Stray voltage help

[R1GG5]

This seemed like the proper forum to post this but if it isn't please move it.

So I have lost 3 clownfish in the time span of a week. My water is perfect and I have a 6 line wrasse, starry blenny, green clown goby various shrimp, corals, snails, and crabs that all are fine and have been in the aquarium for a month or more. I cannot for the life of me figure why I'm losing clowns and my 4th is on the way out. Lost my first pair to what seemed like brooklynella so I bought a second pair from another store and one is already gone. I tested water again all looks good. 1.025, 8.2 pH. Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate is less than 5, phosphates are almost undetectable. I can get hardness and calcium if you need. Using red Sea coral pro salt. So I couldn't find why I was losing them. I tested for stray voltage and found 57 volts. All of my equipment is new. 90 days or newer. My heater is a eheim 350w,. I run two hydor powerheards on a korelia wave maker, I have a coralife uv filter and skimmer. A eheim pro 450+ cannister. Heater and cannister are my two biggest offenders contributing over half of the voltage, next in line are the power heads. It doesn't seem feasable to replace all of this equipment so on a whim I overnighted a grounding probe. Will the grounding probe help? I know most will say I need to replace this equipment but it just isn't in my budget right now. Any advice?

 

[FlyinBryan]

Do you have an multimeter? Do a voltage check. You can a cheap one at Hd for like $20. Or borrow.
I thought I had the same issue with stray voltage, however it turned out to be what I was hoping to be my favorite fox face. The dude went rogue on me and killed all my other fish!! I know this because one clown fish I did have in there, jumped into the overflow, and The fox face is the only other one left! Good luck!

 

[Kershaw]

A ground probe couldn’t hurt. But I would say with the most certainty that the voltage is not your issue. How long has your tank been set up for? Do your QT? I feel like there is some information missing.

 

[Ranjib]

How you detected stray voltage?
Grounding probe will help. Even if you don’t change the faulty equipment, you should know which one is it. Pin point by it by selectively running individual equipment and then testing for stray voltage .

My biased opinion will be to change the faulty equipment soonish . It will impact other equipments as well. Even a lower quality , used but ok equipment will be better

 

[R1GG5]

Positive probe in water negative is in the ground of my outlet. I do have a QT tank. My tank has been running for 3 months ish. Why are all my other fish fine and not having issue? I would suspect the equipment but I have really spared no expense. Eheim has always been so reliable for me.

 

[Kershaw]

All electrical equipment that is submurged is going to show voltage. The same way a non contact voltage tester can tell you a wire is hot with out touching it. The cheaper equipment will most likely show higher then high end equipment. Yours is a bit high but mine on average is 25v for the past 3 years. Get a ground probe. If it was voltage killing your clown fish I suspect it would kill the the other fish also

 

[R1GG5]

All electrical equipment that is submurged is going to show voltage. The same way a non contact voltage tester can tell you a wire is hot with out touching it. The cheaper equipment will most likely show higher then high end equipment. Yours is a bit high but mine on average is 25v for the past 3 years. Get a ground probe. If it was voltage killing your clown fish I suspect it would kill the the other fish also

Is it a more likely assumption I have gotten two batches of bad fish? I'm in North Central California so there is no shortage of good LFS here but I prefer Splash in Sacramento. I'm at a loss here and maybe I'm grasping at straws I suppose.

 

[Kershaw]

Is it a more likely assumption I have gotten two batches of bad fish? I'm in North Central California so there is no shortage of good LFS here but I prefer Splash in Sacramento. I'm at a loss here and maybe I'm grasping at straws I suppose.

Well I am in the same area. I have never bought from them. But there is a store that no mater what I have bought it died with in 30 days. When the rest of my fish are 3 years old. First thing I would do is get a ground probe and go from there. Then retest voltage. After that I would start looking at sickness. A fiend of mine has had every fish sickness known to man. But he had a yellow tang and fox face that lives through it all. So just because your other fish are not sick dose not mean you don’t have an infected tank

 

[R1GG5]

Well I am in the same area. I have never bought from them. But there is a store that no mater what I have bought it died with in 30 days. When the rest of my fish are 3 years old. First thing I would do is get a ground probe and go from there. Then retest voltage. After that I would start looking at sickness. A fiend of mine has had every fish sickness known to man. But he had a yellow tang and fox face that lives through it all. So just because your other fish are not sick dose not mean you don’t have an infected tank

Let's say that in theory my tank is infected. Would my UV sterilizer not knock it out? If not how would I treat the entire tank? Break it down and start over?

