I just wanted to add to what you had posted in the hopes of someone not getting confused. I have a habit of being pedantic about these because I work in the computer industry and just like reef keeping I think they are times where trying to summarize how something works opens the door to people making bad judgments. I'm sure you've noticed that a lot of the time when people discuss something like this with half an explanation you end up with nothing but hand waving and generalizations, may as well count on voodoo to save you. On the other hand maybe I'm just a jerk.
I would agree that a GFCI offers better protection than a ground probe.
The thing with the probe "removing" the current is complicated. I'm not convinced that if you have current in the tank but no path to ground that anything is harmed, like the bird on a wire. If you do ground it then you definitely have current flowing and I think from the view of the tank inhabitants that's probably worse. When you stick your hand in there, better to have the probe but if you tried in in a situation where you were not grounded at the time you'd never notice it.
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