Don't put crabs in your sump!

btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
My husband and I have been on a mission for the past few months to rid our reef tanks of crabs, especially hermit crabs since they knock everything all over and murder our snails.
I've been throwing them in our refugiums, but apparently hubby has been tossing them in the sump.
Tonight, I came home to move my fish from QT to the 155 and the 20G refugium that is attached to it, put my hand in the water and got shocked. A giant emerald crab chewed threw the power cord to the pump for my skimmer

Thank goodness I caught it quickly. My poor fish .....
Let this be a lesson to everyone, crabs + electrical cords don't mix.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/384306/don-t-put-crabs-in-your-sump#post_3366092
Man you were lucky.....are you moved in your new house yet?
Of course not. This contractor is going to be the death of me. The new date is tentatively set for May 1st. I'm actually going to see a lawyer on Monday to see if there is anything I can do to make them stick to a date at this point. As of May 1st, they will officially be 9months past original finish date. I'm ready to kill someone. It's stupid little things. The inspector has been on them now and I feel like he's here every other day. Nothing is ever done to code, it's just ridiculous.
I cleaned the tank out today, it was so filthy from being in storage. I'm itching to set up the 180 in this house, but I know the nightmare I will create for myself if I do it.
On a good note, my McCosker's Wrasse and Blue Spot Jawfish are finished in QT at a friends house and are now happily in their tanks.
BTW, I'm on the hunt for 2 or 3 FEMALE McCosker's if you see them anywhere. I can only find males lately.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/384306/don-t-put-crabs-in-your-sump#post_3366102
LOL.....At least you have a place to live in the meantime.
I'll keep my eyes open.....
Thankfully the house we're in right now is owned by my husband's father. It stinks for him because he can't rent this place out to someone else (for a lot more than we pay) until we're out. Thank goodness it's a family member, a normal landlord would have kicked us out by now, LOL
 
mkroher

mkroher

Member
I always put a bunch of empty shells in with my hermits.
Your hermits are probably killing the snails for the shells.
Just a thought.
 
slice

slice

Active Member
Didn't someone else have a crab eat through an electrical cord some months ago? Crab also in the sump.
edit
yeah, it was Robermathern here:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/377962/why-me-this-sucks
and the aftermath here:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/380765/my-tank-finally-recovered-from-the-electrocution
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator

I always put a bunch of empty shells in with my hermits.

Your hermits are probably killing the snails for the shells.

Just a thought.
I have plenty of extra shells, but through the years I have realized that crabs, especially blue legged hermits are just bad news. I've had them kill snails, just to kill them, they don't even take the shell afterwards, and my tanks are heavily fed, so they're not hungry. The final straw for me was a blue legged shredding my zoanthids, that was it, I'm now on a mission to remove them all. I usually throw them in the refugiums and take them to the LFS.
 
tannersmith200

tannersmith200

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/384306/don-t-put-crabs-in-your-sump#post_3366091
My husband and I have been on a mission for the past few months to rid our reef tanks of crabs, especially hermit crabs since they knock everything all over and murder our snails.
I've been throwing them in our refugiums, but apparently hubby has been tossing them in the sump.
Tonight, I came home to move my fish from QT to the 155 and the 20G refugium that is attached to it, put my hand in the water and got shocked. A giant emerald crab chewed threw the power cord to the pump for my skimmer

Thank goodness I caught it quickly. My poor fish .....
Let this be a lesson to everyone, crabs + electrical cords don't mix
So you would have never been shocked had you utilized a GFCI for your equipment. A GFCI should have tripped had you used one. It could save your life.
Another thing too...your fish and inverts were never shocked due to the "stray" voltage because they were not grounded to earth. You were grounded and that's why you got shocked. So your critters are fine.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/384306/don-t-put-crabs-in-your-sump#post_3366268
I have GFCI's on all outlets in my house.
Went to Home Depot today and bought 2 of these ...they are for where I do not have gfci's....We still have not put in the new boxes :( and it is very hard to reach behind the 225G...SOOOOO we are gonna install the gfci plug ins on a different section of the fish room, and I am gonna use these behind the 225G
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
i have been construction all my life.i work on alot of new homes.most of the time the home isnt built on time .maybe a month or two over.not 9 months.if this builer is failing all the codes i am not sure i would even buy it.sounds like if you have a problem when you move in he wont return your calls.how did you find this builder?
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by tannersmith200 http:///forum/thread/384306/don-t-put-crabs-in-your-sump#post_3366237
So you would have never been shocked had you utilized a GFCI for your equipment. A GFCI should have tripped had you used one. It could save your life.
Another thing too...your fish and inverts were never shocked due to the "stray" voltage because they were not grounded to earth. You were grounded and that's why you got shocked. So your critters are fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/384306/don-t-put-crabs-in-your-sump#post_3366268
I have GFCI's on all outlets in my house.
That's what the grounding probes are for, your personal protection. Everybody thinks that gfci's will trip in cases like this, but sometimes they don't. Did the gfci trip when you got shocked?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top