Earthing an aquarium

[steven0161]

Hi, i have a marine aquarium and i would like to earth it just in case it kills me or one of my family.

i have brought some titanium wire (so it doesnt rust), i take it i should wire this to the earth pin of the plug and stick the other end in the tank ?

should i remove the fuse, or the actual pins for live & neutral ?

also i have another tank below the main tank, but the two are connected with pumps, should i earth both tanks ?

 

[breezer]

you cant earth the water, you will cause more harm than good if you try

 

[Steve]

connect the lot to an RCD, this will protect your family sufficiently.

 

[steven0161]

Thanks for the quick reply, could i ask why its dangerous, i only ask as i know several people who say they have done this and would like to explain why they might want to consider removing it. i do use rcds for everything around the tank already but heard that earthing the tank was a "best practice"

 

[towman]

I think it's actually done to protect the "livestock" from microvoltages - possibly from static build-up? I believe marine fish are sensitive to this? You might be best off looking on one of the marine fishkeeping sites to see if anyone has any more info there.

 

[steven0161]

Hi, yes thats what ive been told, i got the info from a marine forum, but am confused now as to what to do. i dont want to kill my fish with stray voltage, and i dont want to risk my family either, is it really dangerous to earth the tank ?

 

[towman]

I'm not an electrical expert - but what I'd suggest is either attaching to a suitable earth rod buried in the ground outside or , as it's microvoltages how about attaching your titanium earthing wire to an antistatic earthing strap and plug - the plug will only have the earthing pin - the Live and neutral pins are plastic . Someone else on here may be able to comment on this suggestion - it may not be suitable?

 

[JohnD]

Don't you have electric pumps and heaters?

Do any of these have metal in contact with the water?

 

[steven0161]

Cheers towman that sounds like a good idea, does anyone see that as being dangerous ?

johnd, yes i do have heaters and pumps etc, but afaik no metal is in contact with the water, most metals are quite dangerous to many marine animals and rust quite quickly in salt water.

 

[Steve]

shoving an earth wire in the water is no good if the earth wire is at a potential anyway! Many times, the earth available in a house is not clean and fluctuates.

Do you have a 30mA RCD at the main fuse box / consumer unit? If so, there is no benefit whatsoever of having more RCDs protecting individual appliances.

I have never heard of static build up in an aquarium, and certainly would never expect any aquairium equipment to induce a voltage in the water.

 

[kendor]

stick a scope on the earth wire and see all the nasties(noise) contained within, if microvolts are harmful to your fish i'd stay well clear of the earthing system with your tank
your wire should be acting as a pretty good antenna introducing your fish to the "sound of the underground" (cabling).

 

[breezer]

other side of the coin is suppuse you get a spike up the earth?

 

[Spark123]

Apart from converting your whole installation to TT it is not advisable to have an earth electrode run into the equipotential zone of the house as it can be at a different potential to the house earth system which poses a risk to you and your family.

 

[steven0161]

Thanks all for the help, guess i'll stick to regular servicing/replacement of the equpment in and around the tank.

Thanks again