 

[Smo]

Your UV sterilizer will only reduce a small percentage of the pathogens that may be in the water column.
Can you post a picture of your sick clown?

 

[alton]

What equipment do you have on this tank? That voltage is way too high! I have a rio 1700 and a mj1200 on my 65 and this mornings reading was 3.34 volts with 0 ma.

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

Address the stray voltage, for sure, but if you have brooklynella and then add clowns to the same tank the same week, they're almost surely going to get brooklynella too.

Per Humblefish's post, the fallow period for brook is 6 weeks:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fallow-periods-going-fishless.190324/

 

[ca1ore]

If there is a bigger 'red herring' in this hobby than stray voltage, I've yet to encounter it. Keep in mind that any submerged motor will show induced voltage.

 

[Kershaw]

If there is a bigger 'red herring' in this hobby than stray voltage, I've yet to encounter it. Keep in mind that any submerged motor will show induced voltage.[/QUOTE

Let's say that in theory my tank is infected. Would my UV sterilizer not knock it out? If not how would I treat the entire tank? Break it down and start over?

uv only kills some stuff. Most of the time they polish water a little.

 

[R1GG5]

Well. Red herring or not the grounding probe has my water reading zero volts. Maybe it's snake oil maybe it isn't but it makes me feel better that it's reading zero. I moved the clown to my qt tank he seems to be okay. Has a few spots that look like ich but maybe I'm over reacting. It could be where one of my fish tagged him. But I don't have anything aggressive in my DT

 

[Kershaw]

Well. Red herring or not the grounding probe has my water reading zero volts. Maybe it's snake oil maybe it isn't but it makes me feel better that it's reading zero. I moved the clown to my qt tank he seems to be okay. Has a few spots that look like ich but maybe I'm over reacting. It could be where one of my fish tagged him. But I don't have anything aggressive in my DT

Yes the grounding probe should make the tank show zero. That’s why I kept saying to get one. But keep looking for another cause. That’s now one thing you don’t have to worrie about as much.

 

[Mjp83]

R1gg5,

I don’t have the answer to your clowns dying, but I do have a good idea about the stray voltage.
Our common equipment are the Koralia Hydor powerheads. They run off 120 volts, and 3 out of 4 in my tank leaked voltage into my tank. I replaced them with DC pumps and have no more problem. Every pump now runs on 24 volts.

Unplug one powerhead at a time, and see when the voltage drops. That one is the faulty one. But, please 1. Be careful and don’t touch a ground, and 2 buy different pumps.

I noticed my 60 volts when I got zapped touching my light fixture while cleaning my tank, not fun!

 

[alton]

The following is an article I wrote 10+ years ago adding a couple new things. WARNING Do not try the stupid things I did!
Stray Voltage
Stray Voltage

Before I get started “I DO NOT RECOMMEND” to anyone to do the things I have done for my test!

With that I am covering Stray Voltage in and around your aquarium. This does not cover stray current in your tank! If you are getting a tingle when you touch your water, find out what is causing it and remove it, do not go out a buy a grounding probe thinking this will fix the problem. I recommend only using power heads and other equipment that is grounded (Has three prongs). I have never had problems with stray voltage or so I thought till last week when I checked all three of my aquariums. The reason I say that is because I am barefooted on a tile floor with my hands and arms submerged all the time with no tingle, so how could I have voltage? I have checked in the past with a meter with no voltage showing. Just recently I had made changes to my 200 gallon aquarium, but I figured no tingle no voltage right? The following is what I came up with all electrical equipment and lighting for the following tanks:


Tank #1 - 200 gallon, wet dry filter system, Mag. pump for the skimmer, Pan World 100PXX for the return. On lighting, 2 – 250 watt MH, 4 – 54w T5HO, 1 – 160 watt VHO.

Stray voltage – 14.5 volts and yes no tingle, even when I was barefooted and wet floor. Turn off the metal halides and it drops to 8.5 volts, turn off the rest of the lighting and it drops below 2 volts. For a clarification my hood is brand new, with no salt crepe or moisture and the lamps are a minimum of 8” above the water.


