Not electrocuted.

[washefuzzy]

While I was feeding the fish my light fixture, lite, fell into my aquarium. First thought was Oh god my fish, I almost put my hand in the tank to retrieve the light fixture. Second thought was that that would a really dumb idea. I unplugged the light, retrieved it and much to my surprise the fish where all still alive. Phew! The only damage was to the bulb and the mess I made of shrimp pellets I had dropped all over the floor. sigh! I managed to rescue most of the pellets but I had to fight my cats who where  scarfing down the pellets faster than I could pick them up.

[Rybren]

Glad to hear that you're safe and sound.  The light, pellets, and fish can be replaced.  You can't.

[washefuzzy]

T's true.

[HappyGuppy]

First of all I'm glad that you're ok.  Secondly, it' for that reason that I installed a GFI wherever I have tanks, as I've been concerned about dropping a canopy among other potential disasters.  There is a thread about 6 months ago about not killing yourself by having a gfi on the forums.  I would encourage people to get a gfi - about $17 at home depot... and make sure you don't use pennies in your fuse box

[washefuzzy]

What is a a GFI?

[Greatwhite]

GFI - Ground Fault Interrupter.

any electrical outlet that is near water should have GFI.  It's a little circuit breaker in the outlet that pops immediately when something falls in water.  Builders typically put circuit breakers with GFI on the panel for bathroom circuits, but I always replace the outlet with one too - just to be safe.  Best $15-$20 you'll spend.

[JetJumper]

A Residual-Current Circuit Breaker (RCCB) is an electrical wiring device that disconnects a circuit whenever it detects that the electric current is not balanced between the energized conductor and the return neutral conductor. Such an imbalance may indicate current leakage through the body of a person who is grounded and accidentally touching the energized part of the circuit. A lethal shock can result from these conditions. RCCBs are designed to disconnect quickly enough to prevent injury caused by such shocks. They are not intended to provide protection against overcurrent (overload) or short-circuit conditions.
In the United States and Canada, a residual current device is most commonly known as a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), ground fault interrupter (GFI) or an appliance leakage current interrupter (ALCI). In Australia they are sometimes known as "safety switches" or simply "RCD" and in the United Kingdom, along with circuit breakers, they can be referred to as "trips" or "trip switches".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_device

[Hookup]

Been there. Done that...   Gets your heart going eh?   

Good reaction time.  Glad your ok

[sas]

Ah yes also been there and done that .
Sometimes it's a good thing to have a slow reaction
time, gives you time to think?

[HappyGuppy]

GFI - Ground Fault Interrupter.

...

Best $15-$20 you'll spend.

In my humble opinion I think that LFS stores should sell them and advise people to buy one & install it near their tanks (or probably better to recommend an electrician do it for most people).  I've had tanks for years without a GFI (because I never was told to get one), and nothing happened... but then again I waste money on car / life / house insurance and don't make claims.  Insurance is good for those "just in case" situations.  If a GFI might save your life, or the life of a loved one, I now consider it ridiculous for anyone to invest hundreds or even thousands of dollars into tanks and not have one of the electrical insurance devices.  I wish that the Petstores would promote GFIs to people buying fish... especially if the fish is for little kids.

[Greatwhite]

This is why EVERY piece of equipment you plug in that goes into your aquarium says to leave a loop in the cord, or a dip down before going up to the plug, too.  Water doesn't travel well uphill.  Things that hang OVER the tank should definitely be GFI protected...

[HappyGuppy]

This is why EVERY piece of equipment you plug in that goes into your aquarium says to leave a loop in the cord, or a dip down before going up to the plug, too.  Water doesn't travel well uphill.  Things that hang OVER the tank should definitely be GFI protected...

Yup, absolutely agree with everything you said above.  But... how many people either don't know or simply don't do the loop-in-cord.  Again, another point staff at stores should make sure people to the hobby are aware of.  Like at Petsmart, how many parents buy their kids a tank?  Maybe there should be a flier available in stores for tank safety, and have staff direct people to it when someone is buying a tank, or obviously appears to be a newbie to the hobby.

