My first Fish copper Qt treatment

[Kensington Reefer]

No one is spending $250 on a temp controller (looks at my Ranco controller on my big tank). Okay, most people aren't spending that on a temp controller. 5 Inkbirds, 1 Ranco here.

At least 10 Aqua Logic and Ranco here, regardless of heater size, 25watt to 800 watt
20+ years

 

[BAYMAC]

@MichaelB so none of your aquaria is on grounded? No GFCI?

 

[MichaelB]

@MichaelB so none of your aquaria is on grounded? No GFCI?

No. Following this. I will add titanium grounding probes to the tanks however.

It's a older apartment. And getting those added is far beyond my means especially as a tenant.

They have them only in the bathrooms and kitchen.

 

[Darkxerox]

No. Following this. I will add titanium grounding probes to the tanks however.

It's a older apartment. And getting those added is far beyond my means especially as a tenant.

They have them only in the bathrooms and kitchen.

I have an extra grounding probe if you want. However who knows if it actually will do much.

 

[MichaelB]

I have an extra grounding probe if you want. However who knows if it actually will do much.

That would be awesome would cover my 3 tanks with fish. I ordered two. A few days ago.

I can't say they do anything from experience but I figure it's better than having nothing at all. In terms of a ground.

 

[richiev]

Titanium grounding probes require you to have a grounded (3 prong) outlet which is connected to a properly grounded circuit. My guess is you're connecting your power strips to a 2 prong outlet via an adapter, and then connecting all your 3 prong power cords to the power strip? In that case the grounding probe will not do anything, except maybe trick you or others that it is doing something, and catch you in a bad way.

Grounding requires an entire electrical setup to be in place. It usually starts with a rod hammered into the ground outside your house, connected to an electrical circuit box, which has 3 strand wires running from it, to the outlets and lights and switches throughout the house.

2 prong outlets are all you need for delivering power, but are not grounded. That's the old standard from a long time ago. The new standard is grounded circuits, but again getting there fully requires a large rewiring job of a place.

You can however get safety improvements by installing a 3-prong, GFCI outlet, and leave it ungrounded. That can reduce the chances of getting major electrical shocks, because the outlet should trip when that happens, but doesn't actually ground anything.

That all may not mean anything to you, but if you Chatgpt/Gemini for info about 2-prong, ungrounded, outlets and dealing with a saltwater tank you'd likely get a bunch of info. Ask it to explain it in simple terms.

My experience with this was previously having a bunch of old electrical, and separately having a similar issue once with a 3d printer. Turned out the outlet I was using hadn't been installed right, and wasn't grounded, so the small amount of current it was leaking into the frame could shock me. Once grounded that went away (let's ignore the bad state that it shouldn't have been leaking current).

 

[iani]

No grounded outlets anywhere in the house? Are your bathroom and kitchen outlets on gfcis? I think that is required in California.

Edit: I guess only if the bathroom or kitchen had been remodeled in the last 40ish years lol.

 

[MichaelB]

No grounded outlets anywhere in the house? Are your bathroom and kitchen outlets on gfcis? I think that is required in California.

Edit: I guess only if the bathroom or kitchen had been remodeled in the last 40ish years lol.

They are only in the bathroom and kitchens. Everywhere else is 2 prong.

I saw a video however saying i can replace just to outlets to 3 prong gfi outlets labeled as non equipment ground and would offer a margin of safety.

Right now I'm forced to use. These things through the whole house.

And I have power strips plugged in using those adapters to be able to plug up 3 prong items.

Based on video seems better to consider no equipment grounded gfi outlets verse the adapters I've been using for 10 years.

Turning off breakers and swapping a outlet is definitely within my skill ability. Running wires to the breaker box would be where I'd draw the line.

 

[MichaelB]

Ok so as of now heaters have been replaced in qt tanks and I don't feel anymore tingling or current in the tanks.

I will give things until over night to ensure things are running legit and heaters are holding temps. If they check out tomorrow I will look at adding fish tomorrow.

 

[PizzaOven]

@PizzaOven
What brand multimeter are you using? Thinking of upgrading

Just cheap-o's. They work great for car stuff and small electrical projects around the house... but not for checking stray voltage in water:

To eliminate induced voltage readings, you'd need something with a Low Z mode like this Fluke-117:

At $300 I can't really justify buying one for occasional use

 

[PjFish]

Ok so as of now heaters have been replaced in qt tanks and I don't feel anymore tingling or current in the tanks.

