Grounding Probes
A popular ‘solution’ is to drop a grounding probe in the water, and place the other end on a metal water pipe or a grounded electrical outlet. Sounds logical, right? Wrong. All that is being accomplished is providing a path for electrical current to flow through. The underlying problem hasn’t been solved at all.
Ever wonder why birds sitting on a power line aren’t electrocuted? It’s because the current is flowing through the wire, not the bird. Now if that little birdie were to put one of his feet on another power line there would be a new path for the current. The new path goes from one wire to the other wire through the birdie, frying him to a nice golden brown.
Let’s say a piece of equipment in the tank is faulty. There is electricity, but no path for the current to flow through…yet. Place a ground probe in the tank and slap the other end on a pipe, and now the current has a path. The current will flow from the problem piece of equipment through the water to the probe and out to the pipe.
Thanks to that marvelous grounding probe, the fish are now being subjected to electrical current. Sure you may be less likely to get a shock if you stick your finger in the water, but the underlying problem (faulty equipment) hasn’t been fixed.
Cure is Prevention
The best cure is to prevent the problem from happening in the first place. Here are some simple steps to prevent shocks.
- Before doing maintenance on your aquarium, turn the power off.
- Check equipment regularly for cracks, frayed wires, or broken bulbs, and repair or replace as needed.
- If equipment goes bad (i.e.: a heater breaks), shut off electricity to the tank before taking action.
- Plug equipment into GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter).
- Use a drip loop to ensure water doesn’t travel to electrical outlets.
- Don’t lay power strips below the tank – mount them on the wall above the water level.
- Make sure the floor is dry, and wear rubber soled shoes when working on the aquarium.
