Dary's tank!

[Gregcoyote]

We work on giant satellite dishes. A thunderstorm 5 miles away in the right direction can knock you to the ground if your hanging onto the wrong place.


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[Dary421]

View attachment 264646 We work on giant satellite dishes. A thunderstorm 5 miles away in the right direction can knock you to the ground if your hanging onto the wrong place.


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wow,...thats wild,....but i bet you can probably really hear it coming
static electricty i assume?

 

[Dary421]

I got fried by a T5 retro fixture that fell into the tank while i was cleaning the glass. It was at the tank I maintain at a public gym. I screamed so loud people came running in to see the corpse....lol.

...too bad you didnt have it filmed and on utube...i bet for a big guy you can moved pretty fast ....do the fish and coral get fried or are they grounded in a scenerio like that ?.....scary stuff !!

 

[paul87]

...too bad you didnt have it filmed and on utube...i bet for a big guy you can moved pretty fast ....do the fish and coral get fried or are they grounded in a scenerio like that ?.....scary stuff !!

I always wondered about that too. If the tank inhabitants get fried or if its grounded. Does a grounding probe take the charge out of the water when this happens?

 

[Bdonaldson]

From what I have read in the last couple of pages I better get me a couple of GFI's to put where my tanks are. My house was built in 2000 and it appears that they have combined a couple connections onto one GFI. They normally only place GFI's where there is a water source.

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[Bdonaldson]

I think they are normally grounded. I had a tank years ago and the Heater had a crack in it and When I realized it I pulled the cord out of the wall. The fish all survived.

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[paul87]

From what I have read in the last couple of pages I better get me a couple of GFI's to put where my tanks are. My house was built in 2000 and it appears that they have combined a couple connections onto one GFI. They normally only place GFI's where there is a water source.

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Definitely need some GFCI's! Also a grounding probe wired to the center screw of that outlet and in the tank water is highly recommended. You can't be too safe she it comes to saltwater and electricity.

 

[Bdonaldson]

Definitely need some GFCI's! Also a grounding probe wired to the center screw of that outlet and in the tank water is highly recommended. You can't be too safe she it comes to saltwater and electricity.

I will go to Lowes and get some of those GFI's. Do I need two grounding probes?

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[mr_X]

Nothing happened to the fish or corals. Another incident I had in a larger system was when a broken glass heater kicked on. I was sitting about 15 feet away from the sump the heater was in and all of the sudden what seemed to be like underwater arc welding happened. It went on for about 5-10 seconds before I yanked the plug out. The GFI never tripped, nor did the breaker. The fish were fine, but all of the xenia turned as white as copy paper. Very strange that they immediately lost all their zooxanthellae. If i remember correctly, a few other pieces browned out, but everything recovered.

 

[Bdonaldson]

Nothing happened to the fish or corals. Another incident I had in a larger system was when a broken glass heater kicked on. I was sitting about 15 feet away from the sump the heater was in and all of the sudden what seemed to be like underwater arc welding happened. It went on for about 5-10 seconds before I yanked the plug out. The GFI never tripped, nor did the breaker. The fish were fine, but all of the xenia turned as white as copy paper. Very strange that they immediately lost all their zooxanthellae. If i remember correctly, a few other pieces browned out, but everything recovered.

That's pretty much what happened to my first saltwater tank. The only diffence is my heater actually exploded in the tank. I wasn't very successful with that tank.

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[Gregcoyote]

Not working bare footed is recommended. I also now tap the water before plunging in.

Ground probes can help some, but if not grounded properly can give false comfort. GFI is a pain and not 100% reliable, but still the best bet. 110vac, under ideal circumstances can certainly kill you, so just be cautious in how you wire your system. Can you imagine if you had a live toaster over your bathtub hanging on thin wires? That's what you have with your tank except the water is salty and conducts even better. One more reason I like leds, the fixture is generally fed by low power dc voltage.


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[Dary421]

So ,... ( In my case ),... My new electrical box is directly on the outside wall behind my tank ,.. On the ever on going switch over from telephone poles to under ground utilities the electrical contractors had to install two long brass rods into the ground so many feet apart to act as grounds to the homes electrical system,..In my situation , I assume ( in theory ) I could run a stainless steel rod with a wire attached from my tank to one of those brass rods and ground out my tank ? It would be a rather short run of something in the neighborhood of 8-10 feet ,... Also would a separate ground be needed for the sump as well or because of the constant water flow between the two would only the single be needed ?
I also wonder just how many reefers out there actually have their ranks grounded ?


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[Gregcoyote]

You should be able to ground the tank at the outlet if they have wired the grounds to the box and the ground rods are attached to the box. A cold water pipe will also work. I don't ground my tanks as I have never found stray voltages to be an issue. I don't think a ground probe would necessarily prevent you from getting a shock either. You standing bare foot on a wet floor is a pretty good ground in of itself. A plug in GFI, or one wired into the socket or breaker panel is the best way to go IMO. The plug in ones are kind of tricky as their sensitivity can make them go off if you have a short power outage.


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[Dary421]

To this day I'm still in awe of the reef world we keep in our living rooms,... If you really stop and consider all that we've done using lighting ,skimmers , pumps, ato's ,dosing systems etc it's quite amazing that we are able to duplicate ( somewhat ) a semi stable environment to raise fish and corals from all parts of the planet.
I think sometimes we just take thing for granted and merely go on our merry way without stopping to smell the roses ,... Each and everyone of us should be proud of what we as individuals and as a group have done to keep our little systems going .
Some of you may have a tiny little nano tank with just a mushroom or two in it while others may have this exotic system that rivals the best natural reefs out there,..it doesn't matter ,it's what you've done !!! , on a personal note have far exceeded anything I had ever thought I could do maintaining a reef aquarium ,... I think not everything you try to do will succeed and we all have lost some prize specimens in the past but looking at the tanks that everyone has going and taking the time to post a reply ,an acknowledgment, a thanks or a suggestion is what keeps us all interested and learning .
Truly , reef keeping is one of the overall toughest hobbies to get into ,... It's expensive ,time consuming but I also feel it's got to be one of the most rewarding at the same time , take a minute ,kick back and look at your tank and admire the work you've done
A nice pat on the back to all of you guys a job well done !!!


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[Gregcoyote]

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[paul87]

Very true Dary. I remembered when an extremely basic FOWLR tank seemed like an impossible thing for me to accomplish. With all the modern day advances in lighting, skimmers, pumps, etc., things have become more convenient in the caring of a reef tank. They do and should always require excellent husbandry which is what makes it so rewarding. Putting in all the hard work, time, and money them seeing all that you have done at the end of the day is a great feeling. It's good to stop and smell the roses which is easily forgotten in these busy times. I never thought I would be where I was today in the reefing hobby. What good is it to have it if you can't relax and enjoy its company. I gotta say I love it, and I'm proud of it! Happy reefing!

 

[Dary421]

After months of my trike build I rode it into work this morning for the first time !!' She performed beautifully and in keeping with the " aquarium" theme ,it's kinda like riding a 800 lb crab down the freeway ,.. Both crab and owner doing well


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[Gregcoyote]

Love the color, had a biplane painted that color I did air shows in. 1979 Corvette yellow.





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[Gregcoyote]

22 years ago, about the time I started the reef.

Let's see a shot of you on your bumblebee.

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[Dary421]

You know your colors greg !!! That's exactly the color I chose ,..." Corvette yellow " ....
Diver ,pilot , reefer , mad scientist ,..just what haven't you've done ???


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