Help with voltage meter

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kdpuffer said:
I'm actually an electrician and in my opinion it's not an issue. Everything electrical puts out an "induced voltage" and or magnetic field. Equipment used in the hobby is insulated to prevent shocks. My suspicion is that your tang has ick or thrashed into some rock or something. Its also possible your parameters are off or the temperature. Electrical burns wouldn't cause little spots, plus in order to actually cause a burn you would have to apply alot more voltage and current than 1 volt. If your still concerned relocate your heater to your sump or filter. As far as gfci receptacle go they are never a bad idea especially when water is near by. Just be sure to hook a ground wire up or the gfci won't operate properly.
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Thank you, I just had a long discussion with my husband who basically told me the info you did. So less than 1 volt is fine, and it doesn't mean there is a current. He said if the gfi worked it would only shut off quicker and not necessarily prevent me from dying, lol. So he will install one for me so I don't get as electrocuted as I could be.

The tang is now still completely acting normal again and the clowns, well they are clowns. I will post pics on my tank page because I can see spots at a certain angle in the light.

What a great lesson in electricity!
 
it doesn't matter which lead you have in the water and which one you don't have. as well it doesn't hatter if there is stray voltages in the water as there is no path to ground so there is not way of the fish gettign a shock. they are at teh same potential as the water.

when i saw the whole stray voltages thing while googling T5HOs before i came across this and had to laugh. beign an electrician i know how electricity flows. if we are workign with live power we often will take a mat and place it under our feet, then we will take a lead from the live lines and ground it to the mat. this make it so we are the same potencial as the like lines resulting in no current (amp) transfer through our bodies.

the same thing is happening with the fish tank and stray voltages, or as they are know to us as eddi currentsin a fish tank.

Jereli said:
As far as GFI...i am almost certain it will not trip with stray voltages. Just current. I would definitely add one either way. it can save you in worst case scenario if properly working.
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a GFI won't trip unless it senses a loss in current from the live side to the neutral size, if there is a difference in amperage by .05amps it will trip, thats where its enough amperace to kill a person or atleast do serious harm to a persons heart
 
Last edited:
Gti_Leo said:
it doesn't matter which lead you have in the water and which one you don't have. as well it doesn't hatter if there is stray voltages in the water as there is no path to ground so there is not way of the fish gettign a shock. they are at teh same potential as the water.

when i saw the whole stray voltages thing while googling T5HOs before i came across this and had to laugh. beign an electrician i know how electricity flows. if we are workign with live power we often will take a mat and place it under our feet, then we will take a lead from the live lines and ground it to the mat. this make it so we are the same potencial as the like lines resulting in no current (amp) transfer through our bodies.

the same thing is happening with the fish tank and stray voltages, or as they are know to us as eddi currentsin a fish tank.

a GFI won't trip unless it senses a loss in current from the live side to the neutral size, if there is a difference in amperage by .05amps it will trip, thats where its enough amperace to kill a person or atleast do serious harm to a persons heart
Click to expand...

Leo, I was hoping you would have chimed in early and saved me this stress all day thinking I was cooking my fish, lol! I knew you would know the answers. My husband didn't laugh at me although he looked like he wanted to, maybe he is learning...hmmm.

So I don't need to rush out and get an MP40 or new pump for the sump, or heater (it is a glass jaeger).
 
no tehre is no need to rush and get anything, there will always be stray voltages, thats how motors work, even magnetic motors. they all have a rotating magnetic field which is caused by induction. what you have to worry about is if those eletrical parts short out in the water, that will cause a current transfer killing everything living in the water columb.

sorry for the delay, i was at work and today isn't really a good day so my girlfriend has been tryign to cool me down all day :p
 
IMO I would use a grounding probe to assure any stray or otherwise unwanted current is drawn away from your tank. As a EM tech I have seen a stray AC voltage of 1 volt cause intermittent problems with the systems I work on. While a GFI is a great safety device, but it won't protect against a leaky motor or heater unless it's a direct short to ground.
 
1volt in electronic systems is different then stray voltage doing nothing in water.

in a way a grounding probe would be worse then leavign ti without, you're actually gettign a current flow through the water with one and i don't think most people realise its not the voltage that kills people its the amperage.

a GFI doesn't sense a leak in voltage it senses a leak in current. in electrical flow whatever leaves the source goes back to the source, voltage gets used up at the load but the current returns back so a GFI monitors the black wire which is your line, and your neutral which is your return
 
Long story short, don't worry about it. As for a grounding electrode, bad idea that will just make the aquarium and all it's occupants part of the circuit if there is an issue and that is bad, unless you want fish for supper lol. Even if your getting 120 volts in the tank it won't hurt anything as it's not completed circuit.
 
Thanks everyone, so simply...

Grounding pole actually completes a circuit in the tank. Don't need to do that. Voltage is just a measure of the potential amount of electricity that could flow if a circuit was completed, but in itself, voltage is not doing anything to the inhabitants.

Right, or close to it?
 
They do sell grounding probes for use in aquariums. I use them.

"Pumps, powerheads, chillers, and other aquarium electrical devices may emit stray voltage resulting in fish health problems like lateral line disease, fin erosion, and gill deterioration."
 
DO NOT USE A GROUNDING ELECTRODE. if you have 1 volt of induced voltage it will drain it, if you have an electrical device fail (heater or powerhead) that is causing 120 volts to go into the water the grounding electrode will kill your fish. You can touch a live wire without consequence provided you are NOT grounded. Even having 120 volts in the tank would be fine if it has no path to ground.
 
Furthermore, if you have a GFCI plug running your equipment it will trip the second there is a problem with an electrical device so you will be fine without the ground rod. Better to cut power to the tank than make a circuit of it.
 
a lot of controversial opinions on this topic. I dont entirely agree.. why have voltage in your tank even though its not doing harm? one day you can accidently complete the circuit with your body. Accidents do happen.But you will not kill your fish with a ground probe thats what your gfi is for to trip.
 
A gfci takes a fraction of a second to trip. In that fraction of a second you have voltage being leaked into the tank, which when a ground probe is installed is called a completed circuit, that means dead fish. Installing a ground probe is a personal choice. I personally don't see any benefit at all, 1 volt is not an issue. Look at it like this. Let's use a garden hose an example. Water in the hose is voltage and the nozzle is the ground probe. When closed you have no water coming out but you open that nozzle and let the path continue. Not a bad thing necessarily, if your watering plants but would you open your hose in your living room? Another one is take a 9volt battery, stick your tongue to only one prong on it, that's an open circuit with potential. Now cover both prongs with your tongue, how does that feel? That's a completed circuit. 1 volt is not an issue as it can be instrument error. If it's a concern to you then feel free to address the issue but I will not ever be putting a ground probe in my tank. As far as why they sell them, my guess is because people buy them. Scream safety and offer a solution and the consumers line up to buy.
 
agree 1v is not an issue... Just my opinion tho when I have a piece of equipment fail i personally would like to know right away so I can address the issue rather then just leave it in my tank. sorry but I dont agree on your statement of dead fish.. My fish did not die when my heater cracked and my gfi tripped. But yea it is personal preference I guess. again just my 2 cents.
 
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