I wasn’t aware of them in the early 80’s. Doesn’t mean they weren’t invented yet though.Ground fault interrupt circuits and grounding/bonding was invented in the 60's for swimming pools, IIRC. The reason for the invention is too many people we're getting electrocuted to death by various pool equipment, pumps and lights. The problem with electricity is you can't visually tell if something is energized. The other problem is we can't control where the electricity will go through our body. If it goes through your heart to ground you have a higher probability of dying. It takes very little electricity to stop a heart.
As us humans got smarter from experience and analyzing data we learned that a lot of people were also dying from electrocution/fire in wet areas of a home. So we updated the codes to include any circuit within ten feet of water needs to be on a protected circuit. Then we got even smarter as there were still cases of fire and death and I believe the 2020 code will now require just about every circuit have ground fault protection.
So while there may not be a specific code for aquariums, the new code basically will encompass someone who sets up an aquarium in their home. Of course the code enforcement isn't going to force you to get up to code on your old home, but smart people will likely try to do it on their own.
I don't know if it has been mentioned, but you don't need to install the GFCI outlet where your aquarium is plugged in, it just needs to be installed on an outlet on the circuit before the aquarium.
So, a question. If I have a plug-in GFCI adapter and I plug it into any outlet on the circuit- and I don’t plug anything into IT, the entire circuit and everything plugged into it anywhere is ground fault protected?
For the record, my 1 tank is plugged into a 15amp outlet. On the same circuit is the 1580W microwave oven (used only for 1-3 minutes now and then), an LED counter light in the kitchen, and another wall outlet in the hall, not GFCI. Nothing plugged in there. This is how my condo is wired. I’m not going to rewire it for the tank. I can’t.
I calculated all the amperage in the tank (just short of 2 amps with the 200W heater on). That comes to just about 15a because the microwave is 13.2 (because a=W/V right?).
I waited until the heater kicked on and then hit the microwave. It didn’t trip. The good part is I’ll always be right there when I’m using the microwave, so if the breaker breaks, I’m right there.
Am I thinking about this right, you electrical gurus out there?
Edit: oops just realized the 4 overhead kitchen lights (dimmable LEDs) are also on this circuit. Retested with those lights on and it still didn’t trip.
Last edited: