Voltage in tank.

[Balz3352]

So I had my clowns randomly die. Guessing it was voltage since my voltmeter was reading 48. I switched pumps out and now voltage is 10. Should it be 0? Just wondering if it's safe to put fish back in the tank

 

[zombie]

Ideally it should be zero. If it's minor contributions from several different pieces of equipment, I wouldn't worry about it, but if it's coming from a single piece of equipment, I would swap that out too.

 

[sethsolomon]

your voltage should be arround 0.35 as Saltwater is naturally conductive but this may be dependent on the volt meter.

 

[zombie]

your voltage should be arround 0.35 as Saltwater is naturally conductive but this may be dependent on the volt meter.

The conductivity of seawater makes no difference on what the voltage of the tank is. That is entirely based on the remnant Flux generated by rotating devices, the health of the insulation on any equipment submerged in the water, and the condition of the protective case grounds.

 

[timnem70]

+1

 

[timnem70]

Sorry to hear about your friends

 

[bigfoot]

Sorry bout your clowns hunting strayvoltage is a nightmare sometimes but i have a ground probe in my tanks its really a great addition because if there is stray voltage it will take it out and keep your fish
peeps alive

 

[zombie]

Sorry bout your clowns hunting strayvoltage is a nightmare sometimes but i have a ground probe in my tanks its really a great addition because if there is stray voltage it will take it out and keep your fish
peeps alive

Not true. Grounding probes are there to protect YOU, not your fish. Without a ground probe, and stray voltage leaves all portions of the tank at the same potential, which cannot harm fish. Its the same principle as lineman doing live work on 345kV transmission lines from a helicopter. The helicopter and the line become the same potential and does not harm the lineman.

If there is significant voltage in the tank with a ground probe used in a tank one of two things will happen.

1. The ground current will trip your GFCI (your hope is that this will happen)

2. The ground current does not trip the GFCI and continually passes through the water to the ground probe. This creates a voltage gradient across the tank. If the voltage gradient is large enough, enough current will pass through the heart of a fish to kill it.

 

[Walter White]

Not true. Grounding probes are there to protect YOU, not your fish. Without a ground probe, and stray voltage leaves all portions of the tank at the same potential, which cannot harm fish. Its the same principle as lineman doing live work on 345kV transmission lines from a helicopter. The helicopter and the line become the same potential and does not harm the lineman.

If there is significant voltage in the tank with a ground probe used in a tank one of two things will happen.

1. The ground current will trip your GFCI (your hope is that this will happen)

2. The ground current does not trip the GFCI and continually passes through the water to the ground probe. This creates a voltage gradient across the tank. If the voltage gradient is large enough, enough current will pass through the heart of a fish to kill it.

+1 to this. Also Id just like to add since it wasn't mentioned. A grounding probe should never be used on a receptacle that is not on a GFCI circuit.

 

[bigfoot610]

Yea should have mentioned the gfci never play in a tank that isn't all gfci protected you like being alive don't ya!