am down (to name the big ones) my sump pump, my skimmer, my wave maker, and my power cords. So now I'm running my tank off of 4 maxi jet 1200 (mind you its 180 gallons) no sump, no fuge, and very little hope. According to my multimeter and the cuts on my hand there are still some volts running through the water but not near enough to panic over.

I recently moved back to New Mexico from Colorado, I am supporting my family while my wife goes to school full time, we have a very limited budget and I know I wont be able to afford new equipment. I'm nearing the point of selling my livestock back to the LFS and calling it quits. Oh well, my weekend doesn't start until next Tuesday so I won't try to worry about it till then. sorry about the rant I just have to let it out.

Matt

 

[SnowManSnow]

the shock is comming from somewhere. heater?

 

[blackcloudmedia]

That really sucks. But I may have a solution. I read somewhere that you can install a grounding wire into your tank to absorb the current. There were two methods. One was an actual product that has a wire that leads into the tank (NEVER use copper wire.) and the other end actually plugged into a wall socket but had two plastic prongs where the current comes from and the ground part of the plug was normal metal. Im not sure where to find it or what its called but you can probably google "fish tank grounding wire" or something. Or you could make a homemade one somehow. It may be that one of your pieces of harware has a little tiny label on it that says "Not for use in pools or in saltwater" SOmetimes powerheads are meant for freshwater only but LFS will be like "oh its fine" Then......bzzzt. Or it could be that a seal failed on something. The best way to find out is to get a bucket of saltwater and put each piece of equipment in it one at a time and get a voltage tester (forgot the technical tearm for it) and insert it into that water. That will let you know whats up. But dont stop when you find the problem, test them all because there may be more than one faulty piece of equipment.

If the powerheads the problem you can get one for thirty bucks or so depending on flow. If its a wet dry filter you can do without one for quite some time, if its your skimmer then that seriously sucks lol. My bet and ending question is ,what is your return flo from the sump powered by? If its a standard pump that returns the water to your main tank I bet its the pump thats the problem. Pumps are renowned for being mislabeled for saltwater use or not even labeled at all if they arent saltwater friendly.

 

[trido]

Black cloud, Maybe I am misunderstanding your definition of solution. Using a grounding rod in a tank is NEVER a solution to hiding or gettin rid of stray electricty in a tank. It is however, a way to prevent being killed by stray electricity. The ONLY solution to getting rid of the problem at hand is to find and replace the piece of equipment causing the jolt.

 

[trido]

double post, double post, double post...................... :x

 

[LA-Lawman]

ditto on trido,

process of elimanation on the culprit. i can almost guess at the item, the wavemaker and powerheads..... everyone of my wavemasters did this.

they dont use a ground wire.....

let us know

 

[blackcloudmedia]

Well I was just stating what I read about the wire. Obviously if they sell it...someone uses it. Anyways I also reccommend finding the problem, thats why I went into so much detail about it.

 

[Anonymous]

Get and use a GFCI plug before you get killed. $10

Then get a grounding wire. You can just use a titanium bicycle spoke, stick one end in the water (sump is fine) and connect the wire to the plate screw on the GFCI plug.

Then you won't be able to turn stuff on unless it is safe. Plug things in one by one. When it trips, you have your culprit.

I predict it is either your heater or a rio pump or some other pump.

 

[trido]

flippin double posts :x

 

[Anonymous]

flippin double posts :x

With a name of tri-do, I figure you need to repeat everything three times, not just twice.... :wink:

 

[aquarius77]

Get and use a GFCI plug before you get killed. $10

Then get a grounding wire. You can just use a titanium bicycle spoke, stick one end in the water (sump is fine) and connect the wire to the plate screw on the GFCI plug.

Then you won't be able to turn stuff on unless it is safe. Plug things in one by one. When it trips, you have your culprit.

Great information.
Are most bike spokes titanium? What other metal could be used if any?

 

[trido]

flippin double posts :x

With a name of tri-do, I figure you need to repeat everything three times, not just twice.... :wink:

And the "do" Surely means "DOH" in most cases. :lol:

 

[trido]

flippin double posts :x

With a name of tri-do, I figure you need to repeat everything three times, not just twice.... :wink:

And the "do" Surely means "DOH" in most cases. :lol:

 

[MrMatthew]

Get and use a GFCI plug before you get killed. $10

Then get a grounding wire. You can just use a titanium bicycle spoke, stick one end in the water (sump is fine) and connect the wire to the plate screw on the GFCI plug.

Then you won't be able to turn stuff on unless it is safe. Plug things in one by one. When it trips, you have your culprit.

I predict it is either your heater or a rio pump or some other pump.

Don't worry I would never think to run it without a GFCI plug. However it didn't trip. I mostly have it worked out now, mostly. I have resorted to downsizing to a 'unit' that will support my new found budget (or lack there of) pending the sale of my tank. I have a buyer interested, a VERY good deal if he takes.

 

[Anonymous]

Get and use a GFCI plug before you get killed. $10

Then get a grounding wire. You can just use a titanium bicycle spoke, stick one end in the water (sump is fine) and connect the wire to the plate screw on the GFCI plug.

Then you won't be able to turn stuff on unless it is safe. Plug things in one by one. When it trips, you have your culprit.

Great information.
Are most bike spokes titanium? What other metal could be used if any?

coralife sells a titanium ground probe that retails for about 12 bux, 99% of sw stores carry it, or something very similiar