Help. I just got shocked by the water.

If it were static I would have had to build static each time before getting zapped. I sat on the floor, unplugged one thing, put my finger in sump, got zapped. Unplugged another (without moving anything but my arms) stuck my finger in sump, got zapped. And by the way, it did hurt. It hurt enough that I could not remove the broccoli from the clip. As I said, it felt like getting hit by 120, just via the water not a cord.

 

I'm sorry to hear that Anne!! The things we do for our tanks!!

I would suggest getting a ground probe!! (I bet i sound like a broken record, right?)

 

Maybe things are plugged in 'better' now? Maybe they're plugged in different sockets on the power strip? Maybe one of your wires has a short or a cross in it that after moving the cords around removed contact?

Have you looked over your cables to make sure there are no frays or worn areas and that your plug heads are securely attached to their cables? And are you sure everything was plugged in 'all the way' before you started unplugging items?

I don't know. Just brainstorming. Good luck!

BTW I think this is the grounding probe i have (it's been a while, but I think this was the packaging): http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~category~Coralife_Titanium_Ground_Probe_(Removes_Stray_Voltage)_Saltwater_Aquarium_Supplies_Miscellaneous_GFCI_Cords___Grounding_Probes~vendor~Coralife~SearchStr~ground+probe~action~view~idProduct~ES00934~idCategory~FIMIGF.html

 

Where you able to pin-point which item has the stray voltage? Luna

 

This may sound kinda weird and dumb on my part but I noticed that lately, I've been getting "shocked" whenever I touched the water. I unplugged everything a still got "shocked". However, when I analyzed the situation properly, I realized that I had a couple tiny little cuts on my hands from doing general handy work around the house. The salt in the water caused it to fell like a shock. And there I was paranoid at the fact that I didn't know what was shocking me since everything was unplugged. Do you have any tiny cuts on ur hand bc219 lol

 

nancy

 

since winter has started I get shocked right before I put my hands in the water almost every time, it doesn't take much.I also notice it hurts more if I walk across the living room first. If you have dry heat blowing in the house the air gets less moisture which leads to easy static build up. IMO if you had enough stray voltage in your tank to zap you like that you would feel it when your hands are in the water. There is a way to you can check with a voltage meter (I think) if you have one.

 

Okay well regarding cuts, I do have a couple, generally that is more of a burn feeling and it hurts like hell, but just in case I did switch hands and fingers to be sure this was not part of the cause.

About static, if it were static it would be an initial shock, not a continuous zapping as I hold my finger in the tank. Also this was happening over and over as I stood there and kept re-inserting my finger into the water, I was not re-charging by walking around or anything like that.

About pinpointing the problem, I got it down to the lights, I'm not sure which one since they were both plugged into the same timer and outlet so I don't know which one was causing it.

I just got back from the lfs from getting some snails. My lfs had a good point... he said that you get salt creep in time on your cords coming from the lights (or other things in the tank). If the salt creep gets from the water down to the outlet it will conduct that whole length and cause this. A drip loop will not fix this btw. He said that if this was the cause then when I pulled the cords out of the wall or power strip I may have removed enough salt creep with my hands to break the salt creep current. Werid. Anyway he said at his shop they take a damp rag and clean the cords every couple of months to prevent this.

/shrug

 

Are the fish dead?? How can they not get shocked too?

 

The fish are not grounded like I am therefore it didn't affect them. My lfs brought up a good point though, each time I got shocked from the water, they did too.

So as long as I didn't get zapped they were ok. Makes sense too because they weren't trying to attack my fingers for possible food like they usually do. Probably because they were paralyzed and couldn't get to my fingers lol.