Using ground probes in aquariums

[wil-yuhm]

I wonder how that idiot would feel if he was water boarded to circulatory failure and then revived with a bare lamp cord... good grief what is wrong with people.

I agree.

 

[Steve Zee]

Yeah - can't have nuisance trips on life-safety devices. Whole different ball of wax in an ER or ICU.

Exactly! It also doesn’t help that human body is much more conductive on the inside. Maybe the surgeon should just place a grounding probe next to the kidneys when operating. Lol!

 

[wil-yuhm]

In fresh water - a grounded probe is out of questions. If you get fields in freshwater - the current will go through the body of the fish because the conductivity is higher than the surrounding water - electrofishing. In saltwater - the water have much higher conductivity than the body - the current gooses outside the body - no harm to the fish.

Sincerely Lasse

Pertinent I hope. Effects of electricity on fish. Sometimes electrofishing methods are used to clear schools of undesirable fish:

 

[gbroadbridge]

Pertinent I hope. Effects of electricity on fish. Sometimes electrofishing methods are used to clear schools of undesirable fish:

Dinner kids!

 

[wil-yuhm]

I think BeanAnimal covered the question perfectly. A simplified way to look at it is the "the bird on a wire" scenario. Very hard for the bird to ground itself when so far away. When a grounded source (opportunity to ground) is placed in near proximity then it becomes more dangerous for you. The good news is that a GFCI will protect you if you have a grounding probe. That's why it's especially imperative to have a GFCI with a grounding probe.

Couldn't resist:



This trick was patented by ®Tesla!
GE disagrees!

 

[wil-yuhm]

Exactly! It also doesn’t help that human body is much more conductive on the inside. Maybe the surgeon should just place a grounding probe next to the kidneys when operating. Lol!

Kinda funny until ECT therapy.
Everything was made funny thereafter!

 

[Lasse]

I have been electrofishing in small streams - I know how its feel when a 1 kg rainbow trout hit your shoulder when its try to escape the field. But in saltwater - its another question. It needs be very high fields - so high that you do not get it with aquarium equipment's.

But for me - is a non important question because I have only one high voltage AC (240 V) piece of equipment in my aquarium (or near) Everything else is 12V - 24 V DC. The 240 V device is a titanium heater and its grounded by construction. DC equipment often "leak" very low fields and you can get an initiating "itch" if you put your hands into the aquarium - no danger but not so pleasant. After connected my titan probe to a grounded socket - these small fields disappear. A grounded titan heater (and it SHOULD be grounded) act as ground probe!

Sincerely Lasse