GFCI outlet

[Greenpj22]

How many of you use GFCI outlets for your tank? I was going to get a powerstrip with GFCI, but I was afraid it wouldn't come back on after a power outage. I got a GFCI and installed it, just for the added piece of mind.

I've never used one for many years, and never had a single problem. I've always read where they are imperative to use, but kept blowing it off.

Does anybody have any stories regarding electrical shock with aquariums? I don't think I am going to use a grounding probe. I've thought about it but I've read that they can actually do more harm than good?

 

[H@rry]

If you don't already have a GFCI on the outlet(s) that your tank equipment is plugged into, stop reading this and go get it/them installed.

I use a ground probe in all the tanks. It helps me identify an elecrtical "breakdown" before it becomes an electircal "problem". If you have a pump or heater that is leaking voltage it will trip the GFCI to alert you before it can potentially do harm. Stray voltage in your system could harm coral and fish.

 

[fragmatic]

If you installed a GFCI you did good. I too, consider them a requirement.

 

[NicoleC]

Electricity and water don't mix well. Unless there is some overriding limitation (like you rent), the outlet should be GFCI or the whole circuit. If your GFCI trips and doesn't come back on after a power outage, you should be very happy about that because they don't trip for no reason. (Unless they are failing, in which case you need to replace them.)

I also consider ground probes a necessity. I've never seen any evidence there is any harm in them, but stray voltage in your tank can be a problem. Shocking the snot out of yourself around water -- which I *have* done -- is no fun!

 

[Greenpj22]

I will look into getting a grounding probe. So essentially, all it is is a grounded plug with a piece of titanium that you stick in the sump. Plug the other into the wall or powerstrip and you're good to go?

Right now I have the apex eb8 plugged into the wall and a power strip that I use to power a small pump for autotopoff. I'm sure I could plug the grounding probe into the power strip and still be gfci protected, because the power strip is plugged into the gfci. Is my assumption correct?

So right now the gfci will only go off if the stray electricity finds another route, ie my hand when I stick it in the tank. A grounding probe will immediately trip the gfci before?

Sorry, me and electricity don't mix. I figured I could install the gfci outlet, and it was a breeze. The plug is behind my stand so I had to pull out the auto top off reservoir and try to wedge myself under the stand. That was the only difficult thing about it.

 

[gcrawford]

Absolutely, use a GFCI....I ran a dedicated 20 amp circuit for my tank with a standard plug at the wall and then a GFCI under the tank with all remaining outlets fed from the GFCI which are protected. I did it this way so that if the GFCI ever needs to be replaced, I can replace it without having to access the wall plug. Good luck!

 

[H@rry]

Absolutely, use a GFCI....I ran a dedicated 20 amp circuit for my tank with a standard plug at the wall and then a GFCI under the tank with all remaining outlets fed from the GFCI which are protected. I did it this way so that if the GFCI ever needs to be replaced, I can replace it without having to access the wall plug. Good luck!

Now that's a neat installation. I like that.

BTW, if anyone is reading this and not comfortable installing a GFCI, you can buy an extension cord with one built in, pretty simple and painless.

 

[Greenpj22]

that's an awesome setup!

And do I need to get a grounding probe?

 

[bct15]

that's an awesome setup!

And do I need to get a grounding probe?

A ground probe will allow stray voltage to pass through your tank, causing whatever in there to get electrocuted but will prevent you from being shocked when you stick your hand in the water. This can lead to you never finding a voltage leak. However, if you don't have a ground probe and there is a stray voltage, when you stick your hands in the tank you will most likely close the circuit and get shocked. This causes you harm but little to no harm to inhabitants. To sum it up, ground probe can harm coral and fish by closing the circuit and allowing stray voltage to flow through the tank but will keep you safe...no ground probe will cause stray voltage to pass through you when you put your hands in the tank, but will not allow stray voltage to pass through the tank easing stress on coral and fish.

 

[JSB]

A ground probe will allow stray voltage to pass through your tank, causing whatever in there to get electrocuted but will prevent you from being shocked when you stick your hand in the water.

That does not seem consistent with the way I always understood it. A fish or coral would have to be grounded for current to pass through it in my theory, and just being wet does not qualify. While the fish/coral is conductive, the water is more so, and electricity finds the path of least resistance. I remember seeing a video on the news years ago where lightning hit a moving car in the rain. The lightning did not penetrate the car or affect the inhabitants, but actually followed the water around the car to the ground (creating a sort of lightning envelope), which supported my theory. However, I have heard of folks using electricity to fish for bass, so that is contrary to the theory.

Regardless, GFCI is the right answer.

 

[H@rry]

That does not seem consistent with the way I always understood it. A fish or coral would have to be grounded for current to pass through it in my theory, and just being wet does not qualify. While the fish/coral is conductive, the water is more so, and electricity finds the path of least resistance. I remember seeing a video on the news years ago where lightning hit a moving car in the rain. The lightning did not penetrate the car or affect the inhabitants, but actually followed the water around the car to the ground (creating a sort of lightning envelope), which supported my theory. However, I have heard of folks using electricity to fish for bass, so that is contrary to the theory.

Regardless, GFCI is the right answer.

Yeah, that's not right. When you have an electrical leak (maybe too small to actually feel if you put your hand in the tank) it will travel through the ground probe to ground and trip the GFCI. The new Maxijet powerheads are bad to do that.

And BTW, it was Catfish, not Bass. We called it "telephoning". But you had to be careful because the Possum Sheriff took issue with it.

