question on fish tank light hoods

nano55

nano55

AC Members
May 14, 2007
329
0
0
Yesterday, I turned the lights on on my 100 gal long tank, and about 30 min. later, my smoke alarms started going off. I ran to see what was going on, and my fishtank hood and lights were on fire!! Flames were literally jumping out of the one hood about a foot high, and started the other one on fire,too. I cut the power supply on the tank, and my husband and I put out the fires.What a mess! It cracked the top glass on the tank, and there was soot everywhere. Now I need to go buy 2 new 36 inch hoods, and replace the one glass panel. I am really scared of it happening again. Does anyone have a reccomendation on a safe light hood setup? Thanks! :help::eek3::help:
 
Wow, that's scary! You have to make sure that the right bulbs were in the fixture first.

All hood assemblies that are made for tanks are "usually" safe.......we need more details. Was this a stock set-up?
 
hatcheridiot said:
Wow, that's scary! You have to make sure that the right bulbs were in the fixture first.

All hood assemblies that are made for tanks are "usually" safe.......we need more details. Was this a stock set-up?
Click to expand...

The light setup was the original one that was bought with the tanksetup over 10 years ago from a reputable pet dealer. And as far as the light bulb, just your standard aquarium bulb for aquariums. Got that at the pet store too. How much am I going to have to spend to get a good light setup? Any reccomendations? I did notice that the one light started to get harder to turn on though.Probably the switch shorted out?
 
More likely a magnetic ballast went South on you.

:: Assumes this is a rectangular tank ::

Glass - local hardware store should be able to cut window glass down to whatever size you need for cheap - go w/ the thicker stuff, bring in a little shard for comparison.

If you want/have live plants, don't go back to the pet store. Buy or make a canopy & stuff it w/ T-5s or PCs. They look nice & keep your lights a safe distance from the water. Another option is a Coralife or similar fixture that will come w/ legs. W/ these, you do tend to get what you pay for (some of hte el-cheapo ones have been known to catch fire, stay away from them).
 
Same thing almost happen to me. To day I got my lights from A.H. Supply and installed them. After I got them set up I was letting it run and warm up some. I started to hear some hissing noise and then one of the end caps was smoking. I hope they will send me a new end cap.
 
loaches r cool said:
Wow glad it didnt get out of hand. I had a friend just a couple weeks ago had a tank catch fire, the smoke caused an estimated 30 grand! They were saying it was from the heater though.

Do you know the brand of lighting it was?
Click to expand...

On the back of the light housing, it has a sticker that says All Glass Aquarium Company,Inc. It was 120 V. , 30 Watts. 36"aquarium deflector. I am sure it was just because it was an older light unit, and the switch had to work harder to turn it on, was difficult to get it to turn on at times. Man, was I scared! Thank God we were home at the time! I got the top panel replaced that had cracked and broke during the ordeal, and tomorrow I'll go look for the lights. My hubby said to look for a rocker switch instead of the one that we had where you push the switch in.
 
So you had TWO lights that did the same thing within a few minutes?

I'd be wondering if you had a wiring problem (in the house wiring, like a loose/intermittent neutral), or if you had a voltage surge.

is it by chance an old house with knob-and-tube wiring?
 
kj5kb said:
So you had TWO lights that did the same thing within a few minutes?

I'd be wondering if you had a wiring problem (in the house wiring, like a loose/intermittent neutral), or if you had a voltage surge.

is it by chance an old house with knob-and-tube wiring?
Click to expand...

Actually, the house is only 6 years old and was built by my husband, who is a general contractor. What had happened was the one light on the left started first, as the flames rose it got so hot, it started to melt and was so close to the other one, that the side of the other one started to melt and smoke from the heat of the other one. What a pain in the ---!! Thank God for smoke detectors!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom