Electric shock

[Mikeyboy123]

Hi.

A few weeks ago I got a mild electric shock off a mini internal filter in my quarantine tank. It was pretty old.

It wasn’t a big deal but it was quite noticeable when I put my hand in the tank to remove the filter for cleaning.

The fish didn’t seem bothered.

Why wasn’t I/the fish fried? The filter isn’t low voltage so if it was electrically compromised, why didn’t I get a full mains voltage shock? Glad I didn’t!

Just curious.

 

[Fishyfreeonz]

Water really isn't a great conductor so that will limit the amount of shock you feel and generally filters run on 115-125 volts at least if you're in the US so although that is definitely enough voltage to kill a person most of the time it's not that bad a shock.
As far as the filter electrocuting the fish there is only slightly more than a 0% chance of that happening and the primary reason for that is electricity can only flow through a circuit back to the source so for example if you are touching something that's bonded to the neutral (ie a safety ground circuit) then you touch the live wire or pump motor with compromised insulation then you can receive a shock but the fish are not grounded so the only way they could get shocked is if there was current flowing from a device say for example on one side of the tank to something that is grounded on the other side of the tank.

 

[MaloK]

And also fishes in the tank are grounded. Not you.

 

[Ichthys]

And also fishes in the tank are grounded. Not you.

Wrong way round. The fish are not grounded, which is why they are not shocked. Glass isn’t a conductor.

 

[MaloK]

The fish are grounded because they are in the current (electrical I mean).

Look up how to repair high tension lines. The operator has to be connected on the line to remain safe.

So if you are not "in" the aquarium you are not "safe".

You can find peoples electrocuted in water everywhere on the web.

Even more if water is not a really good conductor, If you can still feel it when you touch the water.

That would mean that a pretty good amount of electricity is leaching in the water...

No ?

Edit: When you are feeling the current in your hand, you are grounding.

 

[GaryE]

I have had a couple of very painful shocks over the years. Always from heaters,

 

[MaloK]

The newer Aheim "TruTemp" Have a double insulated cable, bigger than my gaming rig. And are a pain to organize.

I had to use wood clamps to fold the wire in the right direction for hours before having a steady installation.

It's thicker than my chop vac cable... and steep as a hearse.

I been shocked by one of these. And other unsubmersibles. And the fishes always laughed at me.

Never happened with fully submersible to date.

 

[Mikeyboy123]

Well, we are on 230v mains here in UK so it could have been a bit nasty. I have a load of old electrical fish tank stuff. I tend to relieve friends and family of their tanks when they grow tired of them, and so I have ended up with loads of filters, pumps, heaters, lights etc. I use them to begin with but more often than not I end up getting new stuff, and I keep the old stuff "just in case". Think I'll chuck it, most of it isn't much good anyway.

 

[sharkweek178]

If the fish are safe because they aren't grounded, would it kill snails?

 

[AJ356]

If the fish are safe because they aren't grounded, would it kill snails?

What about Ich?

 

[Fishyfreeonz]

If the fish are safe because they aren't grounded, would it kill snails?

As long as the snails are in the same tank there's no difference between the fish and the snails.

 

[TNG]

Well, we are on 230v mains here in UK so it could have been a bit nasty. I have a load of old electrical fish tank stuff. I tend to relieve friends and family of their tanks when they grow tired of them, and so I have ended up with loads of filters, pumps, heaters, lights etc. I use them to begin with but more often than not I end up getting new stuff, and I keep the old stuff "just in case". Think I'll chuck it, most of it isn't much good anyway.

Your mini internal filter in post 1 consumes no more than 2 or 3 Watts of power which means that the current drawn to run it is theoretically 0.013 ampere (assuming 3 watts power consumption and 230 Volts). This is a tiny current which explains why you didn’t get a real shock.
You need high voltage and high current to get a real good kick, the reason why we need to be very careful with heaters as they draw a much higher current.

Pure water does not conduct electricity, but water out of the tap is not pure. At the very least it contains chlorine, so it’s not a bad electricity conductor.
Water in fish tank contains fish waste, perhaps dechlorinator and maybe salt used to treat fish as well as fertiliser and decayed plant matters. A good mix to conduct electricity.

 

[Back in the fold]

I‘ve had the full course of shock treatments . Did me a world of good .