Whos running a grounding probe on their tanks?

[Legonch]

Talked to a LFS today about some general things going on in my tank. One suggestion he had was using a grounding pole/probe. Ive never heard of these. Did a little research, and I'm curious to how many of you guys are using these....

 

[Andrew_bram]

Always a good idea

 

[fiji4118]

I am

 

[SkyShark]

I do not. I've read conflicting information on their merits. Never looked too much into them though.

 

[damontoy]

I lost a gorgeous Queen Angel because I didn't have. It is a must!

 

[Walter White]

Extremely important! It is NOT always a good idea to run a grounding probe. The circuit MUST be on a gfci if you are going to use one, otherwise they are extremely dangerous. If you get a short and are running a grounding probe without a gfci you are creating a path of least resistance right through your tank and in the right conditions have the possibility to kill everything in the tank including your self if say you were to accidentally drop a light fixture or something similar carrying high current in the water.

They are great in conjunction WITH a gfci.

 

[Irishman]

I don't use one. I've heard conflicting stories on it

 

[Legonch]

Hmm. I know the plug that all my tank stuff is plugged into doesnt have the green reset button stuff. Maybe not a good idea to plug one in there then?

 

[Walter White]

Hmm. I know the plug that all my tank stuff is plugged into doesnt have the green reset button stuff. Maybe not a good idea to plug one in there then?

If you are not absolutely certain the circuit your tank is running on is on a gfci and that the grounding probe is is also plugged into that same circuit I wouldnt use it. If you do some searches on on GFCI and grounding probe you will find a lot of information about it.