stray voltage

[lsaint88]

I think I might have some stray voltage in my tank I have a Multimeter but I dont know what I should have it on to check

 

[bct15]

Set it to find a low voltage, stick the hot (red) probe in the water then ground out the ground (black) probe on a ground outside somewhere.

 

[lsaint88]

I think I found it I have a powerhead What I think it putting a stray volt in there

 

[bct15]

Do you feel it when you stick your hands in the water if you are grounded? What makes you think you have a stray voltage?

 

[Budman's Corals]

Do you feel it when you stick your hands in the water if you are grounded? What makes you think you have a stray voltage?

]that's what I was wondering. I knew I had it one time by sticking my hand in the water and shocking the bejesus outta me. So are tanks supposed to be grounded..?

 

[bct15]

Here is how it works, current can only flow through a grounded circuit...if your tank is not grounded then the current can not pass through your tank so it will not pass through the tank or be floating around in it. However, when you stick your hands in the tank (and you are grounded) you close the circuit and the current passes through you shocking you. If the tank is grounded and there is a stray voltage the voltage will pass thought the tank and not you but may go undetected for quite some time. Grounding probes are safer for the aquarist and less safe for the fish, a not grounded tank will shock the aquarist but less on the fish. My tank is not grounded.

 

[Budman's Corals]

Well i figured mine was the uv sterilizer so it was tossed out. Should tanks be plugged into a gfi cause mines not

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

 

[lsaint88]

I dont feel a shock but my corals havent really opend up fully.

 

[BBoley24]

Your tank should be plugged into a GFCI. As for the grounding debate, I have grounded my tank in the sump in between my heaters. The reason I feel as if im ok with that is because I don't have anything electrical in the display tank ie powerheads instead I am using a closed loop system. That way if there is a fault, it will ground only in the sump where there are no fish. I do not recommend grounding your tank if there is an electrical device in the display. From what I have been told, current will find the nearest ground.

That being said, my personal experience as of 2 weeks being grounded after a pump crack, my fish are doing a whole heck of a lot better. But heed the advice above. Don't just stick one in there because you've got $20 to spare.

 

[Cruezn]

I'm just tagging along to see the advice. I've not run into it yet, but someone I know just dealt with this, and lost several fish, including a beautiful powder blue tang. Most of my experience has been in freshwater and I've never seen this, but obviously salt water is a much better conductor of electricity, so I'm intrigued with monitoring stray voltage.