Tank #2 – 155 gallon, wet dry filter system, Mag. pump for the skimmer, Pan World 50PXX for the return. On lighting, 2 – 250 watt MH mounted in a 5’ Orbit light

Stray voltage – less than .5 volts with everything running. Clarification light is metal and grounded and the tank has glass tops.


Tank #3 – 29 gallon with an eclipse three filter system. The lighting consists of a 96 watt Quad PC with a 2 ½” fan from Radio Shack for cooling.

Stray voltage – 9 volts and once again no tingle. I grounded the reflector and the voltage only dropped a volt. Turn off light and voltage is below .5 volts. For clarification once again no moisture everything is dry, lamps is mounted only 3” above the water.


Solution: Installed a grounding probe into sump of tank #1 and one into the tank of #3 and voltage dropped below one volt in each.


GROUNDING PROBE – Good or Bad?

Let’s cover the bad things first:

If your service ground is bad outside it will use your tank as a ground and you will get more than a tingle. Example I got a call from a friend and he told me he was getting shocked when he put his hand in his tank. So I took a voltage reading and only 5 volts to the meter but to the hand it wasn’t very pleasing. Took out the grounding probe and voltage and shock was gone. I went to the service and added another ground rod and it took care of the problem. He left the probe out of his tank.

If you have a lightning strike near your home you have a chance of the voltage finding your way into your tank.

If you are going to install a grounding probe lets cover the basic setup for a safe operation:

Check your service for a ground rod some homes in SA do not have one. Go to where your meter is and look below your service panel or disconnect for#6 or larger wire leading into the ground. The ground rod should be buried below. If you cannot find one call an electrician to install one. If you are in soil keep the area moist especially in dry times, this the main reason we lose our grounding. If you are in rock same thing make sure and keep the soil wet because you have less soil and solid rock does not make a good grounding substance. If you are building a new home add an additional grounding source to your ground rod by attaching a grounding conductor of #4 copper wire to a minimum of 20’ of rebar in your slab and attach it in two places and then attach it to your service panel grounding bar. To check and make sure you do not any voltage on your grounding conductors WEARING SAFETY GLASSES AND INSULATED GLOVES take your meter and place the probes across the grounding (green) and grounded (White) slots of several receptacles through out your house, the voltage should be 0. And then attach the probes across the ungrounded (black or red) slot and the grounding slot, and then the ungrounded slot and grounded slot. Determining which slot is which is easy. Looking at the receptacle the “U” shaped one is the grounding. The largest of the straight slots is normally the grounded with the smaller of the two being the hot or ungrounded. If you have voltage from the grounded and grounding slots (1 to 50 volts) you have poor grounding, call an electrician. If you have 120 volts then your grounded and ungrounded conductors could be reversed. (Call an electrician) Remember black or red goes on gold and white goes on silver, and of course the green or bare wire goes on the green terminal.

If everything is perfect than install your grounding probe, but don’t forget about it every once in a while you will need to check for voltage. It’s just like checking your GFCI receptacles to make sure they are working properly. Just because you have one doesn’t mean you’re safe. That is why there is a test button.

(From Richard at CB pets)

We know from experience that certain fish may do poorly in tanks which have stray voltage. One example is an imperator angel we had in qt that was doing really well. Moved him out for sale and all he did was hide in the corner and would not eat. Moved him back to qt and he acted fine. Moved him back out and he quit eating. Hmmmm...so I checked for stray voltage on the tank and it was 16 volts. Added a grounding probe and he immediately started swimming around normally and ate when I fed him. So I took out the grounding probe and he immediately swam to the same corner and would not move. Put it back in and he was back to acting normal.

I guess some fish are more sensitive to it than others but since they sense electrical voltage it is probably a stressor to some degree for all fish.

Some say that stray voltage could be the cause (or one of them) for HLLE.

 

[theMeat]

A grounding probe is half the equation. A ground probe plugged into a gfci outlet or breaker should be given and a must. Rules stray voltage out of the equation. Cheap, easy, and can save your life, or your underpants, and equipment

 

[R1GG5]

Thanks for everyone's input. Stray voltage now addressed. Oddly enough the tank inhabitants seem happier my green clown goby is definitely more active. The final clown now seems to be doing fine in my qt tank where I will leave him for the considerable future until I can ensure it isn't a death sentence to be in my dt.