NEED HELP- Engineering problem.

[SalTee]

Hello, every body, been a while since a post and a few things have changed for me since. Here's the story- the electrical outlet that drives my reef poped. For a few days, my tank was going on the bare essentials- heating, circulation, and the light was run in three hour bursts with two hours between runtimes(I know, bad light schedule) but we had an electrician check the wiring and Our house is nowhere near up-to-code and thus running all the equipment on a regular reef is officialy a firehazard in my house. I've since been forced to tear it down. Now I'm already wanting another reef BAD and I need to know if there is any way to run a reef with NO DRAW FROM THE HOUSE WIRING WHATSOEVER. My first thought was battery powered eqipment. i know that Battery-powered powerheads exist, but I have no idea where to get them, and I'm also curious if there's such thibg as battery powered heaters and lights. Or, if none exists, if there are any super-efficient ones out there. One other thing I thought of is LED lights- are they effective for a reef? If there's no other options, would anybody know how to rig say, some car batteries to a Halide lamp? I guess, to sum up this whole rant into one question- does anybody know how to set up a successful reef system given that you can't plug something into your house's wall? I eagerly await responses. Thank you.

[weez1959]

I think to make anything work long enough you would have to set up some solar panels, but with the cost involved, you may as well have the house re-wired or at least have an electrician come and wire at least what you need. Other than that you're talking a fortune to run what you need. LED's are supposed to be great but far from affordable.

[Clay12340]

There are some very low watt draw pumps and LED lighting rigs require something like 40% less power than halides, but as Weez said it is far cheaper to just have the house rewired. By the time you buy a bunch of car batteries, solar panels, or the gas to power a generator you've invested more money in running the tank than it would have cost to have the wiring issues resolved.

The low watt draw stuff is great as it will be cheaper long term, but I don't think it is going to solve your problem.

[Mango Man]

wow, what a nightmare. i have been an electrician for over 10 years now. if your house is that bad, and its a fire hazard, you can bet its not on the wires and plugs where your tank is. so im sure the whole house is a hazard. in any case, abviously re wiring the house, ( hoping you own it) would be the best thing to do for many reasons. but, if you want to cut some corners, i would suggest having someone install a sub pannel for your entire reef system. meaning there would be a new main wire coming off your main electrical pannel, and going into a smaller sub pannel, and you can put as many circutes as you think you need. that would still consist of doing some re wiring. all in all, still think the place is dangerous and needs to be fixed. any questions you have for me feel free.