# Other Aquarium Forums > Fish Care, Nutrition and Water Management >  Will fish get electric shock???

## nowhereman

Everytime I come in contact with the water in the tank, I will get electric shock. Hmmm, I wonder will it harm my fish?

Hope to hear advice from experts here.

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## lEddyl

will not. 
because water is a better conductor

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## benny

No. Fishes are not earthed. There is something wrong with your equipment. Better go check.

Cheers,

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## nowhereman

I also not sure what is the problem that cause the electric shock. suspect the water pump of my OHF, will change that one first.. 

Thanks for all the advice.

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## zoombee

> I also not sure what is the problem that cause the electric shock. suspect the water pump of my OHF, will change that one first.. 
> 
> Thanks for all the advice.


from my experience usually its submersible pump or heaters. i got a shock from heaters before. lucky i am still here typing haha :Grin:

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## nowhereman

> No. Fishes are not earthed. There is something wrong with your equipment. Better go check.
> 
> Cheers,


As long as my fish is not harmed when there is electricity in the water, it is ok...... waiting to save money for a better filter... haha

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## jdlim

One possibility is that there is water droplets leading to your lighting. This is the item with most exposed electrical contact. Previously I used air diffuser to aerate the water, and each time the bubblets burst on the surface it sprays water upwards toward the tube. Eventually a lot of water will collect. Don't think it will be problem for fish, but it may be problem for you.

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## luenny

Last time I got shock from water droplets from my lights also. You may want to check that also. You don't have to change anything first. Just switch off one item at a time until there is no shock. Then you will know which one is the culprit.

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## PlAnTaNoOb

:Laughing:  there was once my entire light fell into the tank. Instinctively and foolishly, I reached into the water and got shocked. Luckily it wasn't that bad for me. The fishes (mainly tetras) were all well and swimming too. Didn't think they were shocked.

So, my conclusion was: Turn off all electrical equipment of your aquarium when doing maintenance of your tank. Especially when you need to stick your hand into the water. The main concern would be your life, and not the life of your fishes. :Razz:

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## StanChung

It happens a lot with leaky lights and cracked heaters etc. The fishes swim away but are not affected much unless the amp's are high. That can kill.

I've seen baby fishes swim in a whirly fashion, didn't know the heater was cracked till i tried to scoop the fella. ZZZT!  :Laughing: 

Turned it off and the fellas recovered their balance.

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## kiwibug

Hmmm, if I kept getting shocks when I put my hand in the tank, I think I might not want to keep putting my hand in the tank (I like breathing & living).
Seriously, water and electricity are NEVER a good mix.

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## nowhereman

> Hmmm, if I kept getting shocks when I put my hand in the tank, I think I might not want to keep putting my hand in the tank (I like breathing & living).
> Seriously, water and electricity are NEVER a good mix.


True... I know that... But do fisn get electric shock? Will electric shock harm them?

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## bossteck

Don't think so. Like Benny said, they are not earthed.

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## Razorblade

Install a grounding probe into your tank and the other end to the ground from your main plug.

Some pumps are prone to leak small amount of current, but its not the pumps are faulty but just not insulated properly.

my 2 cent.

Cheers,

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## benny

> Install a grounding probe into your tank and the other end to the ground from your main plug


Can you elaborate that further for the less technically competent members? I'm sure we will all appreciate it.

Cheers,

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## Razorblade

Alright, here goes..I have a blue tub with gold fish which i keep outside my flat, while i was doing some regular cleaning, I felt that there was some minor electric shock which bites.

I took out my multimeter and tested that there were some current leak in the water, as we know, most of our pumps comes with only 2 pin plug which do not have any grounding.

What it did next was I bend a piece of stainless steel wire (where i can attach it to the side of my tube submerge in the water), connect 1 end to some length of electrical wire using heat shrink, the other end of the wire to the *Ground* of the 3 pin power plug, after i plug in to the wall socket, the leaks are gone  :Smile: 

I will try to take some picture and post here later, you can use steel for this application but not copper as its poisonous to our pet, I am not too sure about aluminum but do know that some use titanium for their marine tank.

This is a very simple project and a good measure if you have pumps in your tank.

Let me go take some picture now, be back later.

Cheers,

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## benny

Thanks a lot Razorblade!!! That will really help.

Cheers,

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## Razorblade

Here are some picture :



Another view :



To the wall plug:



Attached to the side of the tub :



Another angle :



Happy DIYing

Cheers,

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## bossteck

Thanks for the pictures. 
So if you were to touch the exposed area of of the steel rod, will you get a mild shock? Any plans to add a small length of airline tubing over the steel rod?

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## torque6

exposed steel piece sure get shock.....

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