Near death fish tank experience

[A.VOID]

Tonight I reached into the sump to adjust the phosban reactor powerhead and

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZaP

When I grabbed the powerhead my whole arm got major electrocution.
This was the worst electrocution I've ever experienced. I pretty much lost any sense of what was happening as I yanked my hand and pump out of the sump.

So I guess it's safe to say this pump is toast.

Anyone got a spare little powerhead laying around for my reactor?

 

[jh2pizza]

GFCI is a must in this hobby. Been there, done that. Glad to hear you are ok.

 

[A.VOID]

Well, I found out the hard way ... It was a heater.

Electrocuted about 5 more times

 

[CleveYank]

5 more times...you've been watching too much family guy. Sorry just kidding.

Suggestion.

Get shock buster portable GFCI until you can install something correctly.

Next when you get a chance...make sure to check or have someone who knows about electrical...check that your grounded outlets for your tank are actually getting a true ground. Alot of homeowners have jumped the white nuetral to the 3rd ground. Or if PVC parts have been put on your water lines and those are where your grounds are strapped to? You will essentally have non-grounded outlets.

Mr. Sparkey can knock you down for good with only what is it .6 or .7 amps under the right conditions? Besides who will take care of your tank if you're gone?

 

[A.VOID]

going to get that gfci. Do those still work with powerstrips plugged into them?

 

[szwab]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14879693#post14879693 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by A.VOID
going to get that gfci. Do those still work with powerstrips plugged into them?

plug the strip into it so it will kill the circuit.

Also make sure you get a good quality one. the cheaper ones are "sensitive" well... cheap and will trip sometimes when not needed which can obviously can a different set of issues.

 

[jh2pizza]

I prefer a quality breaker instead but you loose the entire circuit.

 

[CleveYank]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14880964#post14880964 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jh2pizza
I prefer a quality breaker instead but you loose the entire circuit.

I cannot remember the build from the large tank section...there's so many....but the guy built a huge system and with it a GFCI network (30 or so) driven off another box installed in the fishroom then connected to dedicated breakers you install in your main electric box. (Having another box in the fishroom will be my method since my main is way out in the garage so I get why he did that) Even had indicator lights with backups where the outlets were on a custom electric board that looked like a panel from a nuke plant.

His argument after a couple morons said he was so stupid for all of the individual GFCI's was that the component and he would be safe with it tripping and yet the rest of the system would not shut down.

Made perfect sense to my overkill self. If you have the room, definately a more technical way to go. For most, probably not required. A good leviton GFCI properly installed as the primary outlet in the wall with a true ground will usually suffice. Either method will prevent you from getting juiced by your tank...by the electrical at least. Now if your beer fridge is near your tank...well all bets are off.

 

[jh2pizza]

My fish room is on its own 100amp panel. It runs my Reef, kitchen and garage on 6 GFCI breakers. It was well worth the extra expense to do it. Been shocked too many times before to not do it right.