Aquariums and GFCI

[mark]

Originally Posted by Gizmo

I'll just quip in with this: while yes the gfi can protect you, it can also be a danger to your inhabitants. By that I mean, say you went on a holiday. And you had all your gear plugged into this trustful device, and pop it has a nuceince trip. Pumps are down heaters are down and your tank is toast. I say run your lighting and non mission critical systems on a gfi but keep at a min one powerhead and a heater off that gfi

I've split my system between 2 GFI breakers and a GFI outlet for that reason.

[Binare]

Originally Posted by Gizmo

I'll just quip in with this: while yes the gfi can protect you, it can also be a danger to your inhabitants. By that I mean, say you went on a holiday. And you had all your gear plugged into this trustful device, and pop it has a nuceince trip. Pumps are down heaters are down and your tank is toast. I say run your lighting and non mission critical systems on a gfi but keep at a min one powerhead and a heater off that gfi

Not to be argumentative, but I personally value my life and that of my 3 year olds more then my coral. My tank is pretty important to me, but so is mine and my families. Another thing to check for is your home owners insurance. If a fire is caused by your tank and its not on a GFCI protected circuit or outlet I bet they would take that 'out' without losin any sleep over it. Having 1 thing protected and another not protected defeats the purpose.

IMO any current that could hurt me, could hurt any fish or coral just as easily. GFCI really is a no brainer.

[Toxik]

Having a GFCI is something that has never even occured to me and something I probably never would have thought nessesary. Iv'e had my tank running for 5 years and thankfully never been shocked. I'll be picking some GFCI's up very soon.
Thanks guys

[banditpowdercoat]

You know, I don't run a GFCI, because of the fact that they will trip and then you loose power to essentials. I am an electrician too. I am confidant enough in my wiring to know that everything is OK. I did have a leaky float. Shocked me once. But I've been shocked before, no big deal LOL

[mark]

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

You know, I don't run a GFCI, because of the fact that they will trip and then you loose power to essentials. I am an electrician too. I am confidant enough in my wiring to know that everything is OK. I did have a leaky float. Shocked me once. But I've been shocked before, no big deal LOL

As confidant as you are with you're wiring, you don't control the build of the equipment in your tank nor what may happen to it over the years. And thought I never heard on the news fish tank owner electrocuted, shocks are a big deal and do kill.

[JTaylor420]

ok i've heard debates on gfci's for quite some time now. Will I ever use one on my setup? the answer quite simply put is no. Does anyone know the difference between electric shock and electrocution? shock is a shock you'll live, Electrocution = death i see people quite frequently throw these terms around with no idea of what they actually mean. Ok first off i am an electrician and do u know what the number 1 problem i run into when dealing specifically with gfci's is? you got it probably from reading earlier posts, nuisance tripping. Are you guys aware you can grab a hot conductor of any voltage and have that voltage flow through you with absolutely no ill effect? if there is no path to ground through you then nothing will happen, i've done it so don't tell me i don't know what i'm talking about. For me personally i'm not scared of electricity i know that it simply will take the shortest path to ground and if it's not me great who cares. I do however on the other hand care very much so if i go out lets say at 6:45 am in the morning for work and boom 7 am nuisance trip when something kicks on. Guess what 5-6 at night when i come home i'll be some upset if everything in my tank is dead corals, fish everything 2000$+ wasted because some infernal device shut off for no reason.



Ok i'm not trying to preach my knowledge on anyone that's got it stuck in there head that gfci's are great, they are but not for fish tanks. If your concerned with with electric shock then cool, ground your tank i'd rather get a grounding probe in my tank that will short out the circuit if there is actually a serious problem and if livestock is lost that way well hey $hit happens. But as far as losing my tank over something that in all honestly will probably never happen i'd probably get out of the hobby. I'm not trying to start a heated debate here but honestly when was the last time a gfi has actually tripped to save your life? ever? i didn't think so.

[parkinsn]

Originally Posted by JTaylor420

ok i've heard debates on gfci's for quite some time now. Will I ever use one on my setup? the answer quite simply put is no. Does anyone know the difference between electric shock and electrocution? shock is a shock you'll live, Electrocution = death i see people quite frequently throw these terms around with no idea of what they actually mean. Ok first off i am an electrician and do u know what the number 1 problem i run into when dealing specifically with gfci's is? you got it probably from reading earlier posts, nuisance tripping. Are you guys aware you can grab a hot conductor of any voltage and have that voltage flow through you with absolutely no ill effect? if there is no path to ground through you then nothing will happen, i've done it so don't tell me i don't know what i'm talking about. For me personally i'm not scared of electricity i know that it simply will take the shortest path to ground and if it's not me great who cares. I do however on the other hand care very much so if i go out lets say at 6:45 am in the morning for work and boom 7 am nuisance trip when something kicks on. Guess what 5-6 at night when i come home i'll be some upset if everything in my tank is dead corals, fish everything 2000$+ wasted because some infernal device shut off for no reason.



Ok i'm not trying to preach my knowledge on anyone that's got it stuck in there head that gfci's are great, they are but not for fish tanks. If your concerned with with electric shock then cool, ground your tank i'd rather get a grounding probe in my tank that will short out the circuit if there is actually a serious problem and if livestock is lost that way well hey $hit happens. But as far as losing my tank over something that in all honestly will probably never happen i'd probably get out of the hobby. I'm not trying to start a heated debate here but honestly when was the last time a gfi has actually tripped to save your life? ever? i didn't think so.

I agree i dont think i will ever put a GFI on my tank for the reasons said above.

[pastout]

ya i definetly agree grounding the tank is alot more important and until like 2 years ago i had never even heard of it, wish i would have i had the cracked heater scenario happen to me one side of my body all numbed up i couldnt pull my hand out of the tank while it happed it realy sucked.

[midgetwaiter]

Originally Posted by JTaylor420

Are you guys aware you can grab a hot conductor of any voltage and have that voltage flow through you with absolutely no ill effect? if there is no path to ground through you then nothing will happen, i've done it so don't tell me i don't know what i'm talking about. For me personally i'm not scared of electricity i know that it simply will take the shortest path to ground and if it's not me great who cares.

This should win "Most Irresponsible Post Ever".

If you are a licensed electrician you know that it only takes 200mA to stop your heart, it might not happen often but it could happen any time you are shocked. You've been trained not to have your left hand grounded and grab something that might be live with the right, it's pure reflex probably. The average person kneeling down to get something out of their sump with left hand in puddle, right hand on busted heater is at serious risk.

Why do building codes require GFCI or current limiting sockets in bathrooms? Same thing.

Originally Posted by JTaylor420

I do however on the other hand care very much so if i go out lets say at 6:45 am in the morning for work and boom 7 am nuisance trip when something kicks on. Guess what 5-6 at night when i come home i'll be some upset if everything in my tank is dead corals, fish everything 2000$+ wasted because some infernal device shut off for no reason.

If you lose your whole tank because the power was off for 12 hours you set it up wrong. There are all sorts of things you can do to minimize this risk.

[plutoniumJoe]

I have a GFCI on my tank and feel better knowing that it is there but I wonder if I am defeating it's purpose by also having a UPS. I have just my power heads plugged into the UPS so if the GFCI trips or the power goes out I have some flow for a while. My question though is about the UPS preventing the GFCI form tripping if the ground fault results from one of the power heads plugged into it?