Dary's tank!

[barterking85]

Don't get the wrong idea here... I love DIY projects and I do many of them., the only point that I was trying to make here is that electrical and lighting ARE NOT my cup of tea ., i know nothing about them so instead of my usual DIY project , in THIS CASE I'm forced to go to the store and get the best unit that I can even though it may cost me lots more $$$
Once I start messing with electricity I can do a lot of serious damage ... Got to know when to hold'em and when to fold'em ... In this case a typical DIY Dary project is out of the question:-(..... I'd probably end up shorting out San Diego for a week! ....,more power to you guys that can do the DIY fixtures., I just don't have the knowledge to do it.

I agree I have a strict no electricity policy if I look at an outlet too long I get electrocuted lol

 

[Sqasnatch]

Like 2 months ago I had a broken heater. Must of zapped myself 10 times before I figured out what was broken

 

[needmorecowbell]

How were the fish lol? They must of been psychotic haha.

 

[mr_X]

It doesn't effect the fish. I'm not sure why, but they aren't bothered by it.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Oh, that's interesting.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Wouldn't affect you either, until you reached out of the tank and grabbed the nearest water pipe...then it would be a real fish fry.
Just got in my first 100 watt 10K white multisegment LED, the royal blue ones are still on the way. The part is the size of a microprocessor and can be mounted like one. Will take pictures as I DIY a fixture with this tiny part and start a thread this weekend on the hardware forum.

I turned just the white chip on and it looked like a plasma torch. There are youtube videos of people testing this part and it is where I figured I had to try this out myself. Will have a user focus lens so you can control coverage on mine. Will come in at 300 watts (3 chips total, 100 watts cool white, 200 watts 550-560nm royal blue) as I have a 36" deep tank and want to see how it works in comparison to a panel made up of hundreds of 2 or 3 watt LEDs. The shimmer effect should be out of this world.

 

[Buffy]

Doug., I bought (3) stark 60 w Cree fixtures ( 3 wt bulbs and dimmable)) for my tank... They seem to be doing a beautiful job of keeping everything up and running .. If memory serves me they were about $400 a unit

Jeez, I've spent more than that and I still don't have it right LOL. Thanks for sharing again. .....psst glad you have a memory still.

Couldn't agree more. While it would be very nice to walk in and lay down some serious cash for something I want, I find that building it myself gives me something to stay busy with. On top of that, when it is done, I get to admire it. 90% of my tank and associate equipment is DIY. What isn't DIY I got in payment for doing electrical work for other reefers. LOL

I agree with the satisfaction it brings, I just unfortunately take forever to get one project done and there's like thousands of projects slapping me in the face everyday LOL.

Sometimes I wish I was more of a "handy woman" LOL, I'd love to be able to accomplish this kind of stuff AND put a few people in their places at the same time, sorry I must've got a mean streak in me for a oh lifetime hehehe.

want to go to work for me and do my job so I can stay home? Pretty please with sugar on top? I deal with it every day I go into work, I'm beginning to think I made a serious mistake too.[/COLOR]

Once I start messing with electricity I can do a lot of serious damage ...haven't done that yet, gotten close, but with the pressures swirling around me daily, I'm too chicken to even make a decision now. Got to know when to hold'em and when to fold'em ... In this case a typical DIY Dary project is out of the question:-(..... I'd probably end up shorting out San Diego for a week! ....,more power to you guys that can do the DIY fixtures., I just don't have the knowledge to do it.

LOL when the rolling brown/black out hit North East Coast, my brother called me from NY that night it started & told me it was MY fault he had no electricty, lol, however I won that one cause I could prove I was off that day hehehehehe

I agree I have a strict no electricity policy if I look at an outlet too long I get electrocuted lol

Now that's funny poopy (being nice for a change), I don't care where you're from.

Like 2 months ago I had a broken heater. Must of zapped myself 10 times before I figured out what was broken

Mean side of me laughs, but nice side of me says....Glad you're okay

 

[rdnelson99]

It doesn't effect the fish. I'm not sure why, but they aren't bothered by it.

It affects fish the same if not more than us. But.....there is a differance. If the current does not flow through the body it will not damage you. Just like a bird sitting on a power line. If the power line has 28,800 volts running through it the bird is also at 28,800 but it is not passing through the bird because it is not touching anything else. In the case of fish, they are suspended in the water and at what ever voltage the may happen to be at. As long as they do not complete a circuit with something (allowing the current to flow through them) they are fine. When you get shocked, it is because you are completing a circuit by touching the water and touching metal thereby completing a circuit and allowing the current to flow through you. And that hurts!!!! LOL If you wonder if I know what I am talking about I will just say that I have been in the business since 1979. You can do the math.

 

[redsea]

Cool tank, I also like the bubble coral.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Hey, just wondering.. How would you frag a bubble coral? Passive fragging?

