Leaky Voltage - How and what were the effect's?

[luke33]

Well i have had this happen a few times to me and figured i'd ask what everyone's leak was from as well as what issue it caused. I have had three in the past 4+ yrs. First time it happened it freaked me out a bit, second time not as much and third time.....not much at all. So i'd like to get everyone's opinion on what kind of affect its had on your fish/corals and also what it was from. I'll start.

1) Fan-walmart : () used to cool mh
2) Affect was my fish and corals acted diff but problem was found quickly and no harm done

1) MJ900 used to drive carbon reactor
2) Again, fish acted strange and corals acted diff as well

1) Heater ebo jager
2) This time i think the voltage was pry leaking a good 3-4 weeks on and off and was diff to find the piece of equipment. Since it didn't trip my gfci i wasn't sure what it was, so i did the one by one equipment test. That sucks by the way. And what makes it worst is unless the heater is on it doesn't leak, so it was a hard test to figure out. The effects i've seen on the fish is rubbing and flashing of tang's, which was a sign of something is up. I also had two corals start to rtn just a bit. Both will be fine but it sucked regardless.

 

[CoralBandit]

I use a titanium grounding probe just in case. Most of my electricity is external besides my main pump and skimmer pump. I dont use a heater just because I am cooped up in an apt and my temp is very stable. Just curious luke, how did your fan cooling your MH leak voltage into the water?

 

[luke33]

Not sure tbh as it was a clip on fan. But every time i put my hand in the tank it shocked me. Once i unplugged it no more shock. Kinda what i expected for a $5 clip on fan. My own fault there.

 

[cherokee_dude]

Stealth heater exploded in my sump, unnoticed for a few weeks. Caused internal metals to leech into the tank. Purple tang got a case of lateral line and lost some softies :(

 

[J&O'sdad]

I just had this problem. It was a leaking hydor 4. I got shocked a few times and did all the tests to try to find it. My gfi was not tripping, come to find out I was getting shocked in the basement by a power head that was upstairs. Last night I noticed it wasn't working anymore. Only after I got the worst shock ever from the fish tank. I am a dumb *** not thinking that the current would pass through my plumbing. I need to install a gfci upstairs asap. I was getting shocked on a concrete floor. Lucky to be alive today, I will never put my hand in the tank without shoes on again.

 

[fishypets]

I had a crapy-jet feeding my ZEOvit reactor and it must have been leaching out quite a bit. First I noticed my snails not moving and fliping over on their backs and eventually dying. I would flip them back over only to find them in the same spot that afternoon or the next day. I also lost three Anthias and never found them which made for a terrible GHA outbreak. The bad thing is it took me two months to figure out what the problem was and after all the death I had a tank full of GHA!

The lesson I learned is don't buy cheap pumps, it will cost you dearly in the end.

 

[luke33]

One thing i always get when i have leaky voltage is diatoms. After i get the leaky voltage fixed they go away almost instantly. I wonder what the deal is with that.