Cycling and stray voltage.

[WhitePanther93]

Recently I was working on my new tank, and I noticed a strange tingling it sensation from a cut on one of my fingers. It was almost like I was being shocked. I started unplugging and plugging things back in and found that it went away when I unplugged a kessil a80 tuna blue I had on the tank. I contacted kessil and they told me that the mounting screw might have been too long and contacted the circuit board causing a stray voltage. So I got a volt reader and nothing. I also couldn’t feel the shock anymore. But I’m sure that’s because the cut that I could feel the shock through had healed up a bit. Today I was doing a water change and I felt it again through another new cut on a finger. So I know it’s still there. A second thing to note is that this tank is still cycling and the main problem is that my cycle hasn’t made any progress over the last few weeks. It’s looked like what the picture shows for a few weeks now.

now on to the real question here:

can stray voltage kill my beneficial bacteria, and kill any kind of cycle I might have developed?

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Recently I was working on my new tank, and I noticed a strange tingling it sensation from a cut on one of my fingers. It was almost like I was being shocked. I started unplugging and plugging things back in and found that it went away when I unplugged a kessil a80 tuna blue I had on the tank. I contacted kessil and they told me that the mounting screw might have been too long and contacted the circuit board causing a stray voltage. So I got a volt reader and nothing. I also couldn’t feel the shock anymore. But I’m sure that’s because the cut that I could feel the shock through had healed up a bit. Today I was doing a water change and I felt it again through another new cut on a finger. So I know it’s still there. A second thing to note is that this tank is still cycling and the main problem is that my cycle hasn’t made any progress over the last few weeks. It’s looked like what the picture shows for a few weeks now.

now on to the real question here:

can stray voltage kill my beneficial bacteria, and kill any kind of cycle I might have developed?

Did you change those mounting screws?!! You don't mention that.....

Ever hear of 'electric chair'... enough current can kill anything. Small current kills small things, big current kills big things. Defer to others on how much does it take to kill your cycle, but better to find out and resolve now than wake up one future morning to tank inhabitants all floating dead on surface of tank. This delay could be a blessing in disguise.

 

[WhitePanther93]

I unplugged the light.

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

Hi Poof here with Curious Minds. Our readers would love to know why you keep cutting your fingers?

Honestly I have no idea but is it possible that stray current could kill bacteria? It also appears from your photo that you have a level of measurable nitrite. That means something is happening. What brand is the test kit?

 

[WhitePanther93]

Hi Poof here with Curious Minds. Our readers would love to know why you keep cutting your fingers?

Honestly I have no idea but is it possible that stray current could kill bacteria? It also appears from your photo that you have a level of measurable nitrite. That means something is happening. What brand is the test kit?

I work at a grocery store and cardboard sucks. Think paper cuts but with cardboard.

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

Found this link in reef central for you. Give it a read might explain a thing or two.

Stray Voltage Kill Algae

 

[WhitePanther93]

Hi Poof here with Curious Minds. Our readers would love to know why you keep cutting your fingers?

Honestly I have no idea but is it possible that stray current could kill bacteria? It also appears from your photo that you have a level of measurable nitrite. That means something is happening. What brand is the test kit?

Api. To be honest, this is my first whack at a salt water tank. I’ve never seen any of my freshwater tanks stall out like this. I wasn’t sure if maybe cycling takes longer in marine tanks.

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

It all depends on how you go about it. So in this instance how did you cycle the tank? Can you provide a picture of the tank and a brief outline of your steps.

 

[WhitePanther93]

It all depends on how you go about it. So in this instance how did you cycle the tank? Can you provide a picture of the tank and a brief outline of your steps.

It’s a 20 high tank with a 10 gallon diy sump underneath.

equipment:
- eshopps nano hob overflow(200 max gps (might need to upgrade))
- fluval nano skimmer (probably not tuned correctly)
- aqueon 50 watt heater (probably gonna upgrade this)
- hydor seltz D 500 return pump (most definitely overkill but it’s set low enough that nothing has overflowed yet)
-kessil A80 tuna blue (to be fixed/ replaced)

currently it’s soft plumbed, but I have plans to hard plumb it this week.

as for cycling , I just threw in some fish food and some seachem stability to get it going. I’ve been periodically doing water changes and adding more seachem stability.

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

This guy knows a little about tank cycling @brandon429 I bet he could help.

 

[WhitePanther93]

Thanks for all of the advice.

 

[brandon429]

I have an idea

let’s see Thaxx’s assessment first

then I’ll post a link, we can see which is funnier


very good thread btw for finding new cycle challenges

 

[brandon429]

Just in case it’s a while before we get Thaxx’s take on the matter


in our cycle collection threads we have never seen any cycle be stalled at your # of days underwater. We have seen api read all kinds of things however.


the fact you are dealing in weeks duration vs days allows us to pinpoint some core variables on any cycling chart…was this tank fed any bottle bac and ammonia or fish feed


how many total days has water been in that tank

 

[WhitePanther93]

Just in case it’s a while before we get Thaxx’s take on the matter


in our cycle collection threads we have never seen any cycle be stalled at your # of days underwater. We have seen api read all kinds of things however.


the fact you are dealing in weeks duration vs days allows us to pinpoint some core variables on any cycling chart…was this tank fed any bottle bac and ammonia or fish feed


how many total days has water been in that tank

I started the cycle with some fish food, and some seachem stability. Also if my text messages are anything to go by I started this tank on April 7th.

 

[brandon429]

If you add a fish to that setup, I bet it doesn’t die, a cycling chart says it’s ready so that’s not just a baseless guess. The tests above aren’t misreading considering how long it’s been and the light ammonia afforded by feeding as the booster.

test kits that aren’t digital won’t decide this cycle, life will.

add some, I bet they do fine and update us so we can see the final proof


in no way do I think this cycle has stalled. I have a thread with a hundred other questionable cycles we called just fine, this one won’t be any different.


what the average person would do here is dump in a bunch of test ammonia and hope api agrees to show the change down, it won’t, they’ll wait ninety more days and be told by azenkendae to buy more bacteria.


but that’s opposite of the recommend: the specific action here is you are cycled, add some starting life, no cycling chart ever made takes longer than April 7th till now. The voltage you were concerned about has zero impact on this tanks cycle. How did kessil say the voltage is getting into the water, it doesn’t touch?

 

[WhitePanther93]

kessil suggested that the screws attaching the light to the gooseneck might have been too long and were contacting the circuit board thus going down the arm which does contact the water.

 

[brandon429]

Still no harm to cycle can’t wait to see with some life in the tank we can link to page ten of our seemingly stuck cycle thread

 

[WhitePanther93]

Guess I’ll be posting updates in the future then.

 

[WhitePanther93]

So far so good. They’re not very shy fish are they?

 

[WhitePanther93]

Quick update to those who might care. Brandon429 seems to have been correct. All of the livestock seem to be doing really well. I tried uploading a video but the website kept running into problems. Any advice on that? I’m posting from my phone if that helps.