Lighting - What would you do?

[bluespotjawfish]

Well, my Aqua Medic Pendants continue to trip my GFCI outlets and it seems to be happening more frequently. Been going on for a long time. Trying to trouble shoot, but have come to the point that I think I want to replace them. I purchased a Hamilton 150w pendent about amonth ago for the middle of the tank that wasn't getting much light. I got a spare because it arrived damaged. I have since repaired it since they never picked it up (nice little bonus for me).

My tank is primarily dominated with SPS at the top, and acans/brains at the bottom.

So a few choices to consider:

No more MH, replace with the 8 bulb t5 TEK fixture
No more MH, replace w/4-6 bulb t5 TEK & also use my 2-bulb icecap retrofit
Replace the 250w pendents with new 250w pendents
Buy one 400w pendent, and use two 150w pendents on the outside
Keep troubleshooting the existing pendents

Tank is 150 gallons and 24-26 inch deep. There is a glass brace in the middle.

 

[bluespotjawfish]

Click on the photo to see my most recent slideshow, mostly my LPS, but also some of my new SPS from Diver's Den

 

[BobBursek]

I have a set of MH that trip the GFI, and the more they trip the more sensitive a GFI gets, I believe. I pluged them into a normal outlet since they were not in the water anyway.

 

[bluespotjawfish]

They work fine when plugged into the wall. But, I would have to run my entire controller without a GFCI if I do that. I have tried different GFCI outlets, with the same result.

 

[bluespotjawfish]

Acan Alley

Diver's Den SPS newbies

 

[shapermike]

GFCI do wear out. Your lights pull a lot of wattage. I know 2 friends that had a tank crash because of GFCI sockets. I dont use them at all do to that reason.

 

[jkburton1s]

read your man. directions, they DO NOT reccomend plugging MHs in to a gfci, mine have done the same thing. they have thier own protection built in. after i plugged it in to a reg. outlet i have had not a single problem.... id go with what the man. says

 

[seafansar]

I was having a problem with my GFCI tripping because of my MH's. Installed a new GFCI and found out the grounding wire wasn't secured properly and that's what was causing it to trip. I'd replace your GFCI before the MH's. Cheaper that way at least.

 

[Eric]

Keep the halides, find an alternative outlet or another means to fix the problem.

I like the idea of adding a 400w and using the others on the sides

 

[bluespotjawfish]

So you don't think there is a defective (unsafe) problem within the light fixture or ballast that is causing the GFCI to trip?

 

[Eric]

I doubt it, probably the constant heavy load causing the GFI to trip.

I'm no electrician though just my opinion.

 

[r2d2]

Main reason for a GFCI is to protect you and your live stock from electricity in water, that means, those are only efective for submerged components.
There is no sense in connecting MH to a GFCI. The only risk could be pendants falling into tank.
Greetings

 

[tektite]

A lot of ballasts on T5 lights will also trip GFCI's, so changing lights may not solve your problem.

 

[Frankie]

You could have a bad GFI Lorraine. Have you tried to change it out?
Your tank is looking great and the corals will change if you change over to T5's. I would stick to the MH's and also adding in the 400w would be nice. If you go with a good 20k bulb like radium on the 400 your corals are really going to pop in colors.

 

[coralmadness]

I also have aqua medic pendants. my experiance with them is if something is wrong with the light, they just dont work. If something is wrong with the ballast the light will start flashing or just dont work at all. i think your lights are fine.

 

[jason904]

dump the gfi

 

[bluespotjawfish]

I feel much better about keeping them after reading these comments.