I think that Im having some stray current in my tank and would like to now the best way to get rid of it. I do realize that it's a grounding issue and have seen probs that you can buy put into the tank but is there a DIY way of going about it? Also what would be the side effects be from this?
Stray electrical current
- Thread starter mow town
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dan223
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I would
A: have a gfci installed anywhere im mixing elctricity and water
B: test voltage in tank, one by one unplug devices and see the drop, if one particular device is a big time offender replace it. You will have stray voltage, from what Ive seen from 1-12 volts per device is not uncommon. Personally I dont agree with grounding the tank itself because your tank and everything in it then becomes part of an electrical circuit vs. potential energy. You will find others who will agree and disagree.
A: have a gfci installed anywhere im mixing elctricity and water
B: test voltage in tank, one by one unplug devices and see the drop, if one particular device is a big time offender replace it. You will have stray voltage, from what Ive seen from 1-12 volts per device is not uncommon. Personally I dont agree with grounding the tank itself because your tank and everything in it then becomes part of an electrical circuit vs. potential energy. You will find others who will agree and disagree.
125G Reefer
New member
Excellent advice.
Last edited:
125G Reefer
New member
:eek2:
Ok then can you explain someting to me sorry to hijack I have a friend who has a 200 gallon fishonly setup with new heaters in the tank and that is the only item in the tank with an electric cord. For filtration he has two HOB filters cant think of the brand at the moment. And for lighing he has shoplights hanging from the ceiling. He has a sever amount of stray volatage in the tank. We have it narrowed down to the lights. You unplug everything in the tank and its still there but when you unplug the lights it goes away. How dose stray voltage get from the light to the water when there is I think maybe 10inches of space from the light to the tank?
jdieck
New member
Fluorescent lighting and their ballast create a magnetic field that is amplified by the reflectors, that field creates an induced voltage on the water surface like an air core transformer.
Induced voltage that way is in general not really that bad because it has little capacity for creating current but most times than not the voltage will give you small shocks every time you work in the water and touch the reflector.
One way to potentially minimize the effect is to ground the metal reflectors.
The really dangerous voltage in an aquarium comes from submerged equipment were a cracked wire insulation can be creating a partial short circuit. This is why it is important to investigate the source. One may be innocuous but the other can be extreme hazardous.
I have narrowed it down to the main return pump which is an Eheim. The other night I had my hand in the tank and my wife tuched the under side of my arm and felt a buzzing feeling and thats what led me to believe that its stray current. Can I just buy a probe to put into the water then connect to a ground?
dan223
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How much are you getting from the eheim? If its more than normal, I would replace it(the problem) rather than running a probe, with the probe how will you know when it becomes worse and worse, also youll then be using more electricity. I look at it like this, if you grab a hot wire and there is no ground or return for the electricity to flow you dont get electrocuted, once you complete the circuit by grounding is when you get shocked or killed, so why expose your tanks inhabitants to being grounded?
