Yellow Tang nuts! Voltage in Tank...Need help!

mburnickas

mburnickas

Member
I also posted in Equipment and DIY but I am freaking out here. Wife thinks I treat this tank better then her. If only she only..oppps she is #1...:)
Well everyone I need some advise from you experts, big time.
My yellow tang is going nuts today. This is the first day in 2 weeks he has his fins up and going mach 9 across the tank & shaking like his is overdosing. He is the only one doing this so I checked the stray voltage. It is around 27 volts without heater. Keep reading....
When I plug in my Pro Heat #2 the voltage drops to 0.532 volts. So is the heater grounding the tank?
Just to figure this out and need some help? Anything else to look at?
:help: :help:
 
mburnickas

mburnickas

Member
he is about 2" long. Very small. Keeps swimming forward and backwards. I just got him 2.5 weeks ago. All was fine until last night.
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
Do you use a grounding probe? If not, you should be. Powerheads, etc. definitely could be discharging electricity into the tank.
I suppose the heater could be working as a ground. Unplug each thing one by one and test the voltage. The thing that when shut off makes the voltage drop is the culprit.
 
spicyballs

spicyballs

Member
when i first got my yellow, it swam in circles (vertically around a live rock) and swam around the tank fairly fast as well... now it's twice as large and more mello... hope your's is jsut a new tank syndrome as well.... but testing for stray voltage never hurts.
 
mburnickas

mburnickas

Member
Ok I did the one probe in water and one in ground location again:
I get:
Sump Light for algae: 1.82 vac
My main pump: 14.12 (seems high, should replace)
New Max jet 1200: 6
Other Wave device: 4.2
Protein skimmer ocean runner pump: 3
PC light (10K): 1
PC light (blue ton): 1.2
Grand total of: 31.20 vac with all one BUT.
I plug in heater (Pro heat 2) and I get 0.188 vac on the fluke. Yes, it goes down. My guess is that the heater is acting as a ground. The heater has a ground plug so would this be fine? Judging by the numbers, it has to be. I tried both ways: using the ground plug hole and the face plate screw. Same #'s but with a small delta.
I do not get it. The yellow tang is eating fine but he seems freaked (breathing hard and swiming near the glass). I feed him garlic on food once per week. Feed him sea-select seaweed in tank all the time, prime reef rood or Formula 2 small pellets. I am lacking the vitamines and are ordering that stuff tomorrow.
Any help?????...I do not want the wifes favorite fish having problems.
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
Well, you might have to look beyond the stray voltage scenario as well. I would still recommend a grounding probe (they are under $5.), but what are your levels like? Ammonia? Nitrates? Nitrites? Temp? Surface agitation for oxygenation? Circulation? Salinity? When's the last time you did a water change?
 
mburnickas

mburnickas

Member
He is doing better but he is always freaked more then usual. He shakes and rubs on the glass at times which leads me to believe the dreaded ich or HILLE. Be he looks very good, very bright yellow and no white sport or lines or not weird side ways or upside down swimming. Still eats the seaweed like mad and the formula 2 he is crazy about. Added garlic to the food today like a normaly do once per week.
I have 2 powerheads inside the tank and a main tank return in the opposite corner. I also have the turbo 1000 (PS) hanging on the back.
I just finished all the test and there are good.
-Ammonia:0.0
-Nitrates:0.0
-Nitrites:0.2
-Temp: 79.5
-Salinity: 1.0228
-Circulation is from the 2 power heads and the main pump return
-Surface agitation is zero. Only movement is from PS return or overflow movement. The water goes into overflow box and to wet/dry with chaetomorpha on pump side. BB are nice and clean due to (2) 100 micron pre-filter pads.
-Last water change was 21.8% on 5-27-2004 & a small 12% on 6-17-2004
Maybe this is normal but I will be getting some fish items tomorrow (pay day) so I will add a grounding probe. I found online for like $14 but is there a cheaper and better way to do this application?
Thank you for the help. Trying to figure this out.
 
petem

petem

Member
I think I paid around 11 bucks for mine at the lfs. But it didnt do much to help my tang. I think he was too far gone. He went through a case of Ich where everyone but him, a damsel, and my snowflake eel died. Then he started getting that HLLE. I fed him everything I could think of. He seemed to get better...started eating again. But then he took a turn for the worse. He got very thin...almost skeletal. Then one day after work, I found him, under my rocks. Sorry, didnt mean to bum you out, but, just wanted to tell my story. I should have read up on him before buying him, as to what tangs are sensitive too.
I just started rebuilding my inhabitants. I still have that Damsel, the eel, and I just put in a porcupine puffer last week, after 4 weeks in QT. I hope your tang pulls through!
 
mburnickas

mburnickas

Member
That is the strange part. He does not have HILLE or ICH. Looks nice and bright yellow and eating like mad. Maybe this is noraml for this guy. Jsut keeping a very close tabs on hmi for now....:notsure:
 
belothsurf

belothsurf

Member
Sounds like, in my professional opinion (I work in psychiatry), that your fish has Bi-polar disorder, and is experiencing a manic episode. Some of the symptoms are hyperactivity, decreased sleep, and increased appetite, restlessness. Other symptoms are grandiose thoughts, hallucinations, and hyper-religous thoughts and delusions. So if he starts thinking he was the yellow tang in "Finding Nemo", starts talking to himself, or tries to walk "on" the water ( like Jesus), he is definetly manic. After the manic episode, comes the depression, and he may become a "Blue" tang...................:D
 
mburnickas

mburnickas

Member
update:
Well I must say thank you to all on this board! My yellow tang was going nuts for weeks and I though it was that he was new. Never mind that my PH was and is always low (7.8) using IO.
To the point here, I checked stray voltage and it was around 27v. Checked all and had the most from my pump (power head). I bought a new Quiet One Pump this time and installed that with a grounding probe. The yellow tang is doing a LOT better. Not freaking out at all!
After looking at the old pump, the top of the pump (powerhead) came apart from the housing (about 0.007 inches). You could never tell but water was entering the pump (not good).
Thanks to you people the wife's fav is doing great!
 
coxy101

coxy101

Member
Belothsurf, that's hilarious! I was reading that post with my husband - he kind of chuckled and I was cracking up! I guess it makes me think of my prison rotation in psych...
 
belothsurf

belothsurf

Member

Originally posted by Coxy101
Belothsurf, that's hilarious! I was reading that post with my husband - he kind of chuckled and I was cracking up! I guess it makes me think of my prison rotation in psych...

.....You think that is funny? I've been a psych nurse for 5 years!..............I've been really worried about that fish......I've been having strange dreams...."ER calling me with report about this "yellow fellow"............
.....Of course I'm just kidding......but.....want to hear something kinda strange.(and true).............I was in the Navy from 89 to 93........................I was an Electrician...........I know ..!!!! Shockiiiingggg!!!..................:thinking:
 
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