Hey guys and gals, I was just browsing through Big Al's and found THIS grounding probe. I havn't heard of this before, and am wondering what the normal benefit is?

I did have an "incident" a while ago that it may have been useful for, in which my heater on the 10g feeder sprung a leak and basically blew up from the electrical short... if my hand would have been in the tank at the time I'd be in big trouble... and if it was connected to ground via cable, then it would have blown the GFCI (which never blew) and would take that path instead of electrocuting someone.

On the down-side, if lightning strikes near the grounding spot or the electrical line, then the surge will come up through ground and electrify the tank. So I'm on the fence on this one wether or not it would be benefitial... anyone know?

Their available at my LFS, too. They are more expensive here, but since it's on sale it's cheaper now. Shipping may be more, though. Anyway, here's the link.I see no use for them. Really, what are the chances of a heater blowing as you have your hand in the tank? The chances of your house being hit by lightening and getting your fish are probably more likley. Anywho, just my thought. Could the fish be hurt, though. Technically their not grounded, and just floating in water.


-Stu

I googled "benefit of aquarium ground probe" and read a few resulting articles that were not advertisements for a ground probe. I noted that the focus seemed to be on the use of probes for saltwater tanks, due to the saltwater being a conductor. I also read where folks use the probes to purposely create an electrical field in the tank.

Next, I googled "titanium ground probe" and it seems that it is more beneificial to have the aquarium equipment connected to a working GFCI circuit to break the voltage in case of a problem. I believe that is the better solution. Considering how code (at least where I live) requires a GFCI outlet near a water source such as the kitchen or bath sinks or in the laundry area for safety, it makes sense.

So would the probe be an alternative for not having a GFCI outlet conveniently located near the tank? Would it not make more sense to have the outlets rewired? I have broken a heater tube while positioning items in the tank. I happened to have the heater disconnected and no fish were in the tank at the time, so no zap. It could have happened though, had I already had the tank set up and decided to move things around afterward.

Well, in my house, every outlet is connected through a GFCI, but the GFCI did not blow when the heater blew up, instead it was the breaker box that blew because it was pulling more than 20 amps. GFCI circuits will only blow when the voltage in doesn't match the voltage out (aka, when an appliance or something is losing voltage to ground)... which, you can be electrocuted without it losing voltage to the ground. So I guess the benefit would be that it would cause a GFCI to blow if you have an active short.

Dang, so what then...? Ground the tank, use GFCI, where rubber gloves, stand on a rubber mat whilst wearing rubber soled shoes.. :lol: