ZAP! What to expect?

[barbra]

I did the unthinkable on Saturday and dropped a power strip running two Seio 820's into my tank as I was moving things around. Nothing shorted out, the power kept running and the strip smoked and sizzled in the water until I was able to grab a wooden spoon and pull it out.

Fish, pods, crabs, worms, soft corals, etc. show no damage whatsoever. Most of my hard corals show trouble to varying degrees, but what really took the hit is my purple Acropora. It has completely bleached from base to tips. But it is showing polyp extension this morning though.

What should I expect at this point? Is there any hope for the Acro or is it going to slowly starve without it's Zooxanthellae? Is it suffering and should I put it out of misery or should I ride it out and hope something happens for the best?

[on3ofak1nd]

Well I would at least ride it out... as to whether it is suffering or not I have no idea - however if there is any chance of survival I'd want to give it an opprotunity to live. The Zooxanthellae may re-establish.

[broke1]

It sounds like your tank didn't ground too bad, that's a good thing. Your water actually became part of the current for a brief time. The damage really starts to come when there is a ground and the current actually has a path.

I wouldn't expect much, living things react differently to electricity, but all react poorly to being the link of a source and a ground which I would assume you didn't have.

You are down one powerstrip though.

[tkeracer619]

A gfci and grounding probe would be a good addition to the tank and prevent someone from getting electrocuted. Glad you are ok.

Why didn't you unplug it from the wall when you dropped it in instead of trying to fish it out with a wooden spoon? Sounds very haphazard to me.

[barbra]

One thing I think may have worked in my favor is that my RO/DI system is apparently very good. I just had the stuff tested by a friend who works at a government water quality facility and one of the things he tested was conductivity. He said it was so much lower than he expected that he retested it to be sure of the reading. He said it is WAY better than what his lab considers acceptable to use throught the base. I don't have the readout at hand unfortunately so I can't tell you what it is.

I can say that I am using Mark Levenson's (Melev) system though :)

[tkeracer619]

Salt water is much more conductive than fresh water. The reason you didn't get electrocuted is because there was no connection made by the fish tank and earth via you. Had the floor been damp, you weren't wearing any shoes, and you got grounded you would be burnt, have nerve/brain damage, and/or possibly be dead.

A ground probe and gfci would have turned off the electricity the instant it touched the water.

[barbra]

I understand completely what could have happened. It was a temporary situation while I made some changes only, not standard operating procedure.

I am now dealing with what actually did happen. Theoretically my fish should have suffered the same thing or not? Have I seen the worst of it or do you think my affected animals will continue to decline?

[tkeracer619]

I think you have already seen the worst of it. I would do a small water change incase there is any die off.

[barbra]

Thanks for the advice. My feelings of guilt are substantial. That coral was just minding it's own business and I was supposed to keep it in such a way that harm wouldn't come to it :(

[barbra]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10302246#post10302246 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tkeracer619
Why didn't you unplug it from the wall when you dropped it in instead of trying to fish it out with a wooden spoon? Sounds very haphazard to me.

It took a second to get my druthers about me when I saw the smoking and heard the crackling and assessed my chances of dying if I stayed in the house at all. The plug to that socket is behind the couch and the spoon was only a few feet away. I just grabbed the spoon thinking wood doesn't conduct. Glad I was right on that one :)

[turnburn]

Everything in my tank and anything near it is plugged into a GFI.

Gives me piece of mind.

:rollface:

[RichConley]

Do some big water changes. I'd be worrying about those plugs that were cackling and sizzling. If theyre standard plugs, theres a whole lot of copper in them, and you just put them in saltwater and ran a whole bunch of electricity through them. I'd be more worried about heavy metals than electricity.

Water changes, and some poly-pads.

[barbra]

Got it on the copper. It was exposed on one of the plugs.

[Icefire]

Run some carbon, Arcing could create some compound.

[on3ofak1nd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10302250#post10302250 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barbra
One thing I think may have worked in my favor is that my RO/DI system is apparently very good. I just had the stuff tested by a friend who works at a government water quality facility and one of the things he tested was conductivity. He said it was so much lower than he expected that he retested it to be sure of the reading. He said it is WAY better than what his lab considers acceptable to use throught the base. I don't have the readout at hand unfortunately so I can't tell you what it is.

I can say that I am using Mark Levenson's (Melev) system though :)

Cool to hear that your RO/DI filter is good and not to make an argument here but I'm not sure that actually helped you... your friend tested the freshwater I assume... straight from the RO/DI?

Once it's in your tank its no longer 0 TDS and its full of salt... making it once again very conductive.

Slightly off topic to the thread but in line with this post... my mom bought a $1500 water filter which is supposed to give the purest drinking water EVER... but it tests around 200ppm with my TDS meter. The TDS actually went UP after going through the filter... her tap water is only at 130ppm. I showed her what my $140 RO/DI filter can produce in comparison... I almost felt bad after I told her =\