View attachment 77680

I will give things until over night to ensure things are running legit and heaters are holding temps. If they check out tomorrow I will look at adding fish tomorrow.

Whats your smart multimeter read now?

 

[MichaelB]

Whats your smart multimeter read now?

I honestly didn't test again. Beyond putting my hand in the tanks.

It was very clearly rhe heaters through the testing. Lol but since you asked I will likely be testing them again. Maybe my other tanks as well.

 

[PjFish]

I honestly didn't test again. Beyond putting my hand in the tanks.

It was very clearly rhe heaters through the testing. Lol but since you asked I will likely be testing them again. Maybe my other tanks as well.

No worries just curious glad you resolved

 

[MichaelB]

So took me a few hours today and a home depot trip to grab a large sheet light lense as the one closest to me was out of egg crate

I caught most of the fish. This was not in the least bit fun ugh. Spit the tank into thirds with that light lenses sheet.

I caught all 3 tangs, both dwarf angels, the foxface, and the two lighting maroons.

*I was unable to catch the largest wrasse the green (pastel)Corris Wrasse.

* I didn't not see the two banghi cardinals. I last saw them 3-4 days ago though I wasn’t actually specifically looking for them.

* I also did not see one of the other 2 wrasses. Unfortunately I found the starry blenny being eaten by hermit crabs while trying to catch the other fish. (Really sucks cause he appeared perfectly healthy that morning)


I have to now try to catch the the 3 wrasses and the 2 Cardinals. Install new heater in the 210gallon so I can raise temp during fallow period.


There is more on the list but thats the major ones.

Catch fish start qt.

 

[clownvan]

Just cheap-o's. They work great for car stuff and small electrical projects around the house... but not for checking stray voltage in water:
View attachment 77681

To eliminate induced voltage readings, you'd need something with a Low Z mode like this Fluke-117:
View attachment 77683
At $300 I can't really justify buying one for occasional use

BAR multimeter?

 

[MichaelB]

BAR multimeter?

These are cheap enough, and heck if you want to borrow one there are many around that people would lend out.

I already had one didn't feel like looking hunting it down so just bought another.

 

[PizzaOven]

These are cheap enough, and heck if you want to borrow one there are many around that people would lend out.

I already had one didn't feel like looking hunting it down so just bought another.

I think he means a $$$ multimeter with the proper setting (low impedance) to eliminate ghost readings from induced voltages that show up on cheap meters but are not actually a problem. There isn’t a way to tell if there is current behind them with most meters.

I did some more research, you can also put a resistor in parallel between the two leads which will collapse any ghost readings.

 

[MichaelB]

I think he means a $$$ multimeter with the proper setting (low impedance) to eliminate ghost readings from induced voltages that show up on cheap meters but are not actually a problem. There isn’t a way to tell if there is current behind them with most meters.

I did some more research, you can also put a resistor in parallel between the two leads which will collapse any ghost readings.

Yea it's a possibility maybe mention it at a future bod meeting. Kinda has to make sense. How often would it be needed, normally How big it is cause someone has to store it. That's probably not a concern with a multimeter being smaller in stature.

So I wouldn't rule it out. I don't know enough to understand if this is actually needed above a standard multimeter. @Turkeysammich maybe you understand the difference being mentioned here and would have a opinion? It's honestly a bit over my head.

 

[PizzaOven]

Yea it's a possibility maybe mention it at a future bod meeting. Kinda has to make sense. How often would it be needed, normally How big it is cause someone has to store it. That's probably not a concern with a multimeter being smaller in stature.

So I wouldn't rule it out. I don't know enough to understand if this is actually needed above a standard multimeter. @Turkeysammich maybe you understand the difference being mentioned here and would have a opinion? It's honestly a bit over my head.

Grounding your aquarium while you check with the cheap meter would also collapse ghost readings. Seems like there are a few workarounds even without an expensive multimeter.

edit: grounding would also collapse "real" stray voltages, but if you have a GFCI it would trip letting you know it's real.

 

[Turkeysammich]

Grounding your aquarium while you check with the cheap meter would also collapse ghost readings. Seems like there are a few workarounds even without an expensive multimeter.

edit: grounding would also collapse "real" stray voltages, but if you have a GFCI it would trip letting you know it's real.

Having said that. If you didn’t have a low enough gfci or a ground to the breaker box. The short would have been complete. So when you touched the water or metal on the aquarium. It would shock you. Especially if you didn’t have shoes on. Like 10-15 years ago. There’s a guy that died from this. He had a heart condition and there was a short in his sump. His wife found him. He had passes away with his hand in the sump.