Personally I think everything plugged into the tank should be GFIed... and better yet installing the GFI into the first plug-box in the wall in the room - that would protect not just the tank but all electrical stuff in the room (good in case tank bursts and water goes everywhere).  Installing the GFI first in the series in the room is practically the same effort as installing it in the receptacle box nearest the tank, but obviously increases the spread of the safety net.  The only added effort is to figure out which box is the first in the loop, which is fairly easy to figure out.  Here are instructions for anyone that cares to know:

*********************
DISCLAIMER:  I take no responsibility for the information I present here.  What you do is entirely at your own risk.  You should hire a qualified electrician to do this for you.  However if think of yourself as a handy man (woman) and/or choose to do this yourself then you are 100% responsible for whatever you do.

First plug in a lamp or something where you plan to put your tank.  Go to the fuse/breaker box and switch off one switch/fuse at a time until you figure out which one runs the lamp you plugged in (lamp turns off).  Leave the fuse/switch off.  Take the lamp and go around the room to all the other wall plugs trying each one to see if the lamp turns on.  If it remains off then that wall plug spot is part of the electrical wiring that runs where you plan to have your aquarium.  Going around your room you should figure out easily where the first & last plugs are of your wiring, however you probably won't know which one is first and which one is last.  Now pick one that you speculate is probably first (or consult a psychic) and open the wall receptable then disconnect the wires from that box (secure the wires with electrical tape or something now).  Plug your lamp into the one you think is the last wall receptacle.  Then go to the basement and flip the switch (or fuse back) to power up the wiring that you had shut off.  Go back to the room with the tank.  If the lamp is on then you picked the wrong wall site to disconnect (it is probably the last of the wire) and you then need to replace the wires as they were before, secure the box, and then repeat the above instructions to the wall plug site you currently have the lamp set up.  If the lamp is off then you picked the correct wall site to disconnect.  Simply replace the plug receptacle with the GFI you bought from Home Depot or Canadian Tire (or somewhere else.  should be less than $20) following the instructions on the box (remember to kill the power at your breaker box while doing all this).  If you don't understand where the black, white and copper wires go... then you shouldn't be doing this in the first place.  Once you have your GFI installed, go back to the breaker box and return power to the wiring circuit.  Plug a lamp into your GFI.  Push the "reset" button if it doesn't turn on.  Once lamp is on push the "test" button; lamp should turn off.  Push the "reset" button to turn GFI back on.  The plug in the lamp where you plan to have your aquarium and push the "test" button.  The lamp MUST go off.  Now "rest".  Now plug the lamp into the last wall receptacle and repeat the test, and reset.  Assuming you did all the above correctly (or your electrician did) then your whole room *should* be protected... including your aquarium(s) in that room.

I have four rooms in my house with tanks.  Guess how many I have installed (not counting the bathrooms, kitchen and outdoor receptacles installed by the house builder).  That's right, the GFI will only protect the tanks that are connected to them.  So if you have tanks in various parts of your house then make sure that all of them have a GFI, and that the plugs in the room with your tanks are all protected... ***JUST IN CASE***  Think of this as really cheap life insurance, particularly if you live with other people you love.

[Greatwhite]

I wonder if insurance companies would honor a claim if an aquarium leak caused an non-GFI plug to short, causing a fire?  Then again - I wonder if they'd honor one with a GFI either...

I believe that it's actually builder code to put GFI in any time a plug is in a "wet location", which they say is "A location in which water or other liquid can drip, splash, or flow on or against electrical equipment."

Oh, and general warnings on items are there because someone at some point did something brilliant, and then sued the manufacturer. ie/ "do not operate hair dryer in the shower".  A friend of mine set up one of those vinyl instant pools (the biggest one available) 2 feet from his basement window.  There was no warning against it, and I waited a whole summer for it to spring a leak and flood his basement.  Never happened.

[bt]

Personally I think everything plugged into the tank should be GFIed... and better yet installing the GFI into the first plug-box in the wall in the room - that would protect not just the tank but all electrical stuff in the room (good in case tank bursts and water goes everywhere).

Better yet, give the tank it's own circuit if you can.  While it never hurts to have everything on a GFI protected circuit, you really don't want that old lamp with a short in it knocking out power to your tank!

Also helps in situations like mine where the existing breaker would already be tripped if everything on the circuit was on...

[washefuzzy]

Getting a CFI seems like a sensible thing to do. Thanks for pointing me in a safe direction.

[Nerine]

Glad you're ok!!!!