My fish have been disappearing over the last month and I couldn't figure out why, my parameters were perfect and still are. Anyway I went on holiday ten days ago and when I came back the person looking after my aquarium reported getting electric shocks off it, I have never had this, but then again I wear rubber soled shoes, so I decided to test it, I put a finger in my quarantine tank and a finger in my display tank and wow! the shock was massive. I then went round and turned everything off one by one until I found that one of my Hydor powerheads was leaking current into the tank. I'm pretty sure this was the cause the fish deaths, has anyone else come across this?
Electricity
- Thread starter sheavens
- Start date
Wow - Glad to hear you are okay !
This is an extremely dangerous way to test for voltage leaks.
Keep in mind that many devices in the tank use full house current. In time, especially in SW, power cords can deteriorate exposing the water to full current. You have found that out the hard way. In the future use a volt meter. We don't want to loose anyone.
It is also desirable to run equipment with GFI protection, but don't depend on this for complete protection. You can still get a jolt. One downside with GFI, some ballasts can cause false tripping even though there is noting wrong. Also, if your away, you might want to run critical pumps on non-GFI circuits. GFI while a big safety advantage, sometimes seems to trip at the worst possible times.
A grounding probe is a good idea too.
StirCrayzy
Well-Known Member
Inverts are the most sensitive to voltage , I had 50v leaking without a ground probe, and kept losing snails like crazy.
Never a phantom fish death, but I wouldn't doubt it can adversely affect them .
Never a phantom fish death, but I wouldn't doubt it can adversely affect them .