voltage in tank question

cnaegler

cnaegler

New member
Hey everyone,
Well, I was cleaning the tank today and everytime i stuck my hand in the tank i felt like i was getting a small shock, especially in a small cut on my finger. So i drug out the multimeter and tested the water. I was originally coming up with 11 volts until, while i was systematically unplugging things and testing things, i discovered an older Tunze 6000 that was the cause of 8 volts of it. It now measures 3 volts.
Anyways, my question is, what is an acceptable voltage? I would say 0, but i think that would be hard to do, with the static electricity that fluorescent bulbs and stray voltage pumps, heaters and such, put off, right? Should i even worry about 3 volts or even 11? Would the stray voltage help fuel an algae bloom? Thanks for your help!
 
I stuck a finger in my tank tonight and felt a tingle, so I tested the tank and it read 6.3V. I went through everything plugged into the tank and although each time I i unplugged or plugged 1 in the voltage would change it never went to zero. I then realized i had a small paper cut on my finger and that non of my other fingers tingled.

So basically same situation is you. How much is too much voltage would be the question?
 
sevise said:
I stuck a finger in my tank tonight and felt a tingle, so I tested the tank and it read 6.3V. I went through everything plugged into the tank and although each time I i unplugged or plugged 1 in the voltage would change it never went to zero. I then realized i had a small paper cut on my finger and that non of my other fingers tingled.

So basically same situation is you. How much is too much voltage would be the question?
Click to expand...

Yes sir, that's exactly what's happening to me. It only ever tingled in any small cut that i had. I wish someone would chime in on how much is too much though.
 
You may find people that disagree with me but I find anything less than 15 volts acceptable. At one time I got zapped pretty good. I used a fluke and found out I had 58 volts of stray voltage. I unplugged everything and started plugging stuff in one at a time. There wasnt one piece of equipment that didnt add atleast .7 volts. My heater was adding about 40. I replaced the heater and plugged everything back in and still had 12 volts. This is with 4 powerheads, 2 heaters, in sump skimmer,, uv sterilizer, pump for phosban reactor, MH lighting.........
 
Pick up a titanium grounding plug for about $20 and it'll take care of your issue. As a short term work around, you can take a piece of stainless and drop in the tank and run a copper wire off the stainless (make sure copper is not in the water) and run the other end to one of the screws of your electrical outlet. The copper will corrode pretty quick though.
 
bhammer said:
Pick up a titanium grounding plug for about $20 and it'll take care of your issue. As a short term work around, you can take a piece of stainless and drop in the tank and run a copper wire off the stainless (make sure copper is not in the water) and run the other end to one of the screws of your electrical outlet. The copper will corrode pretty quick though.
Click to expand...

a couple things about this arent good... grounding probes are completing the circuit and will actually cause more harm than good. Think about birds sitting on a power line... nothing is bad until they complete the circuit and ground out

As for "copper corroding quickly"... well we all know what copper does to a saltwater aquarium.

Personally i stay away from grounding probes, and found that wearing shoes and not standing on wet concrete or carpet will keep you from being fully grounded and small shocks.
 
Skunkbudfour20 said:
a couple things about this arent good... grounding probes are completing the circuit and will actually cause more harm than good. Think about birds sitting on a power line... nothing is bad until they complete the circuit and ground out

As for "copper corroding quickly"... well we all know what copper does to a saltwater aquarium.

Personally i stay away from grounding probes, and found that wearing shoes and not standing on wet concrete or carpet will keep you from being fully grounded and small shocks.
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in reading up on the grounding probes causing more damage than good; do you have a link? I have always used them.

There are some wires that birds will not sit one becasue they will get fried. Enough volatage & amps and you wouldn't need a ground, the arcing between the wires and the bird while the current equalizes between the two is enough to fry you.

Electricity will always take the path of least resistance to ground and having a grounding probe would in fact be that path. I can't see how a voltage of 0 is better for fish than 5V. Maybe I am missing something.

