Tank Disaster

jlyles · 01/17/2008, 12:40 AM

Last night at 2:00am the Coralife powerstrip cauaght fire on my friends 29 gallon reef. He had the strip mounted on the wall in the cabinet and salt creep must have caused a short. He complety blames himself for using one and for putting it in a moist enviorment. He was lucky in the fact that when the tank busted from the heat it put the fire out. He had a 25 gallon sump and fuge so that put a good amount of water on the floor. He took the tank outside while he tried to get the mess manageable. His corals and liverock sat in 38 degree weather for about 2 hours with no water. He only had 5 gal of water mixed and he did finally manage to get the corals in water with a powerhead and I am trying to save them for him. The corals were zoas and rics with a few LPS. The corals did not look good when I got them at 4:00pm and one rock with zoas sat in a 65 degree basement without water because he didnt have room for it. I know its a longshot but i feel I owe it to him to try and save them. He is pretty disgusted and is talking about getting out of the hobby. I will try to get some pictures of the tank and corals when i can. I also wanted to warn people who use a coralife power strip "or other power strips" of the dangers. I know that this has been covered before but maybe one more example will cause people who use them to change their minds.

corals b 4 bills · 01/17/2008, 01:07 AM

Iv'e roasted my share of power strips and heard the scary sound of electricity sizzle that's why I constructed my own 55 outlet Panel with CGFI breakers. My reason was a little different then your friends mine started when my wife was using a razor blade to clean the glass of my tank (which rarely happens) and her elbow touched the light reflector at which point it blew her off the chair she was on, I wasn't about to lose my wife over a fish tank so this is not only a house/tank saver but a life saver as well. Here are pics of my panel. I hope all goes well with your friends corals, good luck.

jlyles · 01/17/2008, 01:18 AM

Thanks, good looking panel

IceWish · 01/17/2008, 06:35 AM

sorry to hear about your friends accident ,good luck with the corals..., zoas are much hardier than we think...there are a few natural reefs where i live and whenever i visit them during low tide, the zoas are always out of the water and in direct sunlight...basically cooking in the sun, sometimes if it rains the zoas get a freshwater bath. When the tide rises the zoas open again like they normally do.....these things are pretty tough...,
(Until someone from reefcentral gets them and in one night they basically all end up dead for some reason or the other)...

The_Browns · 01/17/2008, 07:29 AM

You should always be using GFCI outlets.

jlyles · 01/17/2008, 09:32 AM

Yes, he knows the importance of GFCI outlets and thats one of the reasons he is so disgusted because he knows better. I guess some lessons are learned the hard way. I hope by posting all this it might prevent it happening to someone else. The tank was only about 6 months old and planned on doing away with the power strips and putting everthing but his pump on a GFCI. On a brighter note It looks like all the zoas might make it. Most are opening up, even the ones that were out of water 10 hours. The rics are questionable and the frog spawn and torch are opening up. Its hard to believe they were out of water in air temps in the 30s for 2 hours and could survive.

jjakes24 · 01/17/2008, 09:56 AM

This sort of happened to me but I was in the room when I heard the sizzle and pops from the power strip. I threw that strip out immediately and run a GFCI on the main outlet I use. Now all the powerstrips that are connected to the GFCI are protected by it. No worries now.

miwoodar · 01/17/2008, 10:05 AM

That bites. Saltwater can be dangerous!

Corals4Bills - how did you connect your system to your electricity? Did you hard wire it into the house or do you plug it into the wall?

corals b 4 bills · 01/17/2008, 10:22 AM

On the other side of the tank wall is the garage so hard wiring the tank to the panel was a breeze, I have a lot of time and money in this panel but I think my house and my family is worth it. Here's a scenario lets say your tank over flows and it doesn't trip the breaker right away, you or your wife/kids run with you towards the tank and everyone gets electrocuted, Iv'e said this before, before you invest in that skimmer or lighting upgrade think about losing your house or loved one, happens more then you think, just punch up fire in the RC database and read some examples. read what say under all my posts.

miwoodar · 01/17/2008, 10:39 AM

Woah! That's a sobering search.
Via Google--- fire site:reefcentral.com

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=1

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...postid=6131869

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...postid=6264483

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/pr...62&perpage=587

jlyles · 01/17/2008, 11:34 AM

I think we get a false sense of security sometimes and forget how dangerous this can be. Like you said the most important factor in setting up a tank should be safety! I have taken short cuts in setting up tanks and then corrected them later. I am sure alot of us have. I will never do it again. I am rethinking my current electrial set up because of this. My friend was very lucky in the fact that there was not alot of damage to his house and most important no one was hurt.

K' Family Reef · 01/17/2008, 12:02 PM

have heard people discussing coralife and fire

is it a lite fixture that is causing this or a powerstrip made by this company?

have any lawsuits been filed and is the company still in business?

