Voltage in aquarium

[Beefyreefy]

Are you sure you not just feeling the effects of salt in your finger cut? I would verify this by sticking your finger in a container of SW. Also, That Crusso Kid is correct, open cuts can lead to infections. Without knowing the characteristics of your return pump, it's hard to say if your Meter Reading is a problem, but not likely.

I came to suggest this as well. As someone who has suffered an “almost” catastrophic crash due to a frayed wave maker cord I am hyper vigilant about stray voltage. Even a tiny cut or abrasion feels oddly similar to how it feels when there is stray voltage. I have had many panics due to this phenomenon, even though I have a grounded tank now (all of my system tanks, DT, sump, frag are growing individually). If it truly is stray voltage, it usually can be identified because there is a degraded wire that can be identified. It seems more rare to me that it’s something internal to a pump, but I guess you can’t rule that out.

 

[newnoobreefer]

These “tests” are somewhat meaningless without current measurements, and almost certainly induced voltage, not fault current.

Put the multimeter away, it is not the right tool in the right hands. Plug the tank into a GFCI. If it trips, you have a fault. If it doesn’t, that is all induced voltage, and normal.

I went to home depot and purchased a gfci extension cord everything is plugged in at the moment

 

[newnoobreefer]

These “tests” are somewhat meaningless without current measurements, and almost certainly induced voltage, not fault current.

Put the multimeter away, it is not the right tool in the right hands (this goes for almost everyone in the hobby). Plug the tank into a GFCI. If it trips, you have a fault. If it doesn’t, that is all induced voltage, and normal.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Just be careful, some of those need to be manually reset after a power outage. They default to off.

 

[newnoobreefer]

I came to suggest this as well. As someone who has suffered an “almost” catastrophic crash due to a frayed wave maker cord I am hyper vigilant about stray voltage. Even a tiny cut or abrasion feels oddly similar to how it feels when there is stray voltage. I have had many panics due to this phenomenon, even though I have a grounded tank now (all of my system tanks, DT, sump, frag are growing individually). If it truly is stray voltage, it usually can be identified because there is a degraded wire that can be identified. It seems more rare to me that it’s something internal to a pump, but I guess you can’t rule that out.

Well thats the thing with everything unplugged nothing running at all i get no feeling of being “shocked”

 

[BeanAnimal]

Well thats the thing with everything unplugged nothing running at all i get no feeling of being “shocked”

Induced voltage can still cause an open cut to tingle, similar to static charge from shuffling your feet in wool socks and zapping somebody on the nose.

 

[newnoobreefer]

Induced voltage can still cause an open cut to tingle, similar to static charge from shuffling your feet in wool socks and zapping somebody on the nose.

Induced voltage can still cause an open cut to tingle, similar to static charge from shuffling your feet in wool socks and zapping somebody on the nose.

maybe im just overthinking and over worried about it it just surprised me when i was cleaning the tank i got a shock from it and over panicked, i did have a instance not to long ago with a bad heater that was actually shocking the tank, my hand would hover over the water and i would actually get shocked i guess i just felt a similar instance and panicked

 

[King Neptune]

Get one of these:
Amazon product ASIN B01GUFNK7S

 

[W31Olds]

do you have a GFCI outlet to plug this equipment into? It’s extremely hazardous to run an aquarium without one!

No offense Uncommon, but your statement is well overstated. There are most likely millions of Aquariums both Salt and Freshwater out there without any sort of GFCI Protection and there are probably many millions of Homes that have no GFCI protection in wet areas and are not currently code compliant. How many LFS's and Online Retailers use GFCI protection on their Systems and have you ever heard of and LFS or say a Petco recommending getting a Customer's Home Electrical System checked out or installing GFCI Protection. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for Safety and have GFCI Protection on every one of my Tanks and recommend everyone install protection. The loss of Miami was a very sad day for the Hobby, however I'm unconvinced that his Aquarium was the cause. Someone must be maintaining or has intimate knowledge of his setup, but no root cause information has been forthcoming. Said information could really help the reefing Community and might even identify an unforeseen risk.

 

[W31Olds]

Induced voltage can still cause an open cut to tingle, similar to static charge from shuffling your feet in wool socks and zapping somebody on the nose.

Agreed, but that's not Hazardous.

 

[BeanAnimal]

The loss of Miami was a very sad day for the Hobby, however I'm unconvinced that his Aquarium was the cause. Someone must be maintaining or has intimate knowledge of his setup, but no root cause information has been forthcoming.

There is no question that his death was from electrocution while working on his aquarium.

The takeaway, use GFCI protection in all wet locations.

Code requires GFCI in wet locations for statistically relevant reasons.
Code is slow to adapt because it is political and mired in bureaucracy.

NFPA data from 2024
Electrocutions and Direct Shock
Note: 120/240/ mains, not high voltage.
Note: injuries requiring ER or hospitalization

Location	Annual Deaths	Annual Injuries
Workplace	~150	~2,400+
Home	< 200	~30,000
Total (Estimated)	~350 – 400	~33,000

 

[Paul B]

30 volts is very normal and is "induced" voltage, not leaking voltage or a broken heater. A broken heater will always give you about 108 volts, not 30 or even 90. It is line voltage and no matter how small the crack in a heater, it will always be above 100 volts. Yes, it can kill you, whereas "Induced Voltage" will not.

A GFI will not help in your situation. A ground probe will make it so you will read zero, but that same 30 volts is still flowing through your water. We can debate all day long if induced voltage is harmful or not but I also have 30 or 40 volts and my reef is over 50 years old. No problems yet.

You don't keep an electric eel do you?

 

[Dom]

Un-grounded receptacles are a concern. If its your house, I would hire a licensed electrician and do a fresh, properly installed run from the breaker box to the tank. If it isn't your house, I'd call it to the attention of the land lord.

 

[sandybottom]

Been having alot of issues with “voltage” in my aquarium recently moved into an old duplex and upgraded my aquarium bc i have more space. I noticed awhile ago that almost none of the outlets are grounded. I did find a couple that are. my aquarium is plugged into the outlet that is “grounded” through some extension cords, but i seem to be having alot of stray voltage in my aquarium around 30-33v and if i have a small cut on one finger i can feel the voltage through the cut on my finger. I tried to look for faulty equipment but everything in the tank new or old seems to be giving off stray voltage. What can i do emergency please help

I had a similar issue which I traced back to a Tunze 8850 LED bar in my sump. Water got into the bar resulting in stray voltage and copper from the internal connectors. Bar looked normal but the plastic was brittle. I found this after removing the brittle plastic casing.

 

[Paul B]

Induced voltage can still cause an open cut to tingle,

Yes, but real Men can handle and even like that tingle. It helps our beards grow.

 

[cruzersmith]

Also a ground probe will be of no help if you indeed are plugging your aquarium equipment into an ungrounded electrical system. One thing you could do to test your ungrounded outlets is to take your meter set to line voltage and put one probe into one slot of the outlet and the other probe to the center screw that holds the plate on. Do that for both slots of the outlet. If the meter shows voltage you are at least on a grounded wiring system. You would then only need to get a grounded outlet and get a wire from the outlet ground screw to the (assumed) metal box.

 

[IceNein]

Yes that is how im testing, its kind of difficult for me to plug a ground in with no grounded outlet my closes outlet that is “grounded” is about 15 feet away

You live in Houston? When was your house built, because all outlets are supposed to be three prong grounded outlets. It's been code for as long as I can recall.

If you own the house I recommend you getting the outlets upgraded. It should be very easy to install cable with grounds simply by pulling it through with the existing cable.

 

[W31Olds]

If you own the house I recommend you getting the outlets upgraded. It should be very easy to install cable with grounds simply by pulling it through with the existing cable.

You couldn't be more wrong. Pulling cable is a real pain in the you know what. And code requires staples so you can't pull with the existing cable. That's why you always see the Electricians making small rectangular cutouts in the Drywall to install a new run. And usually a job for the Apprentice.

 

[IceNein]

You couldn't be more wrong. Pulling cable is a real pain in the you know what. And code requires staples so you can't pull with the existing cable. That's why you always see the Electricians making small rectangular cutouts in the Drywall to install a new run. And usually a job for the Apprentice.

I'll take your word for it, but it's what I've done with data and coax, so I assumed it was the same.

 

[Freenow54]

Who knows what else is wrong . Do you own It ? My daughter lived in one now , and I know its the same there as I am close to a guy in Florida the trades are full of phony certified people. They have no idea at all of what they are doing . An owner of a business has the trade ticket and hires non certified slaves that work on his ticket . That owner should be tared and feathered. Anyway get an electrician in . If you have fuses get a panel upgrade and get the wiring up to code . In the meantime unplug everything when you want to stick your hand in the water.