help i think i eletrocuted my coral

[watson0720]

not sure how or when but, last night everything was fine. this morning i put my fingers in the tank to feed and got shocked. i unplugged everything except for the pump and the lights, and the shocking stopped, so i narrowed it down to the skimmer pump, how it happened i dont know but anyway, none of my zoa's are open, my clam is closed, and my anthiala is all laying on its side. and my kenya tree isn't open or my gorgonian. all the fish are swimming around fine, and my gsp is opening back up. what can i do, did i kill everything. has anybody else had this happen what do i do

[hobogato]

give it time, they will probably be ok. if you arent already, you want to run some carbon. if the pump that was leaking current released some toxins, that will help.

[cpreefguy]

Yeah, I think they should be fine

[mathias]

they have a ground probe you can buy to put in your sump.... a good idea for anyone...

[Bill S]

Ground probe is a good idea. I did some tests on my 215, and EVERY pump puts out a little bit of voltage. I was getting something like 13v - at low amperage - in my tank!

[watson0720]

where can i pick up one of those ground probes

[cpreefguy]

premiumaquatics.com, or a LFS might have one

[emilbus]

how bad was the shock?

[watson0720]

well it was bad enough to me that i didn't keep my finger in the tank if you know what i mean

[emilbus]

the way im taking is like grabing an electric fence

[alton]

Only use pumps that contain a grounding prong.

[Jeff]

if you have any chlorine remover add it, when electricity is passed through salt water it creats chlorine from what i have been told

[Instar]

An electric current is most likely to affect the fish first, invertibrates last. The more advanced animals with a central nervous system that are closest to the source are the most affected normally. Corals can close up for protection when things aren't going their way. If the fish are fine, the corals should be fine when you have everything corrected. The recommendation for carbon is always a good idea in such cases as stress can cause a release of toxins from some animals. I would look for more documentation on the chlorine removal idea. Cl- must be present to balance other major ions in solution in sea water and turning it into a powerful oxidizer with a little stray voltage in a tank seems to me to be unlikely.

[Bill S]

Even pumps with grounding plugs put out voltage... I think it's from the magnetic fields in the motors. Each seems to put out 1 volt or so. Very strange - even the external ones. But, until you get your flow up around mine at around 10,000 gph, it's not enough to notice.

[alton]

That would be induced voltage. Lighting in your open hoods produce the same induced voltage. That is what a grounding probe is good for. If you have a pump leaking voltage into your tank please replace it don't add a grounding probe and think the problem is solved. I am writing an article about this now, but I am waiting on a couple test before I release my findings.

[caferacermike]

Funny, I mentioned that once before about the pumps and stray voltage. I was told I was wrong.