(not one to go around suing people - but if ever there were grounds for a lawsuit this would be it!)

btw
there are plug in GFCI outlets that can be purchased at homedepot or lowes ETC... they plug right into the wall - then the powerstrips plug into these

designed for commercial construction etc
will detect electricity and water leaks etc etc - have 2 of these on my system - the main return pump is on its own then all the rest of the components/pumps are on another (that way all flow is not lost in the event one of the gfci triggers)...

have been working in the tank once when the gfci was triggered... another time the inlet to fuge was leaking under the stand and some water got on the ballasts - they went off again probably saving a fire as well as saving the ballasts themselves...

so iow they do work
and until someone gets the time/money to get their house rewired or the outlets installed etc etc - then these are the perfect companion... and they only cost about 10bucks!

regards

corals b 4 bills · 01/17/2008, 04:50 PM

Bump for fire prevention

mnmsea · 01/17/2008, 05:24 PM

we had a meltdown this past summer. It was due to salt creep into the T5 bulbs. The fire burned along the top of the tank (the lights) and melted the plastic in the center brace. The flames were 1 foot hight off the tank when my daughter happened to come home (thank god!). All the power was going along merrily...the power strip (plugged into GFI outlets) did not trip and neither did the gfi! I guess the fire had not gotten bad enough??? I had everthing checked by an electrician and all was good.

lesson learned. Keep all electrical outlets away from salt creep. I have plexiglass between my sump and all the wires going behind the tank to the power stirps and the GFI's I got new lights (other ones were cheap and WAY to close to the water). Lights are higher up and well protected from splashes. I do regular maintenance to take care of any salt creep..ANYWHERE!

The problem seems mostly to be with salt creep getting into something electrical. Salt bridge causes the problem with the electricity.....

01/17/2008, 12:40 AM	#1
jlyles Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 51	Tank Disaster Last night at 2:00am the Coralife powerstrip cauaght fire on my friends 29 gallon reef. He had the strip mounted on the wall in the cabinet and salt creep must have caused a short. He complety blames himself for using one and for putting it in a moist enviorment. He was lucky in the fact that when the tank busted from the heat it put the fire out. He had a 25 gallon sump and fuge so that put a good amount of water on the floor. He took the tank outside while he tried to get the mess manageable. His corals and liverock sat in 38 degree weather for about 2 hours with no water. He only had 5 gal of water mixed and he did finally manage to get the corals in water with a powerhead and I am trying to save them for him. The corals were zoas and rics with a few LPS. The corals did not look good when I got them at 4:00pm and one rock with zoas sat in a 65 degree basement without water because he didnt have room for it. I know its a longshot but i feel I owe it to him to try and save them. He is pretty disgusted and is talking about getting out of the hobby. I will try to get some pictures of the tank and corals when i can. I also wanted to warn people who use a coralife power strip "or other power strips" of the dangers. I know that this has been covered before but maybe one more example will cause people who use them to change their minds.

01/17/2008, 01:07 AM	#2
corals b 4 bills Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: San Francisco Bay Area (Belmont). Posts: 2,381	Iv'e roasted my share of power strips and heard the scary sound of electricity sizzle that's why I constructed my own 55 outlet Panel with CGFI breakers. My reason was a little different then your friends mine started when my wife was using a razor blade to clean the glass of my tank (which rarely happens) and her elbow touched the light reflector at which point it blew her off the chair she was on, I wasn't about to lose my wife over a fish tank so this is not only a house/tank saver but a life saver as well. Here are pics of my panel. I hope all goes well with your friends corals, good luck. __________________ Reefkeeper - (ref-ke-per) n: Individual obsessed with placing disturbing amounts of electricity and seawater in close proximity for the purpose of maintaining live coral reef organisms. Current Tank Info: 29 gallon Bio Cube, HQI 150 watt Nanotuner~Vortech MP10W ES~Arctica Chiller~AC II~Tunze Osmolator ATO~ Tunze 9002 skimmer W/In Tank Cup~ Korallin Reactor W/PH Monitor~ Korallin Denitrator~APC Back-up~Phosban/Carbon Reactor.

01/17/2008, 07:29 AM	#5
The_Browns Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Winter Garden, FL Posts: 1,046	You should always be using GFCI outlets. __________________ Mike & Jenn Current Tank Info: 120g DT and 35g frag tank

01/17/2008, 09:32 AM	#6
jlyles Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 51	Yes, he knows the importance of GFCI outlets and thats one of the reasons he is so disgusted because he knows better. I guess some lessons are learned the hard way. I hope by posting all this it might prevent it happening to someone else. The tank was only about 6 months old and planned on doing away with the power strips and putting everthing but his pump on a GFCI. On a brighter note It looks like all the zoas might make it. Most are opening up, even the ones that were out of water 10 hours. The rics are questionable and the frog spawn and torch are opening up. Its hard to believe they were out of water in air temps in the 30s for 2 hours and could survive. Last edited by jlyles; 01/17/2008 at 10:05 AM.

01/17/2008, 10:05 AM	#8
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	That bites. Saltwater can be dangerous! Corals4Bills - how did you connect your system to your electricity? Did you hard wire it into the house or do you plug it into the wall? __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

01/17/2008, 01:18 AM	#3
jlyles Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 51	Thanks, good looking panel

01/17/2008, 06:35 AM	#4
IceWish Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Main Tank Fingering Frags Posts: 117	sorry to hear about your friends accident ,good luck with the corals..., zoas are much hardier than we think...there are a few natural reefs where i live and whenever i visit them during low tide, the zoas are always out of the water and in direct sunlight...basically cooking in the sun, sometimes if it rains the zoas get a freshwater bath. When the tide rises the zoas open again like they normally do.....these things are pretty tough..., (Until someone from reefcentral gets them and in one night they basically all end up dead for some reason or the other)...

