light shock in aquarium

[infamous]

It seems like there is a very light shock in my aquarium that i can only notice on the cuts and cracks of my hands when i place my hand in the aquarium. fish seem completely normal and swimming fine. Is this of any concern?

 

[kokosnood]

It seems like there is a very light shock in my aquarium that i can only notice on the cuts and cracks of my hands when i place my hand in the aquarium. fish seem completely normal and swimming fine. Is this of any concern?

I would recommend buying a grounding probe.

 

[infamous]

i believe it is my filter causing the shock.. If i get this grounding probe, will this solve the problem or will i need a new filteR?

 

[infamous]

bump

 

[kokosnood]

A grounding probe will take out all the stray current; but I wouldn't use a filter that's not grounded properly. I've heard you can make your own probe with a titanium bike spoke, connected to a grounded wire, but a manufactured one is pretty cheap.

 

[12 Volt Man]

if you only notice it when you have cuts/cracks in your skin, your not getting shocked.

but it FEELS like it. i get the same thing if I have a cut on my hand and put it in my saltwater tank. same thing.

the sting feels like a mild shock.

if you have a current leak, you would feel it right away whether you have cuts/cracks or not.

still, a ground probe is always a good idea..

 

[rnocera]

if you only notice it when you have cuts/cracks in your skin, your not getting shocked.
....
if you have a current leak, you would feel it right away whether you have cuts/cracks or not.

That's not necessarily true. Working in an LFS, we've run into this. Two of us would get shocked, and we could feel it through cuts on our hands, but two other employees felt nothing. We unplugged the heater in the tank, and didn't feel anything. Plugged the heater back in, and felt the shock again. That was definitely some type of current something from an electrical source. What else could explain it? Why would be only feel it when the heater was plugged in?

My advice would be to get the grounding probe, like they said, or switch filters/heaters. Try unplugging whatever you have in the tank to see exactly what it is.

 

[12 Volt Man]

Two of us would get shocked, and we could feel it through cuts on our hands, but two other employees felt nothing. We unplugged the heater in the tank, and didn't feel anything. Plugged the heater back in, and felt the shock again. That was definitely some type of current something from an electrical source. What else could explain it? Why would be only feel it when the heater was plugged in?

I have experienced a mild shock when a heater was cracked in a sump on a tank I was working on.

also, from a damaged powerhead in saltwater

both while working at a LFS..it happens.

the shock you felt was from the heater..it was leaking current into the tank.

 

[infamous]

Well, i figured it out.. for some reason ALL of my hardware causes shock and when more and more things get plugged in, the voltage goes up. i got the ground probe and got the voltage back down to near zero. thanks for the grounding probe idea!

 

[infamous]

Well, i figured it out.. for some reason ALL of my hardware causes shock and when more and more things get plugged in, the voltage goes up. i got the ground probe and got the voltage back down to near zero. thanks for the grounding probe idea!

so i tested the voltages again today and they are back to what they were... does anyone have any idea as to what to do?