Safety

Every aquarium brings together things that don't normally belong together: water, electricity, living animals (some of which sting or carry toxins), chemicals, heavy loads and glass. Each one is safe when you understand it, and dangerous when you don't.

Remember triage from Module 1: safety first. In an emergency, you make people safe before you save equipment or animals. That order never changes.

By the end of this module, you should be able to walk up to any aquarium and point out all seven.

Pumps, heaters, lights and controllers all sit next to, or inside, salt water. Most of the time their insulation and seals keep the electricity inside. When a seal cracks, a cable is damaged, or water gets into a plug, electricity leaks into the water. Nothing looks different. The water looks exactly the same.

If you then put your hand in the water while standing on a wet floor, or while touching something metal, the current can travel through your hand, across your body and out through your feet. An electric shock can stop the heart.

That's why every electrical habit in the next section is about one of two things: keeping water away from electricity, and keeping electricity away from you.

A normal breaker only cuts the power when far too much current flows. A leakage breaker trips on a much smaller leak, which is how it can protect a person.

Panels differ by country and building. For example, in Japan, a home's panel (分電盤) usually has three kinds of breaker: the ampere breaker (the contract limit, not in every region), the leakage breaker (漏電ブレーカー), and the smaller circuit breakers (安全ブレーカー), one for each circuit. When a circuit breaker trips, only that circuit goes off. When the leakage breaker trips, the whole building goes off.

Learn your own building's panel: where it is, what each breaker is, and what each one switches off.

For an aquarium facility, that means one leaking device anywhere in the building can switch off every return pump and every heater at the same moment. Leakage breakers can also trip without an obvious cause. Either way, every system is now without flow or heat.

To get the power back and find the leak: switch off every circuit breaker, switch the main breakers back on (in the Japanese example, ampere, then leakage), then switch the circuit breakers back on one at a time. If the leakage breaker trips again when a circuit goes on, that circuit is where the leak is. Leave it off, turn the rest back on, and have it checked. That's process of elimination from Module 1. On that circuit, unplug devices and find the one at fault before the circuit goes back into use.

Where the outlets aren't grounded, as in the Japanese example, there's no ground probe or grounded plug to carry a leak away. Don't count on the leakage breaker to protect you. The habits in the section above are your protection.

A tingle in the water

If you feel a tingle or buzz when you touch the water, take your hands out and keep them out. Something is leaking electricity into the water. Turn off the power to that system at the breaker or switch, not by pulling plugs with wet hands. Don't put your hands back in to test it. Look for the cause with the power off: a cracked heater, a damaged cable, a pump with water inside. Any device that might be leaking comes out of service until it's replaced.

A person being shocked

Don't touch them while they're still in contact with the electricity: you'll be shocked too. Cut the power first. If you can't, move the source away using something dry that doesn't conduct, like wood, plastic or cardboard. Call your emergency number if they have trouble breathing, burns, confusion, muscle spasms, a seizure, or they've passed out. Start CPR if they show no signs of life.

Two examples. Mycobacterium marinum lives in fish and aquarium water. It gets in through cuts and scrapes and causes lumps or sores, usually on the fingers or hands, that can last for months. Vibrio bacteria live in salt water, and a Vibrio wound infection can become serious quickly.

Venomous fish like lionfish and scorpionfish carry venom in their spines. A sting can be very painful. First aid used for these stings is soaking the area in hot water: as hot as the person can stand without burning, no hotter than 45 C (113 F), for 30 to 90 minutes. Pain can make a person misjudge the temperature, so someone else tests the water on their own skin first. Wash the wound, and get medical help if the pain is severe, the swelling spreads, breathing is affected, or signs of infection appear.

Stinging animals like anemones and some corals have stinging cells. They can sting skin, and some people react badly. Bristleworms and urchins have bristles or spines that break off in your skin.

The habit that prevents nearly all of it: look before you reach in, and never pick up an animal you can't name with bare hands.

The toxin gets into people through the eyes, through cuts in the skin, and by breathing it in. Most aquarium cases came from handling the coral: scrubbing it off rock, cutting it, or pouring hot or boiling water on it to kill it. Those activities can throw the toxin into the air as a fine mist. In one reported case, people became ill just from being in the home soon after the coral went into the aquarium.

Reported symptoms include a bitter metallic taste, fever, cough, shortness of breath, weakness, muscle pain, nausea and headache. They usually start within hours. There's no antidote.

Heat doesn't destroy the toxin. Bleach does: surfaces and items that touched the coral can be deactivated by soaking in fresh household bleach solution before they're thrown away.

Every chemical has a label and a safety data sheet (SDS): a document from the maker that says what the hazards are, what protection to wear, how to store it, and what to do if it gets on skin, in the eyes, or is breathed in. Read it before you use something new. If you can't find it, ask.

Never mix chemicals

Bleach reacts with anything containing ammonia or acid (including vinegar, many glass cleaners and toilet cleaners) and makes toxic gas. Never mix cleaning products, and never pour one into a bucket that held another without rinsing it first.

Additives can hurt you too

Calcium hydroxide (kalkwasser, Module 19) is irritating to the eyes and skin, and its dust can irritate your lungs. Wear eye protection and gloves when you mix it, and don't breathe the dust. The same goes for other powdered and concentrated additives.

Labels and storage

Every container is labeled with what's in it. Never put a chemical in an unmarked bottle or a food or drink container. Store chemicals closed, away from food, away from the aquariums, and out of reach of children and pets.

Protection comes in layers. First, avoid the danger (don't scrub zoanthid rock). Then control it (do the work under water). Then protect yourself (gloves and eye protection). Gloves don't make a dangerous job safe. They make a careful job safer.

Every liter of water weighs about 1 kilogram, and salt water a little more. A 20 liter bucket of salt water is over 20 kg. A full aquarium can weigh hundreds of kilograms, which is why it sits on a strong, level stand and is never moved full.

Lift with your legs, not your back. Keep the load close to your body. Don't twist while you carry. Fill buckets only as full as you can carry safely, and make two trips instead of one heavy one. Get help for anything heavy or awkward.

Glass, shells, rock and coral skeletons can all cut. Wear gloves when handling rock. Clean up broken glass with tools, never bare hands. Mop up spills straight away: a wet floor is a slip hazard, and near electricity it's a shock hazard too.

Don't let visitors put their hands in the water or touch animals. They may have cuts, and they won't know what stings. Keep lids and covers on where they're used. Keep chemicals locked or out of reach, and never leave a bucket of chemical or dirty water where someone could knock it over or drink it.

Children and pets reach, climb and chew. Cords, buckets, chemical bottles and open sumps all need to be out of their reach.

When someone gets hurt, deal with the person first. Then report what happened, using the reporting habit from Module 1: what you saw, what you checked, what you did, and what happened after.