 

[gcrawford]

that's an awesome setup!

And do I need to get a grounding probe?

Thanks! I used some leftover wood from building my deck. Looking back, I should have painted it white, but I didn't for some reason. I counted plugs and had just enough, at the time. I've since added things and added a regular power strip which gives me the amount of plugs needed. The reason behind the spacing between the two electrical boxes gives me room to plug in timers. It actually looks a bit messy with everything plugged in and I intend on straightening things up a bit. I do not currently have a grounding probe, but plan on ordering one thanks to the discussion on this thread!

 

[JSB]

And BTW, it was Catfish, not Bass. We called it "telephoning". But you had to be careful because the Possum Sheriff took issue with it.

You are such the scofflaw!

 

[bct15]

That does not seem consistent with the way I always understood it. A fish or coral would have to be grounded for current to pass through it in my theory, and just being wet does not qualify. While the fish/coral is conductive, the water is more so, and electricity finds the path of least resistance. I remember seeing a video on the news years ago where lightning hit a moving car in the rain. The lightning did not penetrate the car or affect the inhabitants, but actually followed the water around the car to the ground (creating a sort of lightning envelope), which supported my theory. However, I have heard of folks using electricity to fish for bass, so that is contrary to the theory.

Regardless, GFCI is the right answer.

Your way of understanding a grounding probe is inconsistent with physics. A grounding probe's sole purpose is to provide a closed circuit in case of a stray voltage, providing a controlled path for the current to flow and not the aquarist arms. The current will flow through your tank (it does not magically get from the voltage source to your grounding probe) and anything along its path that is both; not insulated and not an insulator itself, will have the current pass through it. When there is no grounding probe, and you stick your hands in the tank, you act as the grounding probe (provided that you are grounded). The current then passes from the voltage source to your tank and through your body. This is plain physics.

FYI water is an insulator, it is the impurities and things in the water that the current passes through, that is why you do not want to be in the water when a current is running through it. However, salt water is highly conductive because of the large amount of impurities.

Another FYI, your arms and legs act as fuses, when they are overloaded they pop saving your vital organs. I have seen some very nasty workplace accident videos and photos of this...

 

[JSB]

Your way of understanding a grounding probe is inconsistent with physics. A grounding probe's sole purpose is to provide a closed circuit in case of a stray voltage, providing a controlled path for the current to flow and not the aquarist arms. The current will flow through your tank (it does not magically get from the voltage source to your grounding probe) and anything along its path that is both; not insulated and not an insulator itself, will have the current pass through it. When there is no grounding probe, and you stick your hands in the tank, you act as the grounding probe (provided that you are grounded). The current then passes from the voltage source to your tank and through your body. This is plain physics.

FYI water is an insulator, it is the impurities and things in the water that the current passes through, that is why you do not want to be in the water when a current is running through it. However, salt water is highly conductive because of the large amount of impurities.

Another FYI, your arms and legs act as fuses, when they are overloaded they pop saving your vital organs. I have seen some very nasty workplace accident videos and photos of this...

I get that, but it would seem that if you had a copper wire and a resistor in a parallel circuit:

[FONT=courier new]120V -----------+-------------+----------- GND
[/FONT][FONT=courier new]                |             |[/FONT][FONT=courier new]
                +---Resistor--+[/FONT]

You would not pass any voltage across the resistor, correct?

So what about this:

[FONT=courier new]
120V -----------+---WATER------+----------- GND
                |              |
                +---FISH-------+[/FONT]

Wouldn't a fish have more insulative properties than the water?

 

[dictionaaron]

Current still flows through "fish" in that scenario just much more through "water" assuming the fish has a much higher resistance than water.

 

[bct15]

I get that, but it would seem that if you had a copper wire and a resistor in a parallel circuit:

[FONT=courier new]120V -----------+-------------+----------- GND
[/FONT][FONT=courier new]                |             |[/FONT][FONT=courier new]
                +---Resistor--+[/FONT]

You would not pass any voltage across the resistor, correct?

So what about this:

[FONT=courier new]
120V -----------+---WATER------+----------- GND
                |              |
                +---FISH-------+[/FONT]

Wouldn't a fish have more insulative properties than the water?

Current is still flowing though the resistor, when you have a large parallel circuit with different sized resistors you still have current and voltage at each resistor, just different voltages due to the resistors. You just use ohms law

I = V/R. Fixed it

At least I think (pulling from memory). The big thing is the current, not the voltage.

VS------------------------------
|. |. |. |
2ohm. 3ohm 6ohm. 2ohm
|. |. |. |
Gnd-----------------------------

 

[dictionaaron]

They have the same v in parallel so it's just I=120/r. One being a huge r and one being small. Ohms law is v=ir

 

[JSB]

Current still flows through "fish" in that scenario just much more through "water" assuming the fish has a much higher resistance than water.

Which begs the question, "Assuming

, what is the total resistance of the following circuit?"

120VAC -------+---SALT WATER------+-------GND
              +--6-Line Wrasse----+
              +--Yellow Tang------+
              +--Pair of Clowns---+
              +--7 Astrea Snails--+
              +--Watchman Goby----+

 

[Chameleon]

Which begs the question, "Assuming , what is the total resistance of the following circuit?"

120VAC -------+---SALT WATER------+-------GND
              +--6-Line Wrasse----+
              +--Yellow Tang------+
              +--Pair of Clowns---+
              +--7 Astrea Snails--+
              +--Watchman Goby----+

lol...that goby is going to be the one to take the hit due to excess sand caught in the gills....too many impurities...