Grounding Your Tank

[mikersx02]

I was reading about stray voltage in fish tanks and sure enough- there was energy floating around in the tank. My dad makes grounding kits which consist of an exotic piece of metal wire that goes in the tank that hooks up to the ground hole on the outlet.

 

[fraservet]

I used to get electric shocks occasionally from my tank.
I ran a multimeter in the water, but couldn't get any readings.
I eventually realised it only happened when I was barefoot and touched the water.
Now I make sure I put my shoes on first, and never have a problem.

A grounding wire would probably be a good idea.

 

[Navarre]

A grounding wire is a great idea and i have used them in the past. However please dont forget that if you use a sump or refugium then you need a grounding wire for these too. If not then a charge can build up in the tank with no grounding.

 

[crazyelece]

If you have a sump the main and sump are tied together thru the return pump. You should be able to ground one or the other and get them both.

 

[superman]

grounding your tank is not necessarily a good thing... http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/strayvoltages.shtml

 

[crazyelece]

I believe the message of that article was that grounding your tank properly (with a ground probe) is not only a good thing but the best way to protect yourself. There is a reason that building codes make you have a ground inside a swimming pool and GFCI circuits anywhere within 20 ft of a water source.

 

[mikersx02]

I believe the message of that article was that grounding your tank properly (with a ground probe) is not only a good thing but the best way to protect yourself. There is a reason that building codes make you have a ground inside a swimming pool and GFCI circuits anywhere within 20 ft of a water source.

In order to get a reading- you have to stick one end of your volt-ohm meter into the ground receptical- and the other into the tank-

My dad said that you pretty much have energy in your tank all the time- not just when something shorts out.

He read about this about 8 years ago in some salt water magazine- at the time, his fish kept going blind- and he came across that article that said that stray voltage can make your fish sick and he has had one on his tank ever since then.

grounding your tank is not necessarily a good thing... http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/strayvoltages.shtml

You know- I read that article- I understood what he said, but I still am pretty certain he is wrong about the grounding wire not removing stray voltage.

Just to be on the same page- here is how mine is built- it has about a 6 inch length of "metal x" I forget whatype of metal my father used when he built it. The 6 inch strip has roughtly the same properties as a coat hanger but its definately not coat hanger. The metal is bent into the shape of a "J" and is hooked onto the back of the tank- 3 or 3 inches of it is in the water. On the part outside the tank- there is an "allegator clip" that connects the metal strip to a 6 ft long piece of wire. That wire has a end on it that makes it easy to place into a ground hole on an every day receptical.

Before the grounding device is on the tank- I was reading around 60 volts. After putting on the grounding strip, there was absolutely NO voltage.

Ill take pictures if some would like to see.

 

[superman]

I am by no means arguing that grounding a tank is not good for keeping us as aquarists safe, it is a pretty good tool for keeping us from getting rocked by electricity. But it is still intensely debated whether the actual flow of electricity (when you ground the tank) through the water is more harmful to fish than if you don't have electricity running through the tank (when you don't have the tank grounded)

 

[Aquascaper]

All I would like to add is under no circumstances get your arm wet up to the elbow then rest it on a lit T5 that has tinfoil as a home made reflector over it..............it bloody hurts

The amount of times i've done that when doing tank maintenace on my old 4 footer is ridiculous