Electricity can kill

[tigerkayu]

I lost a powder blue, juvenile emperor, long-nose butterfly & a saddleback, all within a space of 1 week. I previously posted two related topics prior to this: brown blotches on powder blue & frayed & torn fins. I think I finally know why.

At the risk of starting a debate (because the LFS did not agree), my conclusion: not water quality (0 nitrite & low nitrates), not diseases (no white spots), but electricity!!

And the culprit: a submersible powerhead that is faulty.

I stumbled on this when i first notice a 'tingling' sensation, almost like an ant bite when I touched the water of my refugium (mine is a 6ft tank with overflow). Apparently, salt water can conduct electricity and the water flow almost 'acts' like an electrical wire to my top tank. Glass tank is a non-conductor, hence the electric voltage remain in the tank until u touch the water. Your body then acts as conductor for electricity to flow to the ground.

The 'brown blotches' on the powder blue I believe were stress signs. The frayed & torn fins were bacterial infection as a result of weakened body condition of the fish. Apparrently, the bigger fish were more affected. All the fish that died were at least 4". Smaller fishes were spared. My flame angel were starting to have torn tails. Fortunately, that was when I discovered the problem.

After changing the powerhead, the flame angel have completely recovered & I've no more deaths for almost a month now.

I just wanted to post this to raise the awareness & not to take submersible appliance for granted. I understand that submersible heaters (rare in our climate) can even threaten your life.

[TTBoy]

Get a ground probe. I hate it when i get those slight shocks.

BTW, is urs a taiwan made PH?

[dodo]

i thk a couple of months ago, news on TV actually reported one marine aquarist in Singapore actually kena some electrical leakage from his newly acquired light casing lucky nothing major happen

i also kena a couple of times...scolded by my wife and mum

hence morale of the story, buy a trusted brand of pump/PH and refrain from DIYing too much electrical stuff especially if u are a electrical 'goondu' like me especially someone wif kid(s) in their homes

[mv3i]

I lost a powder blue, juvenile emperor, long-nose butterfly & a saddleback, all within a space of 1 week. I previously posted two related topics prior to this: brown blotches on powder blue & frayed & torn fins. I think I finally know why.

At the risk of starting a debate (because the LFS did not agree), my conclusion: not water quality (0 nitrite & low nitrates), not diseases (no white spots), but electricity!!

And the culprit: a submersible powerhead that is faulty.

I stumbled on this when i first notice a 'tingling' sensation, almost like an ant bite when I touched the water of my refugium (mine is a 6ft tank with overflow). Apparently, salt water can conduct electricity and the water flow almost 'acts' like an electrical wire to my top tank. Glass tank is a non-conductor, hence the electric voltage remain in the tank until u touch the water. Your body then acts as conductor for electricity to flow to the ground.

The 'brown blotches' on the powder blue I believe were stress signs. The frayed & torn fins were bacterial infection as a result of weakened body condition of the fish. Apparrently, the bigger fish were more affected. All the fish that died were at least 4". Smaller fishes were spared. My flame angel were starting to have torn tails. Fortunately, that was when I discovered the problem.

After changing the powerhead, the flame angel have completely recovered & I've no more deaths for almost a month now.

I just wanted to post this to raise the awareness & not to take submersible appliance for granted. I understand that submersible heaters (rare in our climate) can even threaten your life.

something i dun understand here .... the PH has electrical leakage .... but the fishes are not grounded ... so how does the electricity kill your fish ..... ???

IT's like the birds on the power line/cable ... the birds can stay there without being electricuted becos there IS NO ground for the current to flow to ....

as for the ground probe in a tank is mainly for the leakage st YOU will not get a shock when there is a leakage !!

JUz my 2 cents worth

[spade]

hv a look at Stray Voltage in Saltwater Aquariums

Whenever electric appliances are used in close proximity to saltwater aquariums, the potential for problems increases dramatically. Fortunately for most saltwater aquarists, a vast majority of equipment used in conjunction with an aquarium is of high quality and seldom fails. However, when an appliance does fail and leaks electricity into a tank, it is called "stray voltage".  

Stray voltage, even in small amounts, can cause a number of subtle or dramatic problems in an aquarium.

[mv3i]

brown blotches on powder blue & frayed & torn fins

understand it ... but how to explain the brown blotches on the PB??

[BarraCudaTM]

stray current can promote calcium growth!

[dodo]

stray current can promote calcium growth!

is there a statement on that?

[mv3i]

yeah ... barra ... where you find that ??

[BarraCudaTM]

they used to run wire nets around reefs and apply voltage to it .. soon its all covered with calcium

[Tanzy]

That's electrolysis.

[tigerkayu]

Get a ground probe. I hate it when i get those slight shocks.

BTW, is urs a taiwan made PH?

U're right. Its a Taiwan brand. I guess u get what u pay.

brown blotches on powder blue & frayed & torn fins

understand it ... but how to explain the brown blotches on the PB??

The brown blotches I think are signs of stress.

The message here is: just another something for us to check other than the standard water quality, when ur fish do not look well.

[Fishfreak]

First of all, I would lke to thank Tigerkayu for sharing his experience with us.

I lost a bannerfish, a swallowtail angel and this morning, my favourite regal blue, all in 10 days. My juvenile Unicorn Tang started 'trembling' very frequently and my foxface started developing small black patches on its beautiful yellow body. I checked all the crucial water parameters but found nothing out of place - until I read tigerkayu's post.

I tested the water this morning and sure enough, I managed to single out the #@%$>?%$# Rio 2500 pump leaking stray voltage - the needle on the multimeter just jumped!

Disconnected and removed the Rio before I left for work. Returned this evening and observed my really empty tank - I didn't see the Unicorn 'tremble' anymore and the black patches on the Foxface are all gone. That's right, ALL GONE!

Now, I have to figure out how to handle this with the LFS that sold me the Rio.

So lessons learned here:

1) get a ground probe - really good advice from the other reefers

2) STAY AWAY FROM RIOs - and I'm not afraid of the manufacturer or the retailer coming after me. If you need more convincing, search for Rio pumps at Google. A fellow reefer here did caution me about this brand but I decided to take my chance and paid dearly for it.

Now, I have to convince my father and wife that this is a safe hobby .... and their son/husband isn't about to be fried.

[TTBoy]

Hi tigerkayu,

i've learnt my lesson, dont get cheaper inferior taiwan pdts. I had problems with PH, MH, PH monitor etc... even though the prices are much cheaper, it spoils easily and then u prob. need to get another one.

either that, its just my dumb luck that i happen to buy the lousy units.

[Fishfreak]

OH yes, the Rio is manufactured in Taiwan ....

[planetg]

by the way, how much is a decent ground probe here?

[Kojek]

Hi Folks

Thanks for sharing such vital information.

Much Appreciated

Kojek