 

[mr_X]

Just like a bird sitting on a power line.

Right. I suppose that's why then, only I did have something happen to corals, but not the fish.
A few years ago I put some live rock into the sump and unknowingly crushed a glass heater. That night i was sitting nearby and saw a blinding light out of the corner of my eye- it was the heater turning on under water. It looked like someone was arc welding in my sump. Smoke was coming out of the water and you could hear a sizzle.
This went on for about 5 seconds until i was able to unplug it. The GFCI did not trip.
No fish were effected, but the corals were. All of the xenia expelled their zooxanthellae and all sps browned out immediately.
The xenia looked at white as paper for about a month.
How do you explain this?

 

[barterking85]

Not really my place but I would say the corals are grounded I am no expert at all it's just a guess

 

[mr_X]

But salt water is a conductor. If the corals were grounded, so would the fish be.

 

[Sqasnatch]

Lots of iron is the water,, doesn't make sense really

 

[rdnelson99]

The corals are in contact with the rock and/or sand which is in contact with the bottom of the tank. Glass is a good insulator assuming it is clean and dry. In your case, it has salt build up which can conduct the electricity. Current will follow the path of least resistance in proportion. So, something with high resistance will see a little current flow but something with low resistance will see more of the current flow. So bassically, you had current throughout your entire system. Some of it flowed through the corals which affected them negatively. The fish however were surrounded by the water completly, therefore the potention (voltage) on all sides of the fish was equal and no current would flow through them. It is only when you have unequal potential that current will flow.

Think of two buckets connected with a pipe that has a valve in it. If you open the valve but the water is at the same height in each bucket, no water will flow. If however, one bucket has more water than the other, water will flow through the pipe into the other bucket.

 

[Dary421]

The corals are in contact with the rock and/or sand which is in contact with the bottom of the tank. Glass is a good insulator assuming it is clean and dry. In your case, it has salt build up which can conduct the electricity. Current will follow the path of least resistance in proportion. So, something with high resistance will see a little current flow but something with low resistance will see more of the current flow. So bassically, you had current throughout your entire system. Some of it flowed through the corals which affected them negatively. The fish however were surrounded by the water completly, therefore the potention (voltage) on all sides of the fish was equal and no current would flow through them. It is only when you have unequal potential that current will flow.

Think of two buckets connected with a pipe that has a valve in it. If you open the valve but the water is at the same height in each bucket, no water will flow. If however, one bucket has more water than the other, water will flow through the pipe into the other bucket.

So are you saying that dry salt build up outside your tank may actually have caused a ground that could have charged the tank and effected the corals,... If this was the case then if a fish touched a rock/ coral or the side of the tank wouldn't it get a shock also???

 

[mr_X]

Yeah....I had an algae blenny in the tank too that was unaffected. the odds of him swimming the entire time the tank was shocked are slim. And what about shrimp and other inverts? Nothing was harmed but the corals.

 

[Dary421]

Yeah....I had an algae blenny in the tank too that was unaffected. the odds of him swimming the entire time the tank was shocked are slim. And what about shrimp and other inverts? Nothing was harmed but the corals.

Could it be that possibly corals may have a natural charge about them wether it be positive or slightly negative that may in turn be effected by stray electrical currents? Or maybe their " stinging" venom conducts the stray currents in a adverse way also ?? ... Just tossing that out for thought

 

[rdnelson99]

So are you saying that dry salt build up outside your tank may actually have caused a ground that could have charged the tank and effected the corals,... If this was the case then if a fish touched a rock/ coral or the side of the tank wouldn't it get a shock also???

Not exactly. The salt build up could have completed the path but not "charged" the tank. But when the heater turned on electricity would flow through all the water. Pure H2O will not conduct but the salt in it will. The current could have flowed through the corals and on to ground through the salt build up in cracks and crevices. But if at that instant the fish were suspended in the water current would not flow through them.

Also to Mr. X I would say change that GFI. They can go bad and if it did not trip it isn't working correctly.

 

[rdnelson99]

It is possible that corals have a charge but it would be minimal and would not cancel out 120 volts. Some things naturally would tolerate more current than others. In addition, even if the GCI or the breaker failed to trip I would bet that something in the heater burned in two almost instantly. That was the Arc (flash of light) that you saw. That happened almost immediately clearing the fault. A breaker needs time to build up heat before it trips. If the arc cleared the fault not enough heat built up in tiebreaker to trip it. That is why you need a GCi. It works by sensing an imbalance of current. Normally you would see an equal current flowing through the hot wire and the neutral with no current flowing through the ground. In a ground fault (short to ground) some current will flow through the ground. That means the hot and neutral are no longer balanced and the GCI trips. That is why I said "change the GFi" not change the breaker.