I just read somthing I need to KNOW !

[Tropicalfishfn]

Ok at this one site i saw a safty thing it said don't put your hand in the water when your heater is on u could get electcuted i alwasy put my hand in my tank doing somthing like moving somthing or somthing and i never turned my heater off to do that. I don't touch my heater

 

[cichlid_freak]

This really shouldn't be something to be concerned about. The only chance of you getting electricuted is if your heater cracked and you would see all your fish floating at the top. Even if you were to get electricuted by the heater, besides your fish floating at the top, there would be no serious harm. The wattage of the standard outlet doesn't make you muscles freeze, in fact it repels you. So, if your fish are floating and there's a crack in your heater, I would recommend that you don't put your hand in the water without unpluging the heater, that is if the breaker hasn't already shut-off. Any other time, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Tropicalfishfn]

Ok i was wondering. So i will turn it off if it is cracked. Other wise i don't have to turn it off Ok got it so i'll just do what i normaly do

 

[Hooben]

The reason that site said to turn your heater off is the chance of you bumping into the heater with your hand is slight. But if you touch that heater with your hand by accident while the heater is on... ouch. Heaters are very hot when the light is on. Always be careful not to touch a heater like that.
Any electrical short in wires on power heads or heaters can cause a little shock that might scare you a bit. I always turn everything off just to be safe. I use a power strip so that I can easily turn everything off or on!

 

[Waterloo Kid]

If you are worried about the possibility of a shock you could fit the heater with an RCD (residual current device or circuit breaker to you and me). This trips out if the appliance it's attached to draws too much current, something that happens if there's a short circuit or other electrical fault. They also prevent your electrical stuff in the event of a potentially damaging power spike (think lightening strikes etc.).I would only put it on the feed to your heater though as if it's on a master feed plug and, say, your tank lights blew while you were away for the weekend, your perfectly good heater will be shut off and the tank will chill. If you want to protect your other equipment get another RCD.
Here in Britain our sockets run at 13 amps and 240 volts, plenty enough to kill! I'd recommend an RCD be used on any equipment that goes near water. They are inexpensive and potentially life saving!

WK

 

[Thomas A. Anderson]

on a side note, always turn your heater etc off, when doing water changes.

If certrain parts of the heater are exposed to air and it is still on, your heater can burn out.

 

[Tropicalfishfn]

Ok it will be easier to turn it off.

 

[angelphish]

I've been shocked twice by putting my hand in a tank that had a faulty heater.
It was no different then sticking a fork in an outlet.
And believe it or not, it doesn't hurt the fish. They are not grounded.

 

[sgtbirch]

OOOH excellent pint angel about the fish not being grounded. Never thought of it that way but i never had the shocking experience either

 

[superman]

My wife's father went a whole year with a 600 gallon tank that had a heater on it that was leaking. It would shock hime every time he touched the water, but he was too much of a tight wad to buy one until his wife got after him enought to buy a new heater.