Reef aquarium is eletricuting me

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Sqasnatch

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jan 18, 2011
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ontario
Pls help. Getting eletricuted

So I'm doin work in my aquarium the other day and zap. Put my hand in the water again and nothing. Same thing happens today zap. Hand goes back in the water and nothin. So I notice when I touch the side of my light fixture when my hand is in the water I get electrocuted but if it's not in water nothing happens. Where do I look. How do I test, and what is goin on. Nothing in tank is dieing
 
K so my hand is. In the water the other day and I get zapped. Then today the same thing. I put my hand in the water and nothing. I notice that when my hand is in the water and touching the fixture at the same time that's when I get it. But if I just touch the fixture nothing. Ideas causes and solutions pls. I can't take it anymore. Hurts like I *****
 
Most likely you've got a short somewhere in your aquarium (could be on a heater, powerhead, etc.), and you're grounding yourself out on the light. Unplug each thing in your aquarium one at a time till you isolate the source.
 
How do i test for it without using my body as the conducting rod. Like I said hurts.
 
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Which "fixture" are you talking about.

You obviously have stray current in the tank. How electricity works is, you have to complete the path of travel to get zapped.

If you could levitate, and grab onto an open electrical wire, it wouldn't zap you because the current didn't travel through your body.

When you have your hand in the water, you are grounding yourself, meaning that the current flows through your body and into the tank. Without grounding yourself, if you grab the "fixture" you probably don't have a good enough ground to allow enough voltage to travel through you to get a good zap.

The way to fix this issue is to ground the fixture. Any stray current will then be removed through the ground, rather than through you when grounded.

Tell us what the fixture is first and we can try to figure out what the problem is with it. I would definitely unplug it until you figure this out as its dangerous.
 
Or yes, you have stray current in the tank and the light fixture is grounded.

Eitherway, get yourself a volt meter and put the probe in the water. Turn things off and on until you figure out which one is letting stray current into the tank.
 
First thing I would do is go to a home improvement store and buy a GFCI protected adapter. Plug that into the wall then plug your equipment into that one at a time. The one that has a problem will trip the GFCI. Then replace the faulty equipment but leave the GFCI in line.

Let me back a bit first.....how old is the house? Does the wall outlet have a ground prong?
 
It's a 12 bulb aquatic life with built in fans and blue night led,s can I put the current meter right in the water to test it. And does that mean it is the fixture or just that I'm grounding on the fixture and getting zapped, also why does nothing in the tank seem affected
 
It's a 12 bulb aquatic life with built in fans and blue night led,s can I put the current meter right in the water to test it. And does that mean it is the fixture or just that I'm grounding on the fixture and getting zapped, also why does nothing in the tank seem affected

Its hard to say where the stray current is vs. the ground.

You have to figure that out either using a GFCI with a trip button or a volt meter.

Touch the probe to the water or to the light fixture and you should see a reading. If its in the water, then one of your pieces of equipment has stray current, and your light fixture is the ground. When you body touch both at the same time, you are the conductor for the current, which is why you get zapped.
 
Set the meter on volts- ac. When your doing this test I would put your second probe to a ground other than the fixture, ground in the receptacle would be ideal, LEDS can be easily damaged. I would also check the case of your light fixture to ground aswell.
 
It sounds like there's a short in the light fixture. Start there. I've gotten zapped a few times by a light and it's not fun.
 
Ok so I put the negative probe in the ground and the positive in the water and the light fixture and got nothing for a reading, am I doing it right
 
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