Stained concrete fish floor

[RadagastWizard]

I'm getting a tank and a new floor for under the tank. It will be in my basement which has a concrete floor with a drain. I want to get stained concrete but i read that getting shocked is a possibility with a concrete floor

Is there a way to prevent this? I was thinking of vinyl but I already have concrete so stained would probably be better..

 

[WatDatThing]

Are you talking about electrical shock?

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[RadagastWizard]

Yes

 

[Ron Reefman]

Why would you get shocked by a concrete floor? Where did you hear or read such a thing?

 

[RadagastWizard]

Why would you get shocked by a concrete floor? Where did you hear or read such a thing?

On an old reef central thread. The guy said he put a rubber mat near his tank so he didn't get shocked from the electricity traveling through the floor.

Idk if that's even possible or a worry which is why I'm posting

 

[nereefpat]

A safer strategy than a rubber mat would be to use GFCI outlets for all submerged equipment. They will interrupt the circuit before you are shocked.

GFCIs should be standard for fish tanks. My tank is on a concrete floor.

 

[mcgyvr]

Yep... GFCI or die baby...
ALL submerged line powered equipment MUST be plugged into a device with GFCI protection..
Either swap out the outlet for a GFCI one, or the branch circuit breaker for that room/circuit or just a power strip with GFCI protection...

And yes a concrete floor can be at ground potential but do you not wear shoes?
Barefoot + water + electricity is NOT a good/smart combination..

BUT the GFCI will protect you in the event that a line powered piece of equipment fails and exposes you to a shock/electrocution hazard..

 

[CK00020]

I think stained concrete is a good idea, saw some really cool looking floors like that over the years. You could get shocked by anything if it's covered in water

 

[RadagastWizard]

Yep... GFCI or die baby...
ALL submerged line powered equipment MUST be plugged into a device with GFCI protection..
Either swap out the outlet for a GFCI one, or the branch circuit breaker for that room/circuit or just a power strip with GFCI protection...

And yes a concrete floor can be at ground potential but do you not wear shoes?
Barefoot + water + electricity is NOT a good/smart combination..

BUT the GFCI will protect you in the event that a line powered piece of equipment fails and exposes you to a shock/electrocution hazard..

This will be in my basement man cave where me and my gf will lounge around so barefoot or socks is a possibility.

I do plan on using gfci outlets. But Is there still a worry if shoes aren't worn?

 

[Sk8r]

Definitely GFCI---It'll save you, your tank, etc. You can get just as dead standing on wet carpet, shoes or no shoes. It's water under your feet that's not good. I have the situation you describe and I try a) not to stand in water and mess with electricity and b) I have GFCIs on everything. Including the pond in the back yard.

 

[nereefpat]

This will be in my basement man cave where me and my gf will lounge around so barefoot or socks is a possibility.

I do plan on using gfci outlets. But Is there still a worry if shoes aren't worn?

Lounging barefoot is encouraged. I wouldn't worry about being barefoot in a room with a fish tank.

 

[mcgyvr]

No concerns provided you use GFCI protection..
Shoeless or pantless or whatever..

 

[Sk8r]

Installing a cheap water alarm that screams if its 2 contacts touch water is a nice thing: you can get one for well under 20.00 from Amazon. Just feed it a battery when you change your smoke detector battery, and you will never have a 'silent' flood.

 

[RadagastWizard]

Installing a cheap water alarm that screams if its 2 contacts touch water is a nice thing: you can get one for well under 20.00 from Amazon. Just feed it a battery when you change your smoke detector battery, and you will never have a 'silent' flood.

Ive actually been thinking of installing something like in the video below. Basically the guy has an apex set up with float valves all over so if something starts overflowing it shuts it off and let's him know. I've never used an apex or float valves so idk how it works but I want it


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qnSxfxt9xKc

 

[mcgyvr]

^^ yep thats easy and doesn't even require a fancy "reef controller"..
Just a float switch, relay and small dc power supply..

BUT... many times its just the water draining on its own from display tank to sump that may cause the flood and no float switch is going to stop that..