# Do you turn off your equipment when doing a water change?



## Daryl (Jun 1, 2010)

Title says it all... Every piece of electrical equipment comes with the warning "disconnect from power source prior to putting hands in aquarium", but I typically disregard it! If my fish are alive I figure the water is safe for my hands.

I have an HOB filter that I leave on during regular 30% w/c... I have an inline heater hooked up to my canister filter; both of which I leave running during anything up to a 50% w/c.

Basically I only turn off the filters when I'm cleaning them, or when I'm changing enough water that the water level would be lower than the filter intake.

I don't do this out of laziness - I do it because I figure the fish like the "rainfall" effect created by the lower water level AND because I like to add water that is slightly cooler when I refill the tank and one time I gave myself a pretty good scare when I forgot to plug my heater back in...

Anyone else do this? If not, why not? I'm not so set in my ways that I wouldn't change my approach if there is a reason not to do it this way.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

All mine is left plugged in except for a Fluval that will suck air when the water level is too low. It probably is wiser to unplug, though.


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

When I had discus, and was doing like 75-90% changes, everything got turned off. I just flipped the switch on the power bar. With my new SW set up I'll prolly do similar since I'd have to stop the pump and powerhead anyways.


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## C-kidder (Aug 2, 2014)

I don't do it but I have a nice story from back when I started I got given a free powerhead. It was used to circulate my tank for a few months without issue but then one day I pulled it out and was using it to circulate a smaller 20 gallon tank during a large cleaning where I removed the substrate and everything from my 90 Gallon. Needless to say I stuck my hand into the 20 gallon tank and it was a large shock *Pun intended  * when I felt the water electrified. My fish in the tank didn't seem to get effected but If I was to ground the circuit by touching the cement floor I got a nasty zap. The powerhead was thrown out and since that day have never had a issue so I generally wont used old beat up equipment in any tank large or small now its just not worth the risk.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

I turn off any filters, powerhead/wavemakers & pumps that may run dry during a water change since my typical water change is 50g or more per tank. Heaters are in the sump so no. Lights are suspended so no.

Anthony


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## hi-revs (Nov 3, 2010)

Nope, all my stuff are left on.


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## Plumberboy (Jun 2, 2014)

Turning off the power is for wimps! I'm not a cannister guy so I leave everything on. My heaters are set at a height that the coil is still submerged for 50% w/c's. My HOB's stay full of water, gurgle away, but start right back up as I'm filling. And what's a few more grey hairs anyway. I'm told it looks 'distinguished'!


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## Daryl (Jun 1, 2010)

Wow, I'm actually kind of surprised to find that I'm in the majority on this. Good to know. 

C-Kidder; sounds like a hair raising experience - clueless me didn't even think about having to ground the current...

Any planted folks watching this thread? I ask because I intend to add CO2 to my tank and my plan is to do it around the same time I switch out my HOB filter for another canister (I'll be running dual Rena XP3's). The plan will be to have my inline heater plumbed into the outlet of one filter (the one with a spray bar outlet that will act like a waterfall when the water level is lowered), and I'm thinking of having the CO2 inline on the intake of the second XP3, which will have a power jet outlet located in the bottom 1/3rd of the tank.

That way, even during large water changes (up to 2/3rds) the power jet & intake of the second XP3 will be under the water line.

Are there any inherent flaws with this idea?


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## knucklehead (Dec 27, 2013)

I turn mine off when I do my water changes


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

I just acquired a grounding rod and put it into my overflow on my 90 gallon tank, so the rod is plugged into the ground terminal of the power source to look after stray voltage leakage of equipment. 
Having said that I think it's still good to powerdown during a WC, better safe than possibly dead. 
And oh ya I have enough grey hair thanks!


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## AquaAddict (Dec 4, 2010)

Forgot to turn off my titanium heater a few times - only have one rubber suction cup left

AquaAddict


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## Bunny (Oct 13, 2013)

I didn't even realize that the equips said that... I only turn them off if the water level will drop low enough to make them function oddly - eg. HoBs to run-dry, heaters to be out of the water (one of mine gets burning hot if its out for more than about 3min)


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Did 50g water changes on each of my sw reef tanks. Turned off return pumps (from sumps) once they were almost running dry and turned off my wavemaker powerheads when the water level dropped enough to have them suck air instead of just water.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

I unplug everything most of the time but leave the light on. Ive ruined a few heaters over the years and find it easier to just unplug it all. I do 50% water changes 

I know first hand why they say to un plug everything. My powerhead was leaking electricity into the water. I had no idea. I went to put my hands in and was surprised at the shock I got. I went and changed my underwear. Than I had the task of figuring out which powerhead was broken. Since I had just added a used 1, I figured it was it. The worst part was having to stick my finger, not hands this time LOL back into the water, to see if I guessed right. Thankfully I did. I went and changed my underwear again LOL With that being said. I never unplug anything when I put my hands in the tank to clean it etc..... If it happens again, I may change my routine LOL

I didn't notice the fish acting weird but I did have that powerhead in my reef tank before I shut it down. Ive always wondered if that was part of the issue with my reef tank. I have no idea how long it was in the tank broken for


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## Niku (Feb 11, 2014)

The way i look at it is i pay so much for my filter and heaters and all the tech that goes on my tank. Running any of those with the water level lower then they were designed for puts added stress on your pumps. The higher they have to pull the water up the more work they have to do. Especially when the solution is as simple as reaching down and flicking a switch or unplugging a couple cords i just dont see why i would ever shorten the life of my tech. As for the planted side. I have all my tech (uv steralizer, co2 reactor, heater) and both the heater and uv say soecifically that water flow should never stop while they are plugged in and the reactor has to be taken off its mount and flipped upside down to prime so just that fact makes it less of a pain for me 2 just unplug it.


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## pandamom (Jul 16, 2013)

I always unplug everything when I do water changes (50%). I unplug my filter for the reasons the Niku says, I pay a lot for the filters and don't want to have to replace them sooner than later, so I follow directions. The heaters I use are not submersible and I've had one break the glass before because it got hot and there wasn't enough water there to keep it from getting too hot. I have pumps running airstones too and although I'm not too concerned about those, I unplug them too. The only thing I leave on are the lights so that I can see what I'm doing...


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## Clownloachlover (Apr 21, 2010)

if my filter intakes remain below water level I leave my equipment running...with the water streaming out of the outlet bulkheads and through the strainers it aerates the water really well...I end up with lots of bubbles and funny thing my fish seem to chase them around. If the water level drops below my intakes I turn everything off except my heaters. when I refill my tank I pre-set the temperature coming out of the taps.


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## aciport (Sep 22, 2014)

Everything but the lights get unplugged/turned off for me. I find it's easier to work on the tank as well as being easier on the equipment, especially heaters.


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