Small electrical current only in index fingers

HeyLookItsCaps · Oct 7, 2021

As I was placing corals today I got a little shock/electrocution feeling in my right pointer finger. I then touched the same area on my euro brace with other fingers, nothing. Tried my other hand and once again my index finger lit up like a 9v battery feeling, as did my left thumb. No other fingers. I pulled out a multimeter and am not getting any readings on it. I should mention I was born with issues with my finger nails so there is typically a cut or scratch somewhere on my hands and there is currently on all 3 of the fingers I felt the zap. It has happened occasionally over the years but I never thought to ask about it til now. Anyone have experience or thoughts?

regionreef219 · Oct 7, 2021

If I was experiencing a minor shock with my fish tank that I could easily tolerate, I would run the following test.
Unplug each component that is in the water and touch the same spot on the brace to see if you feel the same tingle. That should tell you what the potential problem is. But be careful since I am not an electrician just saying what I would do if I felt a slight tingle.

Now I have experienced something very similar to this on a laptop. If I touch a certain part of it I get a very very minor tingle, only happens when I use my index finger just like what your describing. Not sure if it is a weird vibration from the hard drive or something.

alton · Oct 7, 2021

Unplug everything and then see if you get zapped. Oh yea electrocution is death, you are only getting shocked

Current is what shocks you, voltage without current is worthless. The worse shock of my life came from a friends tank with only two volts. His service on his home was not grounded so he had a floating neutral and it was using his tank as a poor grounding means.

HeyLookItsCaps · Oct 7, 2021

I have heard of grounding probes/rods. Opinions?

Idech · Oct 7, 2021

Put a grounding probe in your tank. Being zapped is no fun! Still try to find the source of the problem though, because the probe won’t fix anything.

I got zapped when my heater broke and I didn’t know it. Now there’s a grounding probe in my two tanks.

The only downside to it is you won’t know if there is leaking current. Just test your water once in a while without it.