innate1 Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Sunday I was doing some tank chores and replaced the light bulb in my clip on light for the sump/fuge. I'm in the kitchen cleaning the skimmer cup when I smell smoke. I run to the tank and see that the light has fallen into the sump. I thought the pj that lived in the sump would be toast but it was fine. A day later and all my sps are toast. Please explain why and how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 The electricity affected them more directly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Sunday I was doing some tank chores and replaced the light bulb in my clip on light for the sump/fuge. I'm in the kitchen cleaning the skimmer cup when I smell smoke. I run to the tank and see that the light has fallen into the sump. I thought the pj that lived in the sump would be toast but it was fine. A day later and all my sps are toast. Please explain why and how. so to be clear, you are asking why your PJ is alive and your SPS is toast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted October 19, 2010 Author Share Posted October 19, 2010 Yessir. It doesn't make sense to me that the pj that close to the current makes it ok and the sps die the next day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Yessir. It doesn't make sense to me that the pj that close to the current makes it ok and the sps die the next day. Could be luck of the draw and it could be that the PJ is a lot more complex organism than the corals, so he can take the stress better. Hmmm...or we could get scientific and say that the current flowed around the PJ since he wasn't touching anything and the current flowed through the SPS since it was attached to your LR, which was touching your tank, which was touching the ground. Kinda like how when a plane get hit by lighting, it isn't a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derekreefer Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Do you have a grounding probe? Just curious to know if it didn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 ozone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 I'm wondering if electrolysis added any metals to your tank? Let us know if you have any problems adding more corals. Seems to me most of the current would have gone from the hot lead in your fixture to the neutral lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Timfish you make an awesome point I don't think many people have ever considered. I'm wondering if there was indeed any sort of transfer. I shoulda though of that years ago when I was researching electroplating. I picked up a chrome plating rig about a year back and have done some work with it. It would certainly be something to consider whether there was any metal transference. I'm not sure what the metal would plate, but it could certainly be in the water column waiting for an anode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxiq Reef Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Idk, but a titanium ground rod would of tripped a breaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acropoorer Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 This is interesting as I had a similar situation 4 years ago. In my case the light was in the water (in the sump) all night and there was clearly plating removed from the reflector. Here's the thing with electricity, current will take the path of least resistance so it is unlikely that current will travel far from the light. Also, the neutral wire is really an insulated ground wire where the Hot wire is an oscillating voltage (110V rms at 60 Hz). I think the voltage swings both positive and negative so the average voltage is 0V. Can't imagine how you could get much, if any current in the tank as a current path would be very resistive through the water hose, into the tank and back to the wires. By the time my tank lighting came on (6 or 8hrs) all my corals were major freaked out, sps were covered in slime. I did major water changes and added anything that could remove heavy metals. Most of my stuff recovered after a month, but all of my stoney coral were affected, especially sps and hammers. None of my fish or soft coral suffered. I thought it was some sort of electroplating, but wasn't sure of what. The wires were copper and the reflector was some sort of light weight alloy like aluminum (the reflector had small holes eaten into it). Then there is the element in the bulb which is probably a tungsten alloy, so maybe the burned up element contaminated the water. Hard to believe a voltage in the tank would cause a problem. Voltage is just a difference in net charge between the the water and ground. Humans quite frequently develop large potentials of several thousand volts and it doesn't harm us. Walk on a carpet and touch a wall sometime. Current through humans though is a very bad thing, a few milli amps passing through your heart can kill you -- say one hand to the other. It disrupts the tiny electrical flow of the nervous system which can stop your heart if the signals are overpowered. So the fish are fine and they have hearts and nervous systems, but corals are affected? I never did figure out what caused my coral to almost die, but I still believe it was contamination from the light and after hearing your story I think maybe the element in the bulb. Controlled experiment anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Controlled experiment anyone? That'd make for a hell of a show for me. We just need someone who is willing to sacrifice their tank and sPS! I'm game (for filming it!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 I nominate you Dear Sir! I know I didn't have the full scale destruction that Don had but I lost all my sps'. It sucks, was expensive, and to tell the truth pretty demoralizing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acropoorer Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 I nominate you Dear Sir! I know I didn't have the full scale destruction that Don had but I lost all my sps'. It sucks, was expensive, and to tell the truth pretty demoralizing. I feel your pain and was certainly not trying to make light of your situation by suggesting a controlled experiment, just drive home the point that I think you are dealing with a contamination issue from the light in the water. Based upon my experience and yours I think you need water changes. Again, please accept my apologies, I don't think there is anything funny about losing any amount of corals (lost plenty of my own stuff and it feels bad). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Acro, he was nominating Mark. We'd all love to watch a Mr. Saltwater episode were Mark nukes his own tank for our pleasure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 Mike's right as usual, my jab wasn't at you Acro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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