Electricity and Water Doesn't Mix.
Having any type of aquarium set up, whether it be fresh water, or salt water can bring many hours of enjoyment every day and is a great hobby for the entire family. With all things, safety precautions must come first when there is some type of risk involved. With all tanks, with the exception of a gold fish bowl, you are going to have some type of electrical usage in running that system. And I don't have to tell anyone that "Electricity and Water Doesn't Mix."
What one's under water eutopia is one day, can be the nightmare everybody thought wouldn't or couldn't happen to them. We always hear of someone having an accident in or around their tank, feeling genuine sympathy for that individual, never really thinking past that thought to where we believe that very same thing can happen to us. It can if you do not follow a few safety rules and take precautions.
Water and electricity do not mix and can make for a deadly situation. You can get shocked, electrocuted, your heart stop and go into cardiac arrest, have an electrical fire and burn your whole house down. If you have had an encounter with an electrical accident and have walked away with little to no damage, consider yourself lucky and use it as a warning to take some safety precautions.
Use GFI electrical outlets. They are not that expensive and will immediately cut off the power to that outlet when coming in contact with water. It could save your life.
Power strips should be secured and out of the way of a possible water disaster; splashes, tank breaks, etc. Never lay your outlets on the floor, but try to hang them in a vertical position, or even upside down.
Cords for electrical lines should have a "drip loop" in case water runs on the cord.
Electrical equipment and devises that are not submerseable, should be safely secured to prevent them coming in contact with water.
Make sure that all of your submersable equipment is kept in good repair.
Do not touch electrical equipment and plugs with wet/damp hands. *
Check for stray current in your tank, sump and refugium using a voltage meter. If a positive reading is registered, use process of elimination by unplugging one item at a time, re-testing until you find the source. **
Do not piggy back multi units, power strips, by plugging one multi unit into another multi unit. It takes more resistance for a GFI or the breaker in your electrical panel to trip in case of a short. That amounts to more heat at the source. ***
If there are other safety checks and ideas when using electricity around water that is not mentioned here. Please do add to this list. It could save someone's life and well worth the time to post. I do not bring this topic up as a rebuke to anyone that has already had an electrical incident, as I myself have dropped a removeable light into my fuge. I do this out of concern for others and these precautions should actually be listed in the must do list for starting up a marine tank.
As always, safe reefing is happy reefing. GET REEFY WITH IT!
* TidePool
** Saltaddict
*** Sunny D Polyp