Hmm, if you have wet carpet, you have more seious issues than grounding.... :lmao:
 
I originally had 11-12 volts until i started going through all my cords. My older model Tunze 6000 was actually responsible for 7-8 volts of it. Now i only have 3 volts but i'd rather have 0. Plus, it seems that i read somewhere that stray voltage could cause an algae bloom? Doesn't sound right, but i'm not the one to ask such things.
 
I have had that too. You need to pull out one item at a time until you find the culprit. The usual suspects are heaters (garbage), then frayed powerhead cords.
 
bhammer said:
I'd be interested in reading up on the grounding probes causing more damage than good; do you have a link? I have always used them.

There are some wires that birds will not sit one becasue they will get fried. Enough volatage & amps and you wouldn't need a ground, the arcing between the wires and the bird while the current equalizes between the two is enough to fry you.

Electricity will always take the path of least resistance to ground and having a grounding probe would in fact be that path. I can't see how a voltage of 0 is better for fish than 5V. Maybe I am missing something.

Hmm, if you have wet carpet, you have more seious issues than grounding.... :lmao:
Click to expand...

Until you add your grounding probe, or stick your hand in the tank you have an open circuit... Electricity is in the water, but not traveling anywhere because its insulated BY GLASS. Therfore your fish are protected in a similar way that lineman use bonding to service high voltage power lines. i believe its called Equipotental grounding but dont hold me to that. When you measure stray voltage, you are also providing a ground to measure that flow

And you are mistaking my "bird on a wire" example... Think of it like this, what happens when you grab an electric fence and jump? Now what happens if you have your foot down? you are providing a ground and eliminating that open circuit creating flow THROUGH you, not just into you, thus shocking you

Heres some reading, but just google "grounding probes in aquariums" and theres tons of stuff.

http://angel-strike.com/aquarium/GroundingProbes.html

And i am sure you will find tons of things about it contributing to HITH and Lateral line disease.

Another thing: If theres different potential in your home ground and the probe, your house could be grounding through your tank as well... IE the electricity is flowing FROM the grounding probe, through faulty equipment because its less resistance than going through your panel, through the ground wire alll the way outside to the copper ground in your yard or city supply... I would rather have 5 isolated volts going nowhere, than 5 flowing volts through my tank.
 
Ok, I just measured both the voltage and current on my tank:
22.9 volts AC
18.2 micro amps AC
Meter is Ideal 61-360.

Submerged electronics include: 200 watt ebo jager, Eheim 1262, AquaBee 2000/l, hydorKor 2, neptune temp/ph/orp/cond.

All the submerged electronics are in the sump, I dipped the meter probe into the display tank.
 
Make sure all reflectors are grounded and that no salt creep is present in the system. Then start going through things. All things in your tank that are submerged will add voltage, using things that are not will minimize the effect.

The only thing submerged in my system is a heater (not fully submerged) and a couple skimmer pumps. I use vortechs for flow and a Reeflo Dart for my return. None of these external style pumps will add voltage. Used to have 8 koralia 4's and it would shock me anytime my hand was in the water.

Nobody can tell you what is ok, if the tunze is giving off that much then I would sent it back if under warranty. Usually things add a volt or two not 7
 
I would get rid of any equipment putting voltage in my tank. How do you know the next time you stick your hand in you won't pick up 120 volts? I would have thought a GFCI would trip when you get shocked. Would a grounding probe not trip the GFCI? How do you measure stray amps? Digital voltage testers will give a false voltage reading of a volt or so depending on resistance. ( I am not an engineer how ever I do trouble shoot and install services for the Power Co) I suppose you could get a little induced voltage that a grounding probe will take care of but bad equipment needs to go.
 
yea i just tested it again and 121 amps i have a gardner bender digital multi meter. i just put my hand in the tank and i had a cut on my finger and i got a shock
 
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