Is stray voltage my silent killer ?

[Richard savage]

hey guys, i've been in the hobby for some time now but have recently been experiencing some tank issues i cant diagnose. Looking for someone with experience on stray voltage as I believe that may be the case. Recently lost my entire stock list due to an ich outbreak, added a mimic tang that randomly died two days after introduction, the other fish in the tank at the the time ( Blue hippo, powder brown, tomini tang, and pair of tomato clowns) had been in for some time and based on my research they could have built a tolerance to the voltage and the new fish may have just not handling it well ? that all went down about a month ago, since then my tank has had one fish (cleaner wrasse) and coral. I have also had a hair algae outbreak ive been trying to get ahead of since then but my cleaner crew is not doing so hot. I recently pulled my second sea hair out that has randomly died a week after adding, I have kept them before with long term success, just not recently. One thing I have noticed with the two sea H after death is that their backs open into a line and what i'm assuming is their stomach comes out. On top of this my hermit crabs seem to be ok but my larger Mexican turbos and other larger snail not including (Nassariuss snail) are what seems like a mode of paralysis, they do not move much and are unable to flip over or even attempt it, Levels check out and perimeters are in check, any one else experience these behaviors before ?

 

[T-J]

Easiest way to test for stray voltage is with a volt meter. Put one end (black IIRC) into the ground slot on an outlet and the other (red) into the tank. If you see anything on the meter, you have stray voltage. Been a bit since I've had to do it, but pretty sure it's black to ground and red to tank.

 

[mdb_talon]

Easiest way to test for stray voltage is with a volt meter. Put one end (black IIRC) into the ground slot on an outlet and the other (red) into the tank. If you see anything on the meter, you have stray voltage. Been a bit since I've had to do it, but pretty sure it's black to ground and red to tank.

That will test for voltage, but whether stray voltage or induced it wont tell you.

 

[T-J]

That will test for voltage, but whether stray voltage or induced it wont tell you.

Either way, it'll show voltage. You can then start to unplug devices one at a time until you find the source.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

edit: Missed the part about the inverts...

 

[mdb_talon]

Either way, it'll show voltage. You can then start to unplug devices one at a time until you find the source.

Most tanks will have some induced voltage. That wont tell you if you really have faulty equipment or just normal induced voltage. May have you changing out parts for new ones that do the exact same thing.

The proper way to do it is have everything ran through a GFCI and use a grounding probe. In that scenario any significant stray voltage will trip the GFCI. From there you can troubleshoot to find the faulty equipment.

 

[Richard savage]

Most tanks will have some induced voltage. That wont tell you if you really have faulty equipment or just normal induced voltage. May have you changing out parts for new ones that do the exact same thing.

The proper way to do it is have everything ran through a GFCI and use a grounding probe. In that scenario any significant stray voltage will trip the GFCI. From there you can troubleshoot to find the faulty equipment.

What is an acceptable range that will not be damaging to tank inhabitants ?

 

[Richard savage]

Either way, it'll show voltage. You can then start to unplug devices one at a time until you find the source.

what should the entire system read ? what would be considered to many volts for one piece to emit

 

[mdb_talon]

What is an acceptable range that will not be damaging to tank inhabitants ?

That is a tough one to answer and above my pay grade! I dont know that there is a clear answer. Some people think voltage in itself is completely harmless to a fish/coral because there is no ground or flow of current (ie similar to bird on a powerline). Others argue that even without a ground it can affect the magnetic field and cause issues to fish and coral. I got no idea which is really correct, but generally speaking I dont worry about induced voltage in an aquarium. I do worry about faulty equipment creating unsafe conditions though which is why I use GFCI and a ground probe (really need to use both not one or the other).

From my own experience and from what I have read it is not at all unusual for people to read 20-40v in an aquarium just from induced voltage alone and it seems if this was a big issue more people would have issues.