Are marine aquariums too dangerous and a liability?

[shred5]

I knew someone who had their house burn down because of a cheap Chinese plug strip. I had a Oddysea light fixture start to smoke so have allot of people.
These are the reasons I do not use cheap stuff on my reef tank.

If you do a search on Corallife power center there are allot of people who have had fires because of them.

here is just on example but there are allot on the forums if you search.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lost-it-all-an-electrical-warning.218503/page-3#post-2514030

Choosing the wrong equipment certainly can lead to disaster.

 

[atoll]

I knew someone who had their house burn down because of a cheap Chinese plug strip. I had a Oddysea light fixture start to smoke so have allot of people.
These are the reasons I do not use cheap stuff on my reef tank.

If you do a search on Corallife power center there are allot of people who have had fires because of them.

here is just on example but there are allot on the forums if you search.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lost-it-all-an-electrical-warning.218503/page-3#post-2514030

Choosing the wrong equipment certainly can lead to disaster.

You mean like when Maxspect lights started to melt as in cheap equipment. [emoji848] there are other examples of less than cheap equipment failing and causing concern with regards to safety.

 

[Radman73]

OK so that might sound a stupid question to most but there is a message in the stupidity.
I have lost count of the spillages, leaks , floods and electrocutions I have had over the 37/38 years I have been keeping marines. Some have been through negligence I guess, some just unlucky some failure of equipment and some because my tank was annoyed at me for leaving and going on holiday just waiting to get it'sown back soon after I left to go on holiday which was the case a few month back.

Getting a shock after a heater failed or powerhead decided to allow water into it is no joke either. I love this hobby although it can be a nightmare esp if you live in an upstairs apartment. Marine reef aquariums are also a money pit and difficult to control the urge to buy just one more coral or fish. We won't go into the latest must have piece of equipment. So with that in mind are our aquariums something of a liability or should I ask your other half that question?

An aquarium is certainly a risk. But, like all risks, you have to assess it to determine what can be done to mitigate the risk and at what cost. In the last 2 weeks I've lost about 20 gallons to the garage floor and another 30 to my office floor due to issues. The first was a back-siphoning ATO pump who's tip fell into the fuge, you can probably guess, while I was out of town. The second was after I moved my return to eliminate some vibration noise the silicone hose popped off. That was fun.

But, both are risks that could have been fairly easily mitigated. It is not difficult to secure a small tube lol! There are a plethora of choices available that would work well with my ATO and fuge configuration. I simply chose to concentrate on other things, meaning I was lazy. Still am to be honest as I haven't permanently fixed the issue yet. Maybe this weekend . The return issue was more of a surprise. I had a tie wrap securely(I thought anyway) around it and it wasn't the tie wrap that failed. That being said, I just received the stainless steel hose clamps to also install this weekend and hopefully mitigate the risk of this happening again any time soon.

However, there are still other things to do. For instance, I probably should replace the silicone hose, which is only about 20" long, annually as these hoses do get brittle over time. The hose clamps will need to be inspected frequently to ensure they are quality SS and not rusting. Perhaps replace them annually too.

You mentioned heaters, a case can be made to replace those every 2-3 years to prevent shocking conditions. There are a host of other safeguards we can put in place, like leak detectors, to shut down equipment and minimize the results of any mini-catastrophe.

As to my better half, I've tried to get out of the hobby a few times and she won't let me lol! She knows I love it and the family at least enjoys the fruit of my love/hate relationship with the hobby, so she's got my back.

 

[atoll]

An aquarium is certainly a risk. But, like all risks, you have to assess it to determine what can be done to mitigate the risk and at what cost. In the last 2 weeks I've lost about 20 gallons to the garage floor and another 30 to my office floor due to issues. The first was a back-siphoning ATO pump who's tip fell into the fuge, you can probably guess, while I was out of town. The second was after I moved my return to eliminate some vibration noise the silicone hose popped off. That was fun.

But, both are risks that could have been fairly easily mitigated. It is not difficult to secure a small tube lol! There are a plethora of choices available that would work well with my ATO and fuge configuration. I simply chose to concentrate on other things, meaning I was lazy. Still am to be honest as I haven't permanently fixed the issue yet. Maybe this weekend . The return issue was more of a surprise. I had a tie wrap securely(I thought anyway) around it and it wasn't the tie wrap that failed. That being said, I just received the stainless steel hose clamps to also install this weekend and hopefully mitigate the risk of this happening again any time soon.

However, there are still other things to do. For instance, I probably should replace the silicone hose, which is only about 20" long, annually as these hoses do get brittle over time. The hose clamps will need to be inspected frequently to ensure they are quality SS and not rusting. Perhaps replace them annually too.

