# Blew breaker to 4 fish tanks for 5hrs



## skrick (Apr 25, 2010)

Tanks were out for 5-8 hrs I think so I did a 80% water change to all of them I hope i don't have problems later today I dont know what could have happend for months they have been fine havent changed anything or added but all of a sudden the breaker keeps blowing dont know what the hell to do could be faulty equipment maybe and it is blowing the main breaker I have to do investigating should I do anythin g more to my tanks like wash some media


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Wow, that's crazy. The biggest thing for me after an unexpected and lengthy outage is to make sure you flush out your canisters before running them again. They are probably full of nastiness after having no flow for so long. You don't want that going back into your tank water. 

Without being able to diagnose which piece of gear might be faulty, you could also maybe buy a new breaker just in case its faulty. If there is faulty gear, the new breaker should also continue to trip.


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## skrick (Apr 25, 2010)

Thanks buddy man im stressed


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I wouldn't worry too much about 5 hours. In a storm last year, my power was out for 12 and I didn't lose a single fish, and I had a couple of small tanks (15 and 20 gallons). As Tony suggested, you may want to give the filters a quick clean, but you've already done the big water change, so you should be just fine.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

I'm no electrician, but I've been forewarned by one to ensure that an electrical outlet is not overloaded with too many electronic equipment, especially ones that take up a lot of electrical juice. But then again, the electrical boards and switches usually is for an area like a living room. May also be a lose breaker that gets easily tripped.

Good luck. Hope you can get that resolved.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

is the breaker panel federal pioneer? if it is then that is your cause


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## skrick (Apr 25, 2010)

no its a good one I just upgraded to a 200amp service 2 years ago and all breakers are new I think i have it overloaded hehe oops


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## mdwflyer (Jan 11, 2011)

Switch to LED lights


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## Jonney_boy (Apr 28, 2010)

yeah.. check the load on that breaker. Many fish tanks draw a "lot" of power.

my 100gal cube has the ability of pulling 70% of what my breaker can supply... all by itself.....


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## skrick (Apr 25, 2010)

I found 1 heater had some moisture in it I think that might be a problem so I removed it


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

one thing you can do it throw a multi meter on your cords to find out what they are currently drawing (i forget what its called but its the style that wraps around the live cord to find out amperage) and add them all up


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## CanadaPleco (May 13, 2010)

spit.fire said:


> one thing you can do it throw a multi meter on your cords to find out what they are currently drawing (i forget what its called but its the style that wraps around the live cord to find out amperage) and add them all up


an amp clamp is what its called


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## Shell Dweller (Jul 11, 2010)

With eleven tanks running and with some having 2 heaters I have tripped a breaker or two. I even have tripped my main once or twice. I am going to run some new lines and add a couple of new breakers to even out the load in 2 rooms. Hopefully that will solve that problem. BTW Neven why do you ask if its Federal Pioneer.....? Mine is Federal Pioneeer.


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## skrick (Apr 25, 2010)

I think it was a heater I changed the one that had some moisture in it and so far so good


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

if u wanna cut down on your wattages consider led lighting, cant do much about the heaters other than cover your tanks so theyre not running as much


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

1- 15amp. breaker is allowed 1200 watts. Add up your total wattage on that 1 circuit, you may be over or close, if you are jockey around some things and try and get some of your load on a different circuit. Hope that helps Laurie


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