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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Safety when performing maintenance?

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21 Jun 2007 16:04 #1 by KenS (Ken Simpson)
Just wondering how many of you disconnect your heater and filter from the mains before putting your hand in the tank. I do it when I remember, but not always. I guess it's pretty dangerous if a heater shorts.

If I don't turn up at the next LFKS meeting, you'll know what happened :shock:

Regards,

Ken.

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21 Jun 2007 16:08 #2 by Acara (Dave Walters)
I ticked sometimes,I now do it all the time,but until very recently,only did it occasionally.

always on the lookout for interesting corys.pm me if you know off any!

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21 Jun 2007 16:10 #3 by Didihno (Didihno)
Replied by Didihno (Didihno) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?
I didn't tick anything because I never disconnect my heaters.
But I do disconnect my internal filters, especially when its time to wash them out.

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21 Jun 2007 16:20 #4 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?
I never do it. Only when doing a w/c.

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21 Jun 2007 16:38 #5 by Didihno (Didihno)
Replied by Didihno (Didihno) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?

I never do it. Only when doing a w/c.

You never do it or you do do it?
Is doing a w/c not what KenS was refering to?
(not critisizing just curious!!!)
See I tend to do the whole lot together.
Substrate vac/water change/ filter clean.

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21 Jun 2007 16:40 #6 by Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
Have never done it, wouldn't know where to find the plug for most of the tanks :(

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21 Jun 2007 16:42 #7 by richardbunn (Richard Bunn)
I ticked never coz the only time I do switch anything off is when I do a waterchange. That's once every 6 months.

Each time I have my hands in tanks trimming plants back & replanting cuttings I leave everything on.

My my, aren't we all turning out to be very bad with the old H & S.

"Everything's going perfectly in my aquarium. What do I do???"

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21 Jun 2007 16:44 #8 by Didihno (Didihno)
Replied by Didihno (Didihno) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?
What exactly is the risk?

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21 Jun 2007 16:59 #9 by goldy (goldy .)
I ticked always. But I only turn them off when I am doing a water change eand not every time I put my hand into the tank. I think I misunderstood. I never turn them off when hands are in the tank for normal stuff like trimming plants etc

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21 Jun 2007 18:16 #10 by KenS (Ken Simpson)
I always do it for water changes, but rarely for anything else. I regularly get up to my armpits in water priuning my plants (as I did tonight).

I think the risk is pretty minimal, but in theory, if the heater or filter shorts out, you could get current flowing through the water. Sticking your hand in then could be nasty. However, I've never heard of hit happening.

If anyone dies as a result of a short, could they please ensure that their next of kin post a message on the forum? Then the rest of us will then start taking precautions.

Regards,

Ken.

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22 Jun 2007 01:35 #11 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?
get one of those safety trip switches like the ones they use in ponds. The name doesn't come to mind but most of you will know what I am waffling on about. And if somebody knows the correct name feel free to post it

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22 Jun 2007 02:06 #12 by Peter OB (Peter O'Brien)
Water is a poor conductor of electricity anyway, i'd imagine my trip switches would kick in to save me!!!!! :P :P :P :? :? :? I hope..........................

Smoke me a Kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast.

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22 Jun 2007 03:12 #13 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?
Not that poor in marine or rift valley set-ups. Plenty enough to kill you anyway

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22 Jun 2007 04:09 #14 by Sean (Fr. Jack)
Much less risk if you use your right hand as your heart is on your left.

That would be a ecumenical matter!!!

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22 Jun 2007 04:14 #15 by ChrisM (ChrisM)
Replied by ChrisM (ChrisM) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?
Just to let people know just how risky it is mixing water and electricity here is a table I compiled during some of my research (on Electrical Stimulation of muscles).If you take one message from this let it be that disrespect electricity and your dead already!


Amps Effects
1 Severe Burns
.3-.4 Breathing Stops
.1-.2 Death
0.05 – 0.07 Severe Shock
.03 -.05 Muscle Paralysis
.01 - .02 Pain
0.010 Mild Sensation
.007 - .0096 Slendertone Belt
.001 Threshold sensation
Table 1: Electrical current versus risk to human subject [2]

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22 Jun 2007 04:33 #16 by richardbunn (Richard Bunn)

get one of those safety trip switches like the ones they use in ponds. The name doesn't come to mind but most of you will know what I am waffling on about. And if somebody knows the correct name feel free to post it


They're called Residual Circuit Breakers. RCD's.

I don't have one, I have a surge protector instead to stop any possible lighening strikes from blowing my equipment & costing me a fortune.

"Everything's going perfectly in my aquarium. What do I do???"

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22 Jun 2007 05:03 #17 by Didihno (Didihno)
Replied by Didihno (Didihno) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?
They are called 'Residual Current Devices' actually!!!
But thats not important right now.