You mentioned heaters, a case can be made to replace those every 2-3 years to prevent shocking conditions. There are a host of other safeguards we can put in place, like leak detectors, to shut down equipment and minimize the results of any mini-catastrophe.

As to my better half, I've tried to get out of the hobby a few times and she won't let me lol! She knows I love it and the family at least enjoys the fruit of my love/hate relationship with the hobby, so she's got my back.

Great post. Laziness is one aspect many of us suffer from. Not replacing heaters every 2 years if not sooner, checking connectors frequently another. However even if meticulous about the above things can and do go wrong. All we can do is help minimise the risks to body and soul. I wont even go into polytoxins.[emoji15]

 

[Radman73]

Great post. Laziness is one aspect many of us suffer from. Not replacing heaters every 2 years if not sooner, checking connectors frequently another. However even if meticulous about the above things can and do go wrong. All we can do is help minimise the risks to body and soul. I wont even go into polytoxins.[emoji15]

All true! And it just isn't financially reasonable to try and account for every thing that could go wrong so we simply do our best. If nothing else, our trials and tribulations can provide learning experiences, and quite often entertainment, for others.

 

[Art2249]

A ship in harbor is safe. But that is not what ships are for!

 

[atoll]

A ship in harbor is safe. But that is not what ships are for!

Even the ones hit by a hurricane or tornado and end up in tree[emoji6]

 

[Art2249]

Even the ones hit by a hurricane or tornado and end up in tree[emoji6]

I see you are from UK? That's probably where that saying comes from! So maybe i should say..."A ship in an English harbor is safe!"

 

[Steve_Skullsplitter0]

I'm an industrial mechanic with skills in welding, machining, and high voltage automated motor controls. Far more dangerous occupation than my fish tank. But i love both. Ive had worse injuries playing golf or having sex.

 

[Steve_Skullsplitter0]

I've often wonder if having these tanks in homes could potentially be giving us some type of cancer???

Probally more likely to get cancer from food you eat than kalkwasser. But you never know till someone does a study or sues a manufacturer.

 

[themcnertney]

Probally more likely to get cancer from food you eat than kalkwasser. But you never know till someone does a study or sues a manufacturer.

I tend to think along the line of palyotoxin. Diseases and illness that our tank might be giving us.

 

[WVNed]

If you stress over a fish tank don't have one. Why induce stress into your life. Never a good idea.
They are fun, messy, destructive at times and can be a lot of hard work.
Like all things if the benefits don't outweigh the negatives for you don't do it.

Many things are fun. But there are risks. RC cars are fun. Ever seen a battery for one explode.

In your kitchen

 

[infinite0180]

You guys are scaring me haha! Ive only had my tank now for 6 months. I set up a used AIO in my beasent because i live on the 2nd floor appartment. Now that ive “mastered” the basic skills and my wife is sick of me hiding in the basement all the time ive decided to place an order for a RS reefer nano. Its going to go in my upstairs living room. The basement tank is going to be emptied and hopefully sold. Ive been trying to decided how i want to safegaurd some of these things. My worst nightmere is calling my landlord and trying to explain why 25 gallons of saltwater poured into my lower neighbors livingroom...

 

[srad750c]

Wouldn't the GFCI trip if the water was electrified?

Some of us have old houses without GFCI. I can’t install GCFI due to the fact I have a two wire system in my house.

 

[lapin]

37,461 people died in auto accidents in 2016 and another 3,708,639 were treated for injuries. Are autos a liabilty? Yes. I wonder what the per capita death and injury from fish tanks is. Anyone?

 

[CMO]

Some of us have old houses without GFCI. I can’t install GCFI due to the fact I have a two wire system in my house.

Don't take this as negative contest but I was curious and did a little research. Looks like two wire outlets can be replaced with GFCI, no?

 

[rkpetersen]

I wont even go into polytoxins.[emoji15]

Just read an article about palytoxin in Coral. I didn't know that the famed Dietrich Stuber gave up his aquarium after palytoxin nearly killed him. ;Blackeye;Bored

 

[atoll]

37,461 people died in auto accidents in 2016 and another 3,708,639 were treated for injuries. Are autos a liabilty? Yes. I wonder what the per capita death and injury from fish tanks is. Anyone?

What proportion of the country drive cars to those who own a marine aquarium? See what I did there.[emoji6]

 

[lapin]

I figure about 1 injury or death per 72 cars.
Too bad we dont have numbers for fish tanks.
268,800,000 registered cars in USA 2016.
322,762,018 people in USA 2016

 

[Steve_Skullsplitter0]

Any one using grounding probes in there tank or sump? I looked into them after reading all the posts about ppl getting zapped. Relatively inexpensive failsafe used inconjuction with GFCI.

I was hoping to find a wall mount or cabinet mount voltmeter for stray voltage as well. No luck just hand helds.