The Puffer Forum

My tank shocks me when I touch it on the lid/rim around the tank. It shocks me so bad that I cannot turn off the light on the left side.

After my husband turns off the left light, the tank no longer shocks me.

So, obviously it is the left light that is shocking me

Weird thing is...it did not shock my husband????? It shocked me so hard I almost cried. My husband now believes I am probably crazy.

I inspected the light, it seems fine. No water seems to be inside the light. Has a little salt build up here and there but nothing major.

In the same tank this morning one of the two filters one the tank began smoking. The light was not on at the time. I just threw the dead filter away. Iam not sure if the filter burning out is related to the tank shocking me, but I thought I should mention it.

Does anyone know what is going on??? Should I replace the light? Why does it not shock my husband?

The light fixture is 4 years old I have had it for 1-2 years

do you have a multimeter handy? You could test the unit for stray current.

Stupid question, but are your hands wet or sweaty?

Sometimes, if my hand is in the water & my upper arm is touching the light, I ground it & get shocked.

Could have a bad electrical outlet.

and if he was wearing rubber soled shoes he may have been insulated from the shock

Swap out the outlets for a proper water safe one (GFCI) and check the wiring of the light. You should never get shocked and electrical current cannot be good for your fish.