My reefing days may be over...

Coming home after a hard days work and enjoying my fish tank was my favorite things to do. But today was different. When I got home all of my corals were closed up and looking real bad. That's when I knew it was time for some tests. When I stuck my hand into the water I got shocked. First thing I checked was the power heads in the tank. Next the sump was checked. Upon further investigation I discovered that the cord for my Rio 800 (for my Phosban reactor) had been severed from the power head. The bare cord end was flowing freely into the water electrocuting my inhabitants. The fish just look freaked out and all the corals look dead. I have or should I say had ,green star polyps, starry mushrooms, finger leather, some zoo's, an anemone and a few species of snails. I will post updates if anything survives and if I will continue in the hobby. Brandon

 

That's horrible...sorry for your obvious losses. Hopefully something will have survived. Any idea how the severed power cord happened?

 

Sorry to hear that Brandon . Hey dude, cheer up man. Never quit something that you enjoy or brings you joy. Remember what they say, " all work and no play makes jack a dull boy ". I dont understand what could have cut the cord. Do you have kids?

 

I am so sorry. Do you have a grounding probe? How in the hell does the wire get severed? I would contact the company immediately, could be a fault of the product?

 

Ex Girlfriend ? How does a wire just get cut and end up in the tank? Give us an update.

 

Thanks for all the kind words. I live alone and have no possible idea how the wire got severed. All my wires are tucked behind my sump which is behind a wooden frame and the sever point is right where it connects to the power head.To my knowledge there is nothing that lives in the sump. The only thing I know is I will NEVER buy or recommend a RIO pump to anyone ever.

 

Is anything still alive?? What can you salvage? Go get a quick fix pump at Wal-Mart to keep things running?

 

As of now only the fish and anemone look to be alive. The anemone doesn't look good though. I don't need a pump for my tank to keep running because that pump was for a phosban reactor. Only time will tell...

 

Wire had a cracked insulator then the salt got in caused a higher resistance then that caused more heat until the cord burned through . I'd guess it was with in a inch or less of the pumps head ? We had a skimmer pump to do this also , killed a old clam that I'd had with me for yrs .. Thats why when we put this system in I used only one pump and no power heads in there.

 

I took his advice and took all my pump out of the water and run all external pumps now. A grounding probe and Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter would of helped.
Hope everything makes it OK.