About to call it quits

Don’t want to be chasing ghost here but I thought if you have stray voltage, you would feel a jolt when you put your hand in the tank.

0.04 is fine. No problem that I see from that reading. I will let other gurus chime in.

In my experience, you only get a decent "jolt" when you are also grounded. If you put your hand in the tank and you have shoes, socks or are standing on wood tile or carpet, your body doesn't make a really good ground. For example, I had a pump go bad in my fresh saltwater mixing station. I had my hands in the water all the time and never notices anything. UNTIL, I just happened to grab one of those black, steel support beams that I have in my basement. All of the sudden, it felt like I had really painful hangnails on the hand that was in the water. Seriously, imagine having hangnails and putting your hand in saltwater, that's what this particular instance of stray voltage felt like to me and it was only when I touched something that was metal and grounded. Threw the pump away, no more hangnails!
 
In my experience, you only get a decent "jolt" when you are also grounded. If you put your hand in the tank and you have shoes, socks or are standing on wood tile or carpet, your body doesn't make a really good ground. For example, I had a pump go bad in my fresh saltwater mixing station. I had my hands in the water all the time and never notices anything. UNTIL, I just happened to grab one of those black, steel support beams that I have in my basement. All of the sudden, it felt like I had really painful hangnails on the hand that was in the water. Seriously, imagine having hangnails and putting your hand in saltwater, that's what this particular instance of stray voltage felt like to me and it was only when I touched something that was metal and grounded. Threw the pump away, no more hangnails!

That's not the safest way to test for stray voltage! LAMO

@donniea1800 You've checked just about everything. The only things left would be bugs, temp, bad lighting and organics out of whack. NO3 at 30 was a little high but not horrible. Have you gotten it down yet? And have you verified the number with another test kit or taken a sample to a LFS?
 
I would edit my post to reflect the warning given but @anit77 but it's too late. Yes, it's not how you test for stray voltage. It was absolutely and accident and could have been MUCH worse. A big piece of steel driven into the ground makes a really good ground. I have a standard ground probe on everything else and occasionally (once a year?) go ahead and test for stray voltage.
 
so let's go back to topic at hand,

does @donniea1800 's multimeter indicate any stray voltage that he should be concerned about? if it's not stray voltage, what else could it be?

Unless the meter was on a wrong setting, 0.04V is basically zero and not an issue. It's something else. I mentioned the only other things I can think of above. Anyone else have any further thoughts?
 
Agreed. .04 V is nothing.

Another possibility is simply disease... Most sps necrosis are due to the vibrio bacterium... which can take hold more easily when things are out of whack so we attribute the losses to the parameter being off... but its like an ailment that cripples your immune system and then something else like a cold ends up getting yah.
 
So essentially if all those corals have died off and your parameters are now looking good... Try a few test pieces and see if things are better now. I'd be happy to donate a few pieces for yah.
 
Since everything looks in line w your tests I would consider the frequency of any changes.
What I mean is , has your tank had a chance to “settle out” on its own without your intervention, or have you, in an attempt to chase some numbers, constantly been dosing / adjusting / tweeting?

In my limited experience a tank will need 3 months or so after the initial cycle if just equalizing to find its groove.

I know this isn’t a very scientific way to think about it: it has just been what I’ve observed


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So just to update. I have looked at everything except light. Maybe I will rent a par meter from BRS. In the meantime some things look better. Some of the test pieces still are struggling but some are doing ok. The hammers appear to have stabilized. Extending well. I have one Duncan head that is doing well. The candy cane and frogspawn still iffy. Things seem to be better after the water changes. Still working on the nitrate. The only common factor between last years crash and this event was that salt mix. It may not be that at all but it's enough for me to get rid of that bucket. Will continue to see how things progress. Just sticking with easier test corals right now.
 
Do you use air fresheners in the same room as the tank? Has there been any change in routine (new house cleaner)? How much flow is in the tank? How old is that heater?

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Whatever happened seems to be getting better. Corals looking much better. Elegance is even wide open. Have not tried any sps yet but the lps is much improved. Anybody have any tips for controlling GSP? It is taking over.
 
Here are some corals.
 

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Whatever happened seems to be getting better. Corals looking much better. Elegance is even wide open. Have not tried any sps yet but the lps is much improved. Anybody have any tips for controlling GSP? It is taking over.
I could use some GSP if you need to get rid of some of it.
 
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