01/17/2008, 09:56 AM	#7
jjakes24 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Philly, PA Posts: 347	This sort of happened to me but I was in the room when I heard the sizzle and pops from the power strip. I threw that strip out immediately and run a GFCI on the main outlet I use. Now all the powerstrips that are connected to the GFCI are protected by it. No worries now.

01/17/2008, 10:22 AM	#9
corals b 4 bills Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: San Francisco Bay Area (Belmont). Posts: 2,381	On the other side of the tank wall is the garage so hard wiring the tank to the panel was a breeze, I have a lot of time and money in this panel but I think my house and my family is worth it. Here's a scenario lets say your tank over flows and it doesn't trip the breaker right away, you or your wife/kids run with you towards the tank and everyone gets electrocuted, Iv'e said this before, before you invest in that skimmer or lighting upgrade think about losing your house or loved one, happens more then you think, just punch up fire in the RC database and read some examples. read what say under all my posts. __________________ Reefkeeper - (ref-ke-per) n: Individual obsessed with placing disturbing amounts of electricity and seawater in close proximity for the purpose of maintaining live coral reef organisms. Current Tank Info: 29 gallon Bio Cube, HQI 150 watt Nanotuner~Vortech MP10W ES~Arctica Chiller~AC II~Tunze Osmolator ATO~ Tunze 9002 skimmer W/In Tank Cup~ Korallin Reactor W/PH Monitor~ Korallin Denitrator~APC Back-up~Phosban/Carbon Reactor.

01/17/2008, 10:39 AM	#10
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	Woah! That's a sobering search. Via Google--- fire site:reefcentral.com http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=1 http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...postid=6131869 http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...postid=6264483 http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/pr...62&perpage=587 __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

01/17/2008, 11:34 AM	#11
jlyles Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 51	I think we get a false sense of security sometimes and forget how dangerous this can be. Like you said the most important factor in setting up a tank should be safety! I have taken short cuts in setting up tanks and then corrected them later. I am sure alot of us have. I will never do it again. I am rethinking my current electrial set up because of this. My friend was very lucky in the fact that there was not alot of damage to his house and most important no one was hurt.

01/17/2008, 12:02 PM	#12
K' Family Reef Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1,966	have heard people discussing coralife and fire is it a lite fixture that is causing this or a powerstrip made by this company? have any lawsuits been filed and is the company still in business? (not one to go around suing people - but if ever there were grounds for a lawsuit this would be it!) btw there are plug in GFCI outlets that can be purchased at homedepot or lowes ETC... they plug right into the wall - then the powerstrips plug into these designed for commercial construction etc will detect electricity and water leaks etc etc - have 2 of these on my system - the main return pump is on its own then all the rest of the components/pumps are on another (that way all flow is not lost in the event one of the gfci triggers)... have been working in the tank once when the gfci was triggered... another time the inlet to fuge was leaking under the stand and some water got on the ballasts - they went off again probably saving a fire as well as saving the ballasts themselves... so iow they do work and until someone gets the time/money to get their house rewired or the outlets installed etc etc - then these are the perfect companion... and they only cost about 10bucks! regards

01/17/2008, 04:50 PM	#13
corals b 4 bills Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: San Francisco Bay Area (Belmont). Posts: 2,381	Bump for fire prevention __________________ Reefkeeper - (ref-ke-per) n: Individual obsessed with placing disturbing amounts of electricity and seawater in close proximity for the purpose of maintaining live coral reef organisms. Current Tank Info: 29 gallon Bio Cube, HQI 150 watt Nanotuner~Vortech MP10W ES~Arctica Chiller~AC II~Tunze Osmolator ATO~ Tunze 9002 skimmer W/In Tank Cup~ Korallin Reactor W/PH Monitor~ Korallin Denitrator~APC Back-up~Phosban/Carbon Reactor.

01/17/2008, 05:24 PM	#14
mnmsea Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Connecticut Posts: 88	we had a meltdown this past summer. It was due to salt creep into the T5 bulbs. The fire burned along the top of the tank (the lights) and melted the plastic in the center brace. The flames were 1 foot hight off the tank when my daughter happened to come home (thank god!). All the power was going along merrily...the power strip (plugged into GFI outlets) did not trip and neither did the gfi! I guess the fire had not gotten bad enough??? I had everthing checked by an electrician and all was good. lesson learned. Keep all electrical outlets away from salt creep. I have plexiglass between my sump and all the wires going behind the tank to the power stirps and the GFI's I got new lights (other ones were cheap and WAY to close to the water). Lights are higher up and well protected from splashes. I do regular maintenance to take care of any salt creep..ANYWHERE! The problem seems mostly to be with salt creep getting into something electrical. Salt bridge causes the problem with the electricity.....