Voltage in Reefing tank

AquaOps1223 · Jul 2, 2021

Hello reefers,

Does anyone know the proper voltage allowed in a reef tank? Trying to figure out a few things of some issues I am having in one of y systems and trying to cancel all things that can be wrong.. I bought a multi meter but it's hard to read as the number changes not only where is placed but even if it closer to pumps etc.. plus maybe the energy is salt water is different.

Any help or suggestions would be great?

Or even the steps to see if any of my pumps are giving out negative energy.

Thanks in advance

Jay Hemdal · Jul 2, 2021

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Part of what you are measuring may be induced voltage from the magnets in your pumps. There isn't any way to stop that. Are all of your aquarium pumps, lights, heaters, etc. UL or CE listed and plugged into GFCI protected outlets?

Jay

AquaOps1223 · Jul 2, 2021

Jay Hemdal said:
Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Part of what you are measuring may be induced voltage from the magnets in your pumps. There isn't any way to stop that. Are all of your aquarium pumps, lights, heaters, etc. UL or CE listed and plugged into GFCI protected outlets?

Jay

Its all connected to an APEX energy bar. Check this out, I checked the voltage and got a reading 0f .0128, dont know if thats high. I also had a stray voltage laying around so once I added it went to .000.. Images attached..

But still in the blind whats acceptable or not.

Jay Hemdal · Jul 2, 2021

That’s just a tenth of a volt, negligible effect for any biological process. That said, where are the two probes placed?
Jay

AquaOps1223 · Jul 6, 2021

Jay Hemdal said:
That’s just a tenth of a volt, negligible effect for any biological process. That said, where are the two probes placed?
Jay

i placed them in the sump

WVNed · Jul 6, 2021

You have the leads plugged in wrong. You want the red lead in the hole on the right for voltage measurements.

You haven't read anything yet.

If you press the max min button the meter will retain the highest reading it sees
"MAX/MIN" BUTTON When the "MAX/MIN" button 8 is pressed, the meter keeps track of the minimum and maximum value of the measurement as the meter continues to take samples. The first press of the "MAX/MIN" button 8 displays the Max value, the second press displays the Min value. To return to normal measuring mode, press and hold the "MAX/MIN" button 8 for more than one second.

The black lead has to go to a ground. Usually the third hole in an electrical outlet or power strip with a 3 prong plug.
Careful with the water, you don't want to get it into the electrical outlets.

The red lead is then placed in the water to take voltage readings.

Your meter is auto ranging. You will have top pay attention to what scale it is using to interpret the number.
I suggest you manually select the 0-40v range to start.
"RANGE" BUTTON The meter defaults to auto-ranging measurement mode . This automatically determines the most appropriate measurement range for the testing that is being conducted. To manually force the meter to measure in a different range, use the "RANGE" button 7 . 1. Press the "RANGE" button 7 to manually select measurement range ( is deactivated on the LCD). Repeatedly press the "RANGE" button 7 to cycle through the available ranges, stopping once the desired range is reached. 2. To return to auto-ranging mode, press and hold the "RANGE" button 7 for more than one second ( is reactivated).

Take new readings.
Generally induced voltage will be something between 0-30 volts depending on how many electrical things are in your system. It may be one value while your heater is on and another when it is off.
If that is all you see add a ground probe to the tank.

Please be careful if you are not sure what you are doing.

AquaOps1223 · Jul 6, 2021

WVNed said:
You have the leads plugged in wrong. You want the red lead in the hole on the right for voltage measurements.

You haven't read anything yet.

If you press the max min button the meter will retain the highest reading it sees
"MAX/MIN" BUTTON When the "MAX/MIN" button 8 is pressed, the meter keeps track of the minimum and maximum value of the measurement as the meter continues to take samples. The first press of the "MAX/MIN" button 8 displays the Max value, the second press displays the Min value. To return to normal measuring mode, press and hold the "MAX/MIN" button 8 for more than one second.

The black lead has to go to a ground. Usually the third hole in an electrical outlet or power strip with a 3 prong plug.
Careful with the water, you don't want to get it into the electrical outlets.

The red lead is then placed in the water to take voltage readings.

Your meter is auto ranging. You will have top pay attention to what scale it is using to interpret the number.
I suggest you manually select the 0-40v range to start.
"RANGE" BUTTON The meter defaults to auto-ranging measurement mode . This automatically determines the most appropriate measurement range for the testing that is being conducted. To manually force the meter to measure in a different range, use the "RANGE" button 7 . 1. Press the "RANGE" button 7 to manually select measurement range ( is deactivated on the LCD). Repeatedly press the "RANGE" button 7 to cycle through the available ranges, stopping once the desired range is reached. 2. To return to auto-ranging mode, press and hold the "RANGE" button 7 for more than one second ( is reactivated).

Take new readings.
Generally induced voltage will be something between 0-30 volts depending on how many electrical things are in your system. It may be one value while your heater is on and another when it is off.
If that is all you see add a ground probe to the tank.

Please be careful if you are not sure what you are doing.

This was very useful sir. So here are the voltage results:

System running 26 (with wave and return pumps running, turned them on and off and no difference in reading)
System with skimmer on 29
System with Skimmer and one heater 31
System with Skimmer and both heaters on 33

when stray voltage probe placed in sump"0"

Thoughts on numbers and stray voltage probe?

WVNed · Jul 6, 2021

AquaOps1223 said:
This was very useful sir. So here are the voltage results:

System running 26 (with wave and return pumps running, turned them on and off and no difference in reading)
System with skimmer on 29
System with Skimmer and one heater 31
System with Skimmer and both heaters on 33

when stray voltage probe placed in sump"0"

Thoughts on numbers and stray voltage probe?

It is just induced voltage. The probe is doing what it is supposed to.
You are good to go.
But
You might still feel a tingle on a cut once in a while if you are barefoot. This kind of depends on the person. If my daughter helps me she gets shocked a bit while I never do.
My system reads between 7 and 37 volts if I pull my probe.
If you get a damaged power cord that plugs into an electrical outlet you will read 110 volts.

Strangely you may be able to reduce the voltage by coiling up excess cord to stuff in the tank. You might increase it too.
The magnetic fields made when electricity travels down a wire are received by things in the environment and turned back into voltage.
Changing how the cords are arranged changes how the magnetic fields are shaped. If you can lower the magnetic field strength in the tank you can lower the voltage. Not really necessary with a ground probe.

Induction is exactly how a transformer works.

AquaOps1223 · Jul 6, 2021

so should i keep the probe in the water for zero voltage?

WVNed · Jul 6, 2021

AquaOps1223 said:
so should i keep the probe in the water for zero voltage?

Yes. Unless you enjoy getting shocked. Make sure your ground probe is rated for saltwater though and wont corrode.
Most of us use titanium ones.

AquaOps1223 · Jul 6, 2021

WVNed said:
Yes. Unless you enjoy getting shocked. Make sure your ground probe is rated for saltwater though and wont corrode.
Most of us use titanium ones.

Do you think the corals benefit form it?