Anyhoo, your main 'fuseboard' should have one fitted to protect all the circuits, if you don't have one, get one.

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22 Jun 2007 05:25 #18 by JohnH (John)
For what it's worth I have had both a powerhead blow in the water, likewise a heater had the glass broken by an over-amourous pair of large catfish,,,both some years ago - I saw the powerhead blow, it was quite stunning!

On both occasions I was fortunate not to have had any part of myself in the water and all that happened was that the plug fuse blew, cutting off the electricity supply immediately.

It might be worth mentioning that you do make certain you have the recommended fuse values in your different fish-accessories plugs. This is very important and cannot be overstressed.
:idea: :idea: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.

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22 Jun 2007 06:12 #19 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?
Well Chris, if somebody wants to knock a fishkeeper off, you just published the way to do it :twisted:
All jokes aside, a friend of mine ad a powerhead that was leaking a small current and you could feel a tingling sensation when you put your hand into the tank.

By the way electric chairs use about 2.5 amp and you could easily gat that in a tank

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22 Jun 2007 08:01 #20 by monty (monty)
I said sometimes, as I only do it when doing water changes. In that case it's always the heater as I have a Juwel and the dropping water level will expose it.

I have an RCD on the sockets which will trip if anything goes wrong - hopefully saving me and the fish. However I take them off when going on vacation as you have to physically reset them if there is a power outage.

monty

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22 Jun 2007 10:06 #21 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?

I never do it. Only when doing a w/c.

You never do it or you do do it?
Is doing a w/c not what KenS was refering to?
(not critisizing just curious!!!)
See I tend to do the whole lot together.
Substrate vac/water change/ filter clean.


If you read the question Ken never asked about water changes..

Do you disconnect your filter and heater before putting your hand in the tank?

Some of us don`t just get our hands wet when doing a w/c.

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22 Jun 2007 12:07 #22 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
i always unplug my heathers more as i don't want them to burn out :!: the filters would only be when i clean them but if i have to do some thing in the tank yes i will unplug them but my tanks connect to power with a surge control :!: :!: :!: :!: and i always make sure i am not earthed rubber soles (well mostly) butting totally honest any precautions i take is more to protect my little friends :P :oops: :P

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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22 Jun 2007 17:00 #23 by koinonia (koinonia)
only when doing a water change but its a good point...electricity and water dont mix well and are liable to see you joining your fish in fishie heaven.

But wouldnt the fish die as well and probably sooner if there was even the slightest current in the water?

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22 Jun 2007 17:38 #24 by steven (steven)
About 2 years ago had a few convict fry in a 60 litre went to fix a heater that came loose and the fry were all dead little did i know the heater was cracked and put my hand in the tank and got a fair whack off the water ever since then i plug everything out including the lights just incase.

Treat every day like your last, some day it will be??

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22 Jun 2007 17:39 #25 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
koinonia
i would agree that the fish might die first but a lot of fish can sense electric fields and then there are those that produce their own so i would not rely on that

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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23 Jun 2007 03:25 #26 by koinonia (koinonia)

koinonia
i would agree that the fish might die first but a lot of fish can sense electric fields and then there are those that produce their own so i would not rely on that


hands up who has an electric eel in their tank :P as for the rest ..they have no where to escape the electric fields

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23 Jun 2007 03:30 #27 by Mr Algae (mralgae mralgae)


But wouldnt the fish die as well and probably sooner if there was even the slightest current in the water?


i would have thought the same thing. i only turn filter off to clean it.

being hso in work i should know better :oops:

May your fish be with you:

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23 Jun 2007 03:42 #28 by KenS (Ken Simpson)


Amps Effects
1 Severe Burns
.3-.4 Breathing Stops
.1-.2 Death
0.05 – 0.07 Severe Shock
.03 -.05 Muscle Paralysis
.01 - .02 Pain
0.010 Mild Sensation
.007 - .0096 Slendertone Belt
.001 Threshold sensation
Table 1: Electrical current versus risk to human subject [2]


How come .1-.2 will kill you, but it takes .3-.4 for you to stop breathing?

Regards,

Ken.

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23 Jun 2007 04:11 #29 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?
I think Chris put in a decimal point by mistake.
I think he ment .1 Sevear burns .3-4 Breathing stops and 1-2 death.

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23 Jun 2007 06:05 #30 by ChrisM (ChrisM)
Replied by ChrisM (ChrisM) on topic Re: Safety when performing maintenance?
No,it is all relative to the amount of current,although .1A - .2A will cause Death it will not cause your heart to stop instantly,but it will be enough to kill you!.3A - .4A will instantly cause your heart/breathing to stop.



Might give it a go. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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