58 Oceanic Rebuild

[Timmy]

Very nice. Did you ever build caves with eggcrate or was that someone else?

[jakecaps]

Originally Posted by Timmy

Very nice. Did you ever build caves with eggcrate or was that someone else?

Yeah I did build a background with some caves in it. the whole left side has 3 different caves and is constructed from and eggcrate frame with rock zip-tied to it and foamed with great stuff gap filler foam.

[Fat Tony]

Impressive... i'm shocked at the pics compared to 3-4 weeks ago..good job

[jakecaps]

Originally Posted by Fat Tony

Impressive... i'm shocked at the pics compared to 3-4 weeks ago..good job

Thanks Tony

[jakecaps]

Got all new bulbs for my lights! 2 14k 250w SE Hamilton Teck bulbs and Giesemann T-5s. 2 power Chrome pure actinic, 1 actinic+, and 1 aquablue+. I like the combo looks very natural with good color. I would like a more blue to the MH, although the 14k is very crisp. I have never used 20k mhs before and have been wanting to but I think I will wait till I have a little more growth on my corals.

Everything seems to be doing very well. no problems with anything. Got a new Finnex digital heater with temp contrtols and shutoff, and a new ground probe(that doesnt seem to be doing $h!^).

[aquawolf]

The new bulbs sound great, but your last statement has me a little concerned. Are you getting shocked?

[jakecaps]

I am getting a small shock, a little stray voltage I'm guessing. Its an old apartment so Im not sure what the deal is. Im not sure how well the entire house is grounded. Im pretty sure I have the ground probe installed correctly. Any advice?

[aquawolf]

I personally do not want to ever be shocked by my tank because it may only take 1 time for it to be the last. The grounding probe should be under water and plugged in that is all. You will need to check each of your pieces of equipment. I would start with the heater as they can be notorious for throwing out stray voltage as they get older and are possibly getting close to failing. Unplug it and stick your hand in and see if you still get bit. Of course it would be safer to use a voltmeter if you had one.

Also, do you get shocked in the display tank, sump, or both? If only one then that may help you narrow it down and you may actually need 2 probes.

I have also read that a small amount of stray current is normal at times and that it may actually benefit some corals. I know there was at least 1 person experimenting with adding voltage to the water column to test growth results. I do not know how that experiment ended or even if it ended. In the long run I feel it is much better to be safe than sorry, or possibly dead.

Best of luck getting it sorted out.

[jakecaps]

Looks like It was My Coralife Superskimmer 125. Go figure the only thing I never splurged on for equipment is the one thing messing with me. Also that may be because of my house electrical, which didn't ground anything if its bad. I kind of think that was the case. I did get a good ground out of my radiator next to my reef tank that grounded it perfectly! If there is a problem with that let me know, Ill look for a new ground, but know I could be standing in a puddle and have my hand in the tank and nothing! Good deal. Thanks Wolf for helping me narrow things down.

[aquawolf]

Glad to hear you got it sorted out and are not getting shocked anymore.