Light hood fell in tank...

[spartanalia]

...and now it won't work. It's just been catastrophe after catastrophe. So I did the sensible thing and bought a 20g tank and am going to scrap the little one 1 gal. I am convinced that small tanks require more frequent and difficult upkeep than large ones.

So long story short, I woke up yesterday to find that my cat (I assume) knocked the light hood in the water trying to catch the fish. He didn't harm my fish but he did get water everywhere. So now my light won't work.

My question is, is it the bulb (compact fluorescent) that needs to be replaced or the hood (electrical components). I'm fully prepared for the bad news that it needs to be both Oh and it's an aqueon 5 gal set, the hood came with the tank.

 

[tyler79durdan]

Thats a great Q... I would disassemble the fixture and look at any boards for signs of burnt components(usually very pronounced, with grey smoke streaks) and wires, and before I did that I would replace the bulb after a few days of drying.

-Aaron

 

[msjinkzd]

i would unplug it and let it dry out for a few days

 

[The Zigman]

i would unplug it and let it dry out for a few days

Ditto.

I have had the same thing happen with a CFL lightstrip.

I let it dry out over night and all was fine.

the lights were actually on, underwater for a few minutes.

 

[spartanalia]

The problem with mine was that it happened overnight so I don't know how long it was in the water with the electricity on. I'm lucky Vincent (my blue betta) didn't get electrocuted! I broke the tip of my compact fluorescent being clumsy. I safely cleaned it up (cause they contain mercury) but I was thinking how lucky I was that it didn't break when It fell in the tank because it fell on a rock!

Worst case scenario, the hood electric component burned out, is there anyway to replace just that part of the hood without having to buy a whole new aquarium set?

Thank you so much for your help

 

[The Zigman]

if its just a regular incandescant hood, you should be fine. there is just some basic wiring and sockets in there.

the CFLs have the ballasts built in, so if anything you will have to replace them I would think..

 

[GEV83]

Ive also had a light strip go into the water. My neohew knocked it in the water and was playing with the water as the light strip was in there. Luckily he nor the fish got shocked. Only shock that happened was the shock of terror the fish went through seeing light hood hands clothes toilet paper scissors and many other things being tossed in there. Tank was in my sisters room at the time.

Let the hood dry tried it after and it worked like before. Still works.

 

[judgemax]

i would let is sit for a few days to..been there done that!

if by chance you can't get it working again, check your local LFS! sometimes they will have light strips they sell cheaper because they needed the tank, but not the light, for amphibians ect. I know my old lfs did! and my current lfs takes in stuff for resale, ..so def check there to replace the light!

and, you can buy a new light strip at any major pet store, you don't need to buy a whole tank!

 

[sunshinetrenie]

see now if this was me.... it would be a good excuse for upgrading! lol seriously you can find tanks on craigslist for very cheap and even free sometimes. and well..... in fish keeping.... bigger is ALWAYS better!

 

[blue2fyre]

see now if this was me.... it would be a good excuse for upgrading! lol seriously you can find tanks on craigslist for very cheap and even free sometimes. and well..... in fish keeping.... bigger is ALWAYS better!

LOL That's exactly what happened to me when my light fell in the tank! I had a used 20 log with some messed up trim I tried to fix myself. The fix failed and dumped my light in the tank overnight. I decided I needed a new tank since I could not fix the trim problem. I ended up with a 29 gallon!
Once the light dried out it worked ok(was slow to turn on) for 2 days them the switch broke. Then I upgraded my lighting.