Electrical current and my fish......

[rift-n-reef]

Simply enough, the pump for my protien skimmer malfunctioned, and actually melted the casing. In turn, water was freely getting into the housing, and tripping my breaker on my home electrical panel. I of course, had to do this several times before I concluded it was my skimmer pump that was responsible. I was wondering what effect that could have on my fish. I know that the fish and wildlife service "shocks" some of the local water ways, but I'm not sure what kind of voltage is involved, and what the purpose is. I would think that at the the very least having the snot shocked out of ya 15 times would be a bit stressful, but they seem no worse for wear, and this was about a month ago....I was just wondering if they even felt it?


"J"

[frosty]

My guess is that it would be similiar to being close to a lightning strike. The fish arent grounded so unless one of the fish was touching it when it happened they should be fine. It probably confused the fishes senses for a second, wouldnt be suprised if they were running into things. Other than that my bet is most of them didnt even feel it.

[OrionGirl]

Just to address the shocking done by fish biologists: Shocking is done with a battery and two probes--one that's putting the current in, and a ground. The shock knocks the fish out, and they float to the surface. Most recovery quickly, and are fine. Burns can result if a fish is actually in between the lines, but this seldom happens. Shocking is one of the best methods for population sampling--non-lethal, easily done with 2-3 people, and cheap.

So, if your fish didn't float, they didn't get a big zap. Stray electricity may cause other problems, though--it's suspected in contributing to HITH and HLLE. This is mostly when there is always a low lelve of current in the tank, though.

Can I guess that this was a Rio?

[mogurnda]

For my own safety, I have a grounding probe in the tank. They are commercially available, or you can make one with a titanium bike spoke, wire and a banana plug. Current will go to ground via the probe rather than through you.

[rift-n-reef]

Come to think of it....I do have a ground probe in the tank. Geuss its a mute point now then huh? As for the brand of pump, it was a CAP 1800. It came with the skimmer, and lasted around a year before this meltdown. I'm kinda of wondering if something I did may of cause it. I cleand the pump and skimmer thoroughly a day or two before it happnened. Not sure if perhaps I may of yanked on the power cord causing a slow leak or something.. Hard to say I guess. Good thing I have a good breaker on that circuit huh?? Just a note to other hobbyist that may not of thought of it, Its a good idea to put a GFCI breaker (not outlet, but breaker installed in your homes electrical panel) on the circuit that powers your fishroom, or fish tank for those a bit less hard core. It may seem a bit pricey for the breaker, but its a safety measure I feel is well worth it.


"J"