Stray Voltage

[tebriel]

Okay, so let's see if I can dominate the board with my questions today! So I was doing my normal cleaning routine with my tank and I stuck my right hand in and felt a sting in my cuticle. I had torn this cuticle a little bit so some skin a few layers down is exposed so I figured it just hurt from the saltwater (something went *ding* in my head, but didn't click until just now). I thought maybe there was stray voltage, but being the big dummy I am I just chocked it up to a torn cuticle. Stuck my hand in a min ago and felt what I KNEW to be stray voltage that I felt surging through my left hand. Okay, I thought, go time! Unplugged everything at once.

Plugged in lights first, figured they weren't in the water, safe thing to plug in. Then went through each powerhead doing the stupidest thing I think I have done. In retrospect maybe I shouldn't be allowed near electricity. I just stuck my finger with the torn cuticle in each time I plugged something in until just a min ago when I was like, uh, duh, stop. So everything, except my 2 ebo jager heaters, is plugged in. Didn't feel a shock, but I want to be sure to stop being stupid stupid stupid and do this the right way.

Now, on to the questions:
1. How do I test for the stray voltage without sticking my hand in the tank?
2. How do I test the heaters without sticking them in the tank?
3. I have a GFCI outlet that all aquarium stuff is plugged into, what other equipment can I/should I get to prevent this from happening again. (Note, this is not the first time my equipment has leaked voltage into the tank. Am I doing something wrong? I thought maybe it was just the quality of equipment that I was buying, so I went for things like ebo-jager to ensure it didn't happen again.)
4. Please don't yell at me, I know I did something stupid by repeatedly sticking my hand in the tank, but please do give me advice on how to fix this!!

Thank you guys so much!

 

[james s_]

1. Using an electrical meter would be the best way to test for stray voltage.
2. Im not sure, you could try testing them in a seperate jug of water.
3. Grounding probe will take away the stray voltage. But you still need to figure out which equipment is causing the shock. Isolating each piece of euipment in a seperate jug of water then testing the voltage will be the easiest way I can think of.
4. No worries I do the same thing. It only hurts for a second.

 

[john e]

You can test the water for voltage with a volt meter. I lost some fish due to voltage in the water that I could not feel. Have you had any problems recently with any livestock in the tank? You can buy a grounding probe for your tank, but first be sure to replace whichever device is causing the problem.

 

[tebriel]

My Kenya Tree didn't look so hot, was kinda limp, but someone suggested I move it into higher current, so I did and it's all mad and closed up because i touched it...That's the only thing I noticed was doing strange things...

 

[tebriel]

I took it out, and I think the voltage is still there. It's glass, with plastic on top, that is not to be submerged (which it wasn't). It all looks normal. The ebo jager heaters are encased in glass almost 2x thicker than other heaters, so I thought this wouldn't be a problem...