URGENT PLEASE HELP ! Shock everytime I put my hand in the tank
 

I cant figure it out.. Yesterday every time i put my hand in the sump I got shocked I unplugged everything one by one until i figured out it was my old auto top of system..today my wife put her hand in the main tank and she says she felt a shock.. So i tried putting my hand in and I only get choked every so often ..

I have a vertex grounding probe in the display tank. is there any way to Test if something is leaking or if I have higher voltage than average?

please someone help me im worried i will lose all my clams and corals..

thank you.

its really odd.. I keep trying to put my hand in the tank but only my wife gets shocked not me..?

If you own or have access to a multimeter, set it to Volts AC, put the positive in the water and the negative in an outlet ground. Ideally you want to see nearly 0 volts

Is your wife touching anything around the tank when she gets shocked ? Such as the light fixture ?

dont even know where to get a multimeter.?

She is putting her hand directly in

Something like this, from any tool or hardware store
Sometimes you can get them on sale for as little as $10
Analog will work fine, but the digital ones are easier to read and most are autoranging which makes them easier to use
Don't forget to buy batteries for it :wink:

If you plan on testing it in an outlet, read the instructions well before you use it for the first time, so you don't cook it or yourself

So your wife is not touching anything near the tank, just the water ?
Is she wearing shoes, or barefoot ?

thanks.. hopefully i wont lose anything till tomorrow the stores re closed now:(

shes wearing socks..

Do you get shocked if you do exactly the same thing she does ?
I'm not asking you to intentionally hurt yourself, but are you both in socks, both not touching the light, etc etc
Some people are more sensitive to electricity than others, but either way, get a meter

Once you are comfortable using it, test the tank. If you see anything except nearly 0, start unplugging anything touching the water until the voltage drops and there's your voltage leak/damaged hardware

Also, sometimes lights can cause a bit of static charging of the water, so if all else tests 0, unplug the light to rule it out

it only happens once in a while its not constant.. were both in socks..
im gonna get a meter tomorrow am

thanks.. hopefully it wont kill anything in the tank

I've been shocked a few times. Work long enough with aquariums, it's a matter of time before you realize why all the fuss about being careful around water and electricity.

Culprits have been...
1) most commonly, broken heater tubes
2) seals eventually broken on submersible pumps
3) salt creep or a bit of salt water bridging electrical contact points, such as on light bulbs or along your cords to the plug, to the rest of the system

Lessons learned
1) don't forget to unplug your heaters when draining
2) make sure you install a drip loop. if you don't know what this is... look it up
3) keep salt creep away from electrical contact points, ie don't rest your light on the tank and clean up the splashing
4) ideally, ground your system.

In your mystery of selective shocking... I've found that a weak current can be felt more readily where the skin is thinner... such as where I've chewed my finger nail cuticles or through a cut. (yup). Also, electricity will flow through your body, so if you're bare foot vs not, makes difference... as well as touching another contact point as gregzz4 pointed out... something else metal.

can you post the link again.. it just shows a bunch of search results..