Serious dangers of salt water tanks and any tank

[isaac1]

Hey I've been on this site for a while and in the hobby for about six years nows I've recently tore apart my 80 due to seal problems and started up my old 35 with what I had left over, up until last night I've never had a problem I noticed my skimmer wasn't working right ( cheap boyyo hang on) so I stuck my hand in water to plug the pump to check pressure, the minute I put my other hand on top of my tank bam shocked, it scared the crap out of me so I called around and I guess it happens a lot but they sell under water grounding plugs so just throwing it out there salt water plus voltage can equal death dosnt take much to kill some one specially In water so any and all vetrans plz comment your feed back and solutions, and if there's a fourm already done direct me to it plz!!!! Thanks

Isaac

[Aquattro]

There are several posts over the years about the dangers of gear and critters in salt tanks. This is due mainly to faulty equipment, although sometimes it's hard to know it's faulty. I got an old Hagen 402 from somewhere, plugged it in and it spun, so I added it to a mixing tank. Plugged it in. Put hand in water and jumped about 5 feet up Cracked wire on the cord. Always check new stuff, and routinely check current gear. Keep it clean, remove salt build up, and buy life insurance

[isaac1]

I admire your bravery put could you be more specific on keep up with maintence for instance! I'm not going to go by a fluke meter to check and make sure my equipment is good because there's no real way to check internal seals on most products? Or is there I'm just putting this out there because most lfs are quick to sell nobody wants to say ya your better off getting hit with 240 or 600 then 120 because of its affect on ur heart

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by isaac1

I admire your bravery put could you be more specific on keep up with maintence for instance! I'm not going to go by a fluke meter to check and make sure my equipment is good because there's no real way to check internal seals on most products? Or is there I'm just putting this out there because most lfs are quick to sell nobody wants to say ya your better off getting hit with 240 or 600 then 120 because of its affect on ur heart

Check cord conditions, use a grounding probe, clean out pumps and powerheads and if you really want, fluke (among others) sells a pen for about $10 that will tell you if AC current is present but doesn't say how much.

[isaac1]

But how often do you realy think its the plug? Is your system gfi on wall or internal on your box? If there's leakage into your tank with moisture and salt build up how do you know if its not traveling threw your stand? The I formation within two comments is excellent but there's still more? Isn't there

[Dearth]

I spent 12 yrs as a fresh water guy and one thing I did every few weeks was to check any wire that went into the tank this stemmed from an incident I had a fully submersible heater and I had the protective covering over the wire crack after about 2 yrs into its use and when I stuck my hand into the water I had a communion with the big guy upstairs.

Ever since then I check all wires and equipment regularly. GFIs and power bars are good investments however a GFI will only help if it detects current coming from one item so plugging a GFI into a power bar does you no good you have to use a GFI for each piece of equipment you plug in however that being said I have seen GFI power bars but know little about them aside from that they are flipping expensive

[outacontrol]

Originally Posted by isaac1

Or is there I'm just putting this out there because most lfs are quick to sell nobody wants to say ya your better off getting hit with 240 or 600 then 120 because of its affect on ur heart

What are you trying to say here?

Just to be clear all electricity affects the human body and the heart and can kill you.

Please use ground fault circuit interrupters on your aquariums!

[lockrookie]

Originally Posted by kien

Seriously guys, this thread is really shocking!

I'm kinda shocked too. Although I enjoy a few volts from time to time reminds me I'm alive and clears the arteries. And believe me I've been jolted good at times. It's amazing how much juice runs through a phone line when someone calls you and your residing your home phone system. But 110 always makes me smile. Although I do tend to stay away from the 220 plugs lol.

But I agree one must be cautious with power not just shocking yourself but causing a fire. This is what I fear the most.


Sent from my porcelain aquarium

[jorjef]

All things considered the only TRUE way to be safe around our tanks is........Rubber boots!!! that's right folks by wearing rubber boots while working in and around our tanks we are completely safe...To test this theory I smashed a heater while it was still in the water!! After I awoke from my sudden nap I was no worse for wear...I can't imagine what would have happened if I wasn't wearing them..

p.s. I find that with the boot sides rolled down old school that it provides an extra line of defense as the current rolls off the rolled edges rather than down into the boot. Can't ever be too safe. How DO those birds sit on the line with no birdie rubber boots?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by jorjef

How DO those birds sit on the line with no birdie rubber boots?

I've seen a few of them calculate wrong and POOF!!!