O.K. I did a really dumb thing...

[Damsel13]

I have all my powerheads and return pump from my mini-sump, my heater and my main skimmer pump all on one powerstrip which I turn off when feeding mysis/spirolina stuffed brine or just any major feast for fish.

Last evening after feeding I FORGOT to turn that powerstrip back on! There is an airstone that runs on a different plug that sends a tiny bit of water through the system (well oxygenated at that).

This morning I woke up and found my coral beauty (see any eye candy for a before picture) breathing heavily and laying on her side in the corner of my tank. I was appalled when I realized what I had done. Did a quick quarentine with airstone and tankwater and she came around in about 20 minutes.

Well things are up and running after a 5% waterchange (all I had). And she is swimming but hiding mostly. Still touch and go. I feel awful. I hope she makes a full recovery. Most everything was off for over 14 hours. Thank goodness that airstone was still going. The other fish just seem a bit skitish and the anemone BTA looks slow to extend but is. So I am cautiously hopeful.

Thanks for reading in advance,

 

[Curtswearing]

Deb,

I'm glad you caught it when you did. That would have been horrible.

You mentioned powerstrip so I have a couple of questions just for safety.

1: Do you have a drip loop and is it mounted somewhere where water won't get to it?

2: Is the powerstrip plastic?

3: Have you added up the wattage of everything plugged into it to make sure you're not exceeding the capability of the strip.

Here's why.....

I had a fire due to an arcing fault on an el-cheapo powerstrip years ago. (Details are here http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4483&highlight=fire+yikes ) I thought I had done everything correctly. I had drip-loops, I wasn't exceeding the parameters of the powerstrip, etc. However, it turns out that el-cheapo's are notorious for catching fire if there is a constant draw (think pumps, heaters). This is not limited to Home Depot plastic powerstrips. This one is actually marketed directly to the hobby. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=584645

After my fire, I immediately went out and bought these.

Here is the offending Home Depot powerstrip.

Look at the insides of this cheap powerstrip and compare it to the insides of a quality powerstrip.

First off....I'm NOT AN ELECTRICIAN and I'm sure I'm describing this wrong. However, what some firemen and electricians explained to me is that when you use a cheap powerstrip that just operates by using three thin copper strips and you are plugging in something with a constant draw, you are at risk for an arcing fault. This could be a pump, it could be a clock radio, a computer that is left running 24/7, etc. Apparently what happens is an oxidation occurs over time preventing current from flowing. When that happens in el-cheapo powerstrips, the current jumps (arcs) over the oxidation to an area where there is no oxidation. Eventually, this arcing causes the plastic to catch fire.

I was lucky to have insomnia that night. I hadn't changed the batteries in my downstairs smoke detector so it didn't go off. The only reason I investigated was because my lights were flickering. This fire actually cost me a small fortune because I had to spray every single surface in my basement with Kilz (not cheap) and repaint to get rid of the nasty smell. I also lost some livestock. Wiring my tank properly would have been much cheaper.

Quality powerstrips are worth it. In fact, after the fire, I went to GFCI outlets on a AFCI (Arc-Fault) circuit breaker. Truth be told, I had all of the supplies sitting right there for a professional wiring job. An electrician friend of mine was going to do the wiring job for free within the next two weeks.

 

[Damsel13]

I will be studying all the info you presented very carefully as I know I have cheap powerstrips and therefore am on borrowed time. I do have drip loops but not well designed ones so that will have to be addressed as well. Thanks for the great pictures and link. As I said I will definatly be taking advantage of your past fire and losses.

Thanks so much for the time to answer.

 

[Damsel13]

My Coral Beauty survived my dumb mistake as did the BTA. They look good and are eating. All other fish are back to their old selves. Whew!

 

[Curtswearing]

Glad to hear it Deb!!!

 

[morgan]

holy crap curt thats sum scary ****e

 

[theJ]

yea, im scared now. I have a coralife strip with a digital timer. I havent opened it up yet, but I would put money on the fact it looks like that home depot one on the inside... GEEZ.

 

[DonW]

I'd concider a feeding timer so it doesnt happen again.


Don

 

[Damsel13]

Don actually I got one actually the first one I got I really liked but had to take back to Petsmart and the other ones that were the same model didn't work either. Someone one here recommened that model and I think that store just had a couple that didn't work that they put back on the shelf :evil: . So I got a different one but it is too tall to fit under my canopy with the lights. I can have it feed into the return pump area but I need to play around with it or return it and get another.

After this incident and what Curt posted in this thread I will need to rethink some things for sure.
:doubt:

Thanks,

 

[DonW]

Don actually I got one actually the first one I got I really liked but had to take back to Petsmart and the other ones that were the same model didn't work either. Someone one here recommened that model and I think that store just had a couple that didn't work that they put back on the shelf :evil: . So I got a different one but it is too tall to fit under my canopy with the lights. I can have it feed into the return pump area but I need to play around with it or return it and get another.

After this incident and what Curt posted in this thread I will need to rethink some things for sure.
:doubt:

Thanks,

Not auto feeder, a feeding timer. A feeding timer will shut down what ever it is you need to, like your skimmer and turn back on by itself after a preset time.

Don

 

[Damsel13]

Ohhhhhh, O.K. . Never heard of that except on high end light fixtures.