New Lights Please help

[keu131]

Hi there every one

so i have a huuuuuge problem.
my aquarium keeps going down hill
first my water was well and truly out of whack and all but one of my fish died.
i have now fixed my water with one poor little clown fish (Bob) left alive and my lighting has gone on the fritz! it shorts half out houses power out every time i plug it in.
so i obviously need to buy a new one n i have no idea what sort i should buy i have a Jebo R390 aquarium..
i want to get some lights tat will best suit a reef style aquarium!
i would greatly appreciate any suggestions or help that u can offer!

thank you so much!

xx

 

[trackfast]

If you're going to keep a reef tank I would recommend high quality lights. If you go cheap, you'll probably end up replacing them again. You should consider metal halides or T5s (6x or more). LED lighting is a possibility also.

 

[CaptainAhab]

It might not have anything to do w/ the lights themselves. If it's tripping the circuit breaker then there may just be too much load on that circuit. Turn off other things that are on that circuit then plug it in. If it doesn't trip then that's your culprit. Many run a separate circuit just to service their tank(s). Me included.

 

[austinsdad]

I'm assuming all of your tanks power needs are on one circuit with other parts of the house on top of that. I too ran a dedicated circuit for my tank only. I had to deal with 3 holes in the ceiling and the electrician's bill, but it was well worth the piece of mind. A little spackle, drywall cut outs, and paint easily solved that.

 

[bavass]

+1 for Cap, troubleshoot before you rush out and buy a new light fixture might have the same problem. I had the samething happen to me so I had a friend that was an electrician and ran a seperate circuit for my tank.

 

[keu131]

thanks for all the advice!
i have one set of power points dedicated to my tank but im guessing that is not what is meant by one circuit?? because when i plug the lights in they short off more than just the tank they short out other things in the house too and i am guessing that is what is meant by the circuit??
are there any energy efficient lights around or anything because im not sure i could afford an electrician at the moment
im obviously not going to be able to go any further with my tank until i solve the problem but in the mean time i am scared of losing my lil bob and the eco system i have set up in the tank..
the tank is in our lounge room so at the moment i am just opening the curtains and letting natural light hit the tank during the day. will this be enough to keep things going until i solve the problem with my lights?

 

[austinsdad]

That natural light all day long may cause unwanted algae blooms. That's not the answer.

A circuit may have 10 different outlets and 3 ceiling fixtures on it. In 3 different rooms. Find it in your panel, it'll be one of the 15amp switches. When you turn it off, you can see how many outlets and lights it controls to give you a better idea what other "load" on top of your tank it has on it.

 

[mdaniel2882]

In a perfect world....have one 20 amp circuit wired to 4 outlets where you need them. you will have no problems....unless you have a 500 gal tank with 1000W MH's and a 1HP chiller.