nano cube 24g ballast burns up

hi, we have a 24gallon Nano. we were very lucky today when we happened to hear crackeling noises... turned and the lid was smoking and then flames started to come out of ballast and then on top of lid.
we called pet store and to replace it is almost as expensive as a new one and not available right now. someone shopping said that nano's are know for catching on fire. need ideas on what to do. anyone heard of fires? should we replace with a new one, or get something differant. and then how long can the tank go without lighting?

I am new to this forum kind of thing, i hope i have put it in the right forum.

thanks for your help.

Lori

 

how long have you had the nano? Is it possible that salt got on the ballest? Saltwater is very conductive and will catch fire. I know when I had my biocube lid on I tended to get salt up in the fans somehow? Not sure how!

Do you have anything in the tank right now? After I had my fire (my 75) I ran carbon and added prime just to be sure. Might even add one of those filters (I am sorry cant think of the name that removes metals and all that stuff...polyfilter?__)

As far as lights....I have removed the lid off my biocube all together and bought a seperate light. There are clip on lights and other lights that attach to the stand Depending on how long you had it might want to contact JBL and see if tehre is anything that can be done.

Also look online..there is some nano sites that sell hood very reasonable

sorry to hear about what happened! Good luck

 

My 12G did the same and I caught it in time as well. Luckily for me, only the clear plastic splashguard was damaged. I was able to replace that piece. I ditched the junk ballast that JBJ makes and am now using 2 Current LED strips. I don't know if it's strong enough for anything other than FOWLR tanks though, it sure hasn't helped